OVERDRIVE - Black History Month - Grades 6-8
Cover Title Author Synopsis Lexile
This Way Home Wes Moore Elijah, seventeen, has always been sure of 640HL with just one thing--basketball--and believes it Shawn Goodman will be his way out of West Baltimore, but when gang violence knocks him down, helping a veteran repair his rickety home helps Elijah see what really matters.
Brown Girl Dreaming Jacqueline "The author shares her childhood memories 990 Woodson and reveals the first sparks that ignited her writing career in free-verse poems about growing up in the North and South"-
The Watsons go to Curtis, The ordinary interactions and everyday 1000 Birmingham - 1963: Christopher Paul routines of the Watsons, an African-American a novel family living in Flint, Michigan, are drastically changed after they go to visit Grandma in Alabama in the summer of 1963.
The Mighty Miss Curtis, Deza Malone, the smartest girl in her class in 750 Malone Christopher Paul Gary, Indiana, accompanies her mother and older brother on a trip to find her father, an African American man who left to find work after the Great Depression hit. They end up in a Hooverville outside of Flint, Michigan, and her brother attempts to be a performer while Deza and her mother search for a home.
Sula Morrison, Toni Traces the lives of two African-American 1050 heroines from their growing up together in a small Ohio town, to their sharply divergent paths of womanhood, to their ultimate confrontation and reconciliation.
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OVERDRIVE - Black History Month - Grades 6-8
The Crossover Alexander, Fourteen-year-old twin basketball stars Josh 750 Kwame and Jordan wrestle with highs and lows on and off the court as their father ignores his declining health.
To Be a Slave Lester, Julius A compilation, selected from various sources 1080 and arranged chronologically, of the reminiscences of slaves and ex-slaves about their experiences from the leaving of Africa through the Civil War and into the early twentieth century.
Claudette Colvin: Hoose, Phillip M. Presents an account of fifteen-year-old 1000 twice toward justice Claudette Colvin, an African-American girl who refused to give up her seat to a white woman on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama, nine months before Rosa Parks, and covers her role in a crucial civil rights case.
Jump Into The Sky Pearsall, Shelly In 1945, thirteen-year-old Levi is sent to find 940 the father he has not seen in three years, going from Chicago, to segregated North Carolina, and finally to Pendleton, Oregon, where he learns that his father's unit, the all-Black 555th paratrooper battalion, will never see combat but finally has a mission. Includes historical notes.
Planet Middle School Grimes, Nikki A series of poems describes all the baffling 680 changes at home and at school in twelve- year-old Joylin's transition from tomboy basketball player to not-quite-girly girl.
Each of the following titles are available on the GRPS Digital Overdrive Library at http://www.grps.lib.overdrive.com or by downloading the Overdrive App Login is school username and password
OVERDRIVE - Black History Month - Grades 6-8
Looking for Red Johnson, Angela A thirteen-year-old girl struggles to cope 740 with the loss of her beloved older brother, who disappeared four months earlier off the coast of Cape Cod.
Roll of Thunder, Taylor, Mildred D. An African-American family living in the 920 Hear My Cry South during the 1930s is faced with prejudice and discrimination which its children do not understand.
Let the Circle be Taylor, Mildred D. Sequel to: Roll of thunder, hear my cry. Four 850 Unbroken black children growing up in rural Mississippi during the Depression experience racial antagonisms and hard times, but learn from their parents the pride and self-respect they need.
Feathers Woodson, When a new, white student nicknamed "The 710 Jacqueline Jesus Boy" joins her sixth grade class in the winter of 1971, Frannie's growing friendship with him makes her start to see some things in a new light.
Copper Sun Draper, Sharon M. Two fifteen-year-old girls--one a slave and 820 the other an indentured servant--escape their Carolina plantation and try to make their way to Fort Moses, Florida, a Spanish colony that gives sanctuary to slaves.
Each of the following titles are available on the GRPS Digital Overdrive Library at http://www.grps.lib.overdrive.com or by downloading the Overdrive App Login is school username and password
OVERDRIVE - Black History Month - Grades 6-8
Bronx Masquerade Grimes, Nikki While studying the Harlem Renaissance, 670 students at a Bronx high school read aloud poems they've written, revealing their innermost thoughts and fears to their formerly clueless classmates.
Hoops Myers, Walter A teenage basketball player from Harlem is 740 Dean befriended by a former professional player who, after being forced to quit because of a point shaving scandal, hopes to prevent other young athletes from repeating his mistake.
Nightjohn Paulsen, Gary Twelve-year-old Sarny's brutal life as a slave 770 becomes even more dangerous when a newly arrived slave offers to teach her how to read.
Sarny: a life Paulsen, Gary Sequel to: Nightjohn. Continues the 840 remembered adventures of Sarny, the slave girl whom Nightjohn taught to read, through the aftermath of the Civil War during which time she taught other African-Americans and lived a full life until age ninety-four.
Each of the following titles are available on the GRPS Digital Overdrive Library at http://www.grps.lib.overdrive.com or by downloading the Overdrive App Login is school username and password
OVERDRIVE - Black History Month - Grades 6-8
Panic Draper, Sharon M. As rehearsals begin for the ballet version of 610HL Peter Pan, the teenaged members of an Ohio dance troupe lose their focus when one of their own goes missing.
All American Boys Reynolds,Jjason When sixteen-year-old Rashad is mistakenly 770 accused of stealing, classmate Quinn witnesses his brutal beating at the hands of a police officer who happens to be the older brother of his best friend"
Stella by Starlight Draper, Sharon M. When a burning cross set by the Klan causes 740 panic and fear in 1932 Bumblebee, North Carolina, fifth-grader Stella must face prejudice and find the strength to demand change in her segregated town.
Juba Myers, Walter In Five Points, New York, in the 1840s, 850 Dean African American teenager William Henry "Juba" Lane works hard to achieve his dream of becoming a professional dancer but his real break comes when he is invited to perform in England. Based on the life of Master Juba.
Voices from the Lewis, J. Patrick A collection of poems telling the story of the N/A March on 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Washington Freedom.
Each of the following titles are available on the GRPS Digital Overdrive Library at http://www.grps.lib.overdrive.com or by downloading the Overdrive App Login is school username and password
OVERDRIVE - Black History Month - Grades 6-8
Etched in Clay: the Cheng, Andrea A biography, written in verse, that explores 790 life of Dave, the life of a South Carolina slave named enslaved potter and Dave, who became skilled at turning pots poet and jars on a pottery wheel, reading, and writing, and went on to use these skills to speak out against slavery.
The Life of Harriet Schraff, Anne E. Chronicles the life of Harriet Tubman, an 1060 Tubman: Moses of African American woman who escaped from the underground slavery and then risked her freedom in order railroad to help others escape on the Underground Railroad.
No Crystal Stair: a Nelson, Vaunda Tells the story of Lewis Michaux who built a 850 documentary novel Micheaux bookstore in Harlem despite widespread of the life and work opposition. of Lewis Michaux, Harlem bookseller
Flygirl Smith, Sherri L. During World War II, a light-skinned African 680 HL American girl "passes" for white in order to join the Women Airforce Service Pilots.
Peace, Locomotion woodson, Through letters to his little sister, who is 860 Jacqueline living in a different foster home, sixth-grader Lonnie, also known as "Locomotion," keeps a record of their lives while they are apart, describing his own foster family, including his foster brother who returns home after losing a leg in the Iraq War.
Each of the following titles are available on the GRPS Digital Overdrive Library at http://www.grps.lib.overdrive.com or by downloading the Overdrive App Login is school username and password
OVERDRIVE - Black History Month - Grades 6-8
the Righteous Myers, Walter Fifteen-year-old Artemis journeys from New 980 Revenge of Artemis Dean York City to Tombstone, Arizona, in 1882, to Bonner avenge the murder of his uncle.
W.E.B. DuBois Troy, Don A brief biography of the African American N/A educator and activist who helped found the NAACP and worked much of his life for the unification of people of African descent.
The Story of the Aretha, David Explores the Selma Voting Rights Marches of 860 Selma Voting Rights 1965, including the causes of the protests, marches in the march organizers, the violence Photographs surrounding the events, and the impact the marches had on the passage of the Voting Rights Act
The Story of Rosa Aretha, David Examines the Montgomery Bus Boycott 880 Parks and the through primary source photographs, Montgomery Bus including Rosa Parks' role in the effort, other Boycott in important leaders, the daily struggles of the Photographs boycott, and the end of segregation on Montgomery's buses
The Skin I’m In Flake, Sharon Thirteen-year-old Maleeka Madison, insecure 670 about her very dark skin, rejects the support of a new teacher, Miss Saunders, whose skin looks blotched because of a rare medical condition--but soon Maleeka begins to see that Miss Saunders could be a role model, and that she must learn to love herself and accept love from others.
Malcolm Little: the Shabazz, Llyasah A biography of Malcolm X that focuses on his 1190 boy who grew up to childhood and the events that influenced become Malcom X later choices and actions in his life
Each of the following titles are available on the GRPS Digital Overdrive Library at http://www.grps.lib.overdrive.com or by downloading the Overdrive App Login is school username and password
OVERDRIVE - Black History Month - Grades 6-8
The Life of Schraff, Anne Presents a biography of Frederick Douglass 1110 Frederick Douglass: from the earlier years of his life through the speaking out against fight for freedom and equality, and on to his slavery final days.
The Life of Litwin, Laura A biography of the eighteenth-century 1080 Benjamin Banneker: Baskes African-American who taught himself astronomer and mathematics and astronomy and helped mathematician survey what would become Washington, D.C.
Frederick Douglass Sanders, Nancy I. A biography of Frederick Douglass, escaped 1100 for Kids: his life and slave and abolitionist, discussing his times with 21 childhood as a slave, how he became a activities author, newspaper editor, orator, and civil rights leader, and his part in the Civil War, including twenty-one activities.
The Dream Keeper Hughes, Langston Pinkney brings a vigorous, contemporary look N/A and Other Poems to the pictures that accompany each of Hughes's sixty-six poems, which, though written over a quarter century ago, have the same strength of meaning and power as if written for today's readers. The splendid combination of timeless words and timely illustrations includes seven selections that did not appear in earlier editions.
Becoming Billie Weatherford, Jazz vocalist Billie Holiday looks back on her 970 Holiday Carole Boston early years in this fictional memoir written in verse.
Because They Freedman, Russell Because they marched. Provides an account 1160 Marched: the of the march for African American voting people’s campaign rights led by Dr. Martin Luther King in for voting rights that
Each of the following titles are available on the GRPS Digital Overdrive Library at http://www.grps.lib.overdrive.com or by downloading the Overdrive App Login is school username and password
OVERDRIVE - Black History Month - Grades 6-8
changed America January 1965.
African American Davidson, Tish Describes the lives and works of African 970 Scientists and American scientists and inventors, including Inventors Lewis Latimer, Charles Drew, and Garrett Woods.
Each of the following titles are available on the GRPS Digital Overdrive Library at http://www.grps.lib.overdrive.com or by downloading the Overdrive App Login is school username and password