February 1st

Seventh-grader Tristan Strong tumbles into the MidPass and, with allies John Henry and Brer Rabbit, must entice the god Anansi to come out of hiding and seal the hole Tristan accidentally ripped in the sky.

"Even as American Patriots fought for independence from British rule during the Revolutionary War, oppressive conditions remained in place for the thousands of enslaved and free African Americans living in this country. But African Americans took up their own fight for freedom by joining the British and American armies; preaching, speaking out, and writing about the evils of slavery; and establishing settlements in Nova Scotia and Africa. The thirteen stories featured in this collection spotlight charismatic individuals who answered the cry for freedom, focusing on the choices they made and how they changed America both then and now"--Provided by publisher.

A series of vignettes reveal life in the Deep South for African Americans as they experience discrimination in a doctor's office, lynching, and other forms of oppression, especially during the 1960s.

After spending the summer of 1968 with their mother and the Black Panthers, Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern return home to Brooklyn with a new feeling of independence, but they discover their father has a new girlfriend, Uncle Darnell has come home from Vietnam a changed man, and Big Ma still expects Delphine to take care of everything. Feeling overwhelmed, Delphine writes to her mother, who reminds her to enjoy being eleven and not grow up too fast.

An honors student at Jefferson Academy, seventeen-year-old Keira enjoys developing and playing Slay, a secret, multiplayer online role-playing game celebrating black culture, until the two worlds collide.

"In 1845, Sammy, a Chinese American girl, and Annamae, an African American slave girl, disguise themselves as boys and travel on the Oregon Trail to California from Missouri."

--Provided by publisher.