Jacqueline Woodson

ZJ's friends Ollie, Darry and Daniel help him cope when his father, a beloved professional football player, suffers severe headaches and memory loss that spell the end of his career.

Moving forward and backward in time, Jacqueline Woodson's taut and powerful new novel uncovers the role that history and community have played in the experiences, decisions, and relationships of these families, and in the life of the new child. As the book opens in 2001, it is the evening of sixteen-year-old Melody's coming of age ceremony in her grandparents' Brooklyn brownstone. Watched lovingly by her relatives and friends, making her entrance...

"It seems like Sage's whole world is on fire the summer before she starts seventh grade. As house after house burns down, her Bushwick neighborhood gets referred to as "The Matchbox" in the local newspaper. And while Sage prefers to spend her time shooting hoops with the guys, she's also still trying to figure out her place inside the circle of girls she's known since childhood. A group that each day, feels further and further away from her. But it's...

"By heeding their wise grandmother's advice, a brother and sister discover the ability to lift themselves up and imagine a better world"-- Provided by publisher.

Other students laugh when Rigoberto, an immigrant from Venezuela, introduces himself but later, he meets Angelina and discovers that he is not the only one who feels like an outsider. There will be times when you walk into a room and no one there is quite like you. There are lots of reasons to feel different. Maybe it's how you look or talk, or where you're from. Maybe it's what you eat or something just as random. Whatever it is, it's not easy to...

A rope passed down through the generations frames an African American family's story as they journey north during the time of the Great Migration.

"A group of kids celebrate the joy and freedom of summer on their Brooklyn block"-- Provided by publisher.

In a series of poems, eleven-year-old Lonnie writes about his life, after the death of his parents, separated from his younger sister, living in a foster home, and finding his poetic voice at school.

Two girls, one white and one black, gradually get to know each other as they sit on the fence that divides their town.

Thirteen-year-old Lena and her younger sister Dion mourn the death of their mother as they hitchhike from Ohio to Kentucky while running away from their abusive father.