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Black Issues
Book Review
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NEW REVIEWS / CHILDRENS' BOOKSHELF
A Is for Adopted
by Eileen Tucker Cosby
Illustrated by Norma S. Strange
SWAK Pak LLC, November 2000
$14.95 ISBN 0-967-6385-0
This is the first in the series featuring a loveable group of characters known as Our KidsPak. “In this
alphabet book,” the author says, “Our KidsPak expresses the joys of adoption by sharing concepts
and emotions from A to Z.” Each letter is accompanied by a rhyming verse and colorful illustrations.
From A to Z, Cosby’s loving portrait will help children know how special they are to their parents.
Biracial Children in a Race-Conscious World
by Marguerite Wright
Jossey-Bass, May 2000
$15.95, ISBN 0-787-95234-6
Wright’s book offers both suggestions and strategies from her work with families and children on
dealing with race, and raising healthy and happy kids.
Black Baby, White Hands: A View From the Crib
by Dr. Jaiya John
Soul Water Rising, May 2005
$17, ISBN 0-971-33081-6
The author is a young African American who was adopted by a white family in New Mexico in the
1970s. Dr. John recalls the wide range of emotions he felt as he was trying to understand how best
to deal with them.
Heaven
by Angela Johnson
Illustrated by John Jude Palencar
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, September 1998
$16.95, ISBN 0-689-82229-4
Ages 11–14
What forms an identity? Fourteen-year-old Marley must confront this question when she discovers
that the people who raised her are not her biological parents.
I Bet She Called Me
Sugar Plum
by Joanne V. Gabbin
Illustrated by Margot Bergman
Foreword by Lucille Clifton
Franklin Street Gallery Productions,
September 2004
$14.95, ISBN 0-976-07160-6
Ages 4–7
Gabbin portrays an honest, caring relationship between mother and daughter that allows readers to
see the mutually beneficial aspects of adoption when love is front and center.
Online Aid
For more books, see: http://adoptionshop.com and for ideas on how to get involved in Nation
Adoption Month, log on to http://national-adoption-month.adoption.com.
Other resources include:
options From the Heart, http://www.adoptionsfromtheheart.org/05_news_events.html.
Adopt Us Kids, http://www.adoptuskids.org which offers a photo listing of children awaiting
adoption. African American Adoptions Online, which assists black and biracial birth parents and
adopting families, http://www.africanamericanadoptionsonline.com.
The National Adoption Information Clearinghouse, http://naic.acf.hhs.gov.
The National Council for Adoption, http://www.ncfa-usa.org which is celebrating its 25th anniversary.
The Best of the Best—For Kids Only
Sandra L. Jamison, a writer for BIBR, surveyed several bookstores to find out what are the top-selling books for children and young adults. These are the results:
Picture Books
Thunder Rose by Jerdine Nolen
Silver Whistle, November 2003
$16, ISBN 0-152-16472-3
Tar Beach
by Faith Ringgold
Dragonfly, December 1996
$18, ISBN 0-517-88544-1
My Dreams of Dr. Martin Luther King
by Faith Ringgold
Dragonfly, December 1998
$16.95, ISBN 0-517-88577-8
Happy to Be Nappy
by bell hooks
Jump at the Sun/Hyperion, September 2001, $14.99, ISBN 0-786-80756-3
Please, Baby, Please
by Spike and Tanya Lee
Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, November 2002
$16.95, ISBN 0-689-83233-8
Girls Hold Up This World
by Jada Pinkett Smith
Cartwheel, November 2004
$16.95, ISBN 0-439-08793-7
Chapter Books
Just For You! A Mom Like No Other
by Christine Taylor-Butler
Teaching Resources, April 2004
$3.99, ISBN 0-439-56853-6
Messy Bessey
by Patricia and Fredrick McKissack
Children’s Press, March 2000
$4.95, ISBN ISBN 0-516-27003-6
Road to Memphis
by Mildred D. Taylor
Puffin, June 1992
$16, ISBN 0-140-36077-8
Series
Cheetah Girls: Wishing on a Star, Book #1
by Deborah Gregory
Jump at the Sun/Hyperion, September 1999, $3.99, ISBN 0-786-81384-9
Crump Fairy Tales: Ebony Duckling
by Fred Crump Jr.
Winston-Derek Publishers, December 1991, ISBN 1-555-23457-7
Little Bill Series: Is It My Turn Now?
by Catherine Lukas
Simon Spotlight, Nickelodeon
Publishers, May 2004
$3.99, ISBN 0-689-86482-5
Shanna Series:
Shanna’s Princess Show
(Welcome to the Shanna Show)
by Jean Marzollo
Hyperion/Jump at the Sun, April 2003
$7.99, 0-786-81761-5
Willimena Rules! Series:
How to (Almost) Ruin Your School Play by Valerie Wilson Wesley
Jump at the Sun/Hyperion, March 2005
$3.99, ISBN 0-786-85259-3
Best Books of 2005
A Wreath for Emmett Till
by Marilyn Nelson,
illustrated by Philippe Lardy
Houghton Mifflin Company, April 2005
$17, ISBN 0-618-39752-3
Ages 13-17
Published in observance of the 50th anniversary of the murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till, who was
murdered by lynching in Mississippi in 1955, Nelson’s sonnets explore innocence brutalized with
painstaking beauty.
Hewitt Anderson’s Great Big Life
by Jerdine Nolen, illustrated by Kadir Nelson, Simon & Schuster Books
for Young Readers, January 2005
$16.95, ISBN 0-689-86866-9
Ages 5-10
Hewitt is everything his parents could want in a son. But there’s just one problem—he’s very, very
small. And his family descends from a long line of proud giants. But it turns out that Hewitt’s great,
big character is all he really needs.
Growing Up in Slavery: Stories of Young Slaves As Told by Themselves
Edited by Yuval Taylor
Illustrations by Kathleen Judge
Lawrence Hill Books, January 2005
$22.95, ISBN 1-556-52548-6
Ages 14 and up
Growing Up in Slavery presents intense, autobiographical stories of life in bondage. The
heartrending recollections will indeed give teens a deeper understanding of slavery.
Hot Jazz Special
Words and Pictures by Jonny Hannah
Candlewick Press, March 2005
$16.99, ISBN 0-763-62308-3
Ages 6-10
Hannah’s book lifts the spirits with snappy prose and exuberant pictures that capture the energy of
jazz, introducing readers to some of the famous artists.
Audiobooks
Ella Fitzgerald: The Tale of a Vocal Virtuosa
by Andrea Davis Pinkney and Brian Pinkney, read by Billy Dee Williams with original recordings
by Ella Fitzgerald, Weston Woods
Studios, unabridged cassette: $34.95
ISBN 0-786-12725-2; unabridged CD: $44.95, ISBN 0-786-18590-2
Ellington Was Not a Street
by Notzake Shange and Kadir Nelson
Read by Phylicia Rashad
Weston Woods Studios, unabridged cassette and hardcover book: $24.95 ISBN 0-439-77576-0;
unabridged CD and hardcover book: $29.95
ISBN 0-439-77582-5
Time Piece: The Book of Times
by Virginia Hamilton,
read by Lisa Renee Pitts
Blackstone Audiobooks, unabridged cassette: $19.95, ISBN 0-786-12906-9; unabridged CD: $19.95
ISBN 0-786-18242-3
-Reviewed by Jonathan Luckett
__________________________________________________
A Is for Adopted
by Eileen Tucker Cosby
Illustrated by Norma S. Strange
SWAK Pak LLC, November 2000
$14.95 ISBN 0-967-6385-0
This is the first in the series featuring a loveable group of characters known as Our KidsPak. “In this
alphabet book,” the author says, “Our KidsPak expresses the joys of adoption by sharing concepts
and emotions from A to Z.” Each letter is accompanied by a rhyming verse and colorful illustrations.
From A to Z, Cosby’s loving portrait will help children know how special they are to their parents.
Biracial Children in a Race-Conscious World
by Marguerite Wright
Jossey-Bass, May 2000
$15.95, ISBN 0-787-95234-6
Wright’s book offers both suggestions and strategies from her work with families and children on
dealing with race, and raising healthy and happy kids.
Black Baby, White Hands: A View From the Crib
by Dr. Jaiya John
Soul Water Rising, May 2005
$17, ISBN 0-971-33081-6
The author is a young African American who was adopted by a white family in New Mexico in the
1970s. Dr. John recalls the wide range of emotions he felt as he was trying to understand how best
to deal with them.
Heaven
by Angela Johnson
Illustrated by John Jude Palencar
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, September 1998
$16.95, ISBN 0-689-82229-4
Ages 11–14
What forms an identity? Fourteen-year-old Marley must confront this question when she discovers
that the people who raised her are not her biological parents.
I Bet She Called Me
Sugar Plum
by Joanne V. Gabbin
Illustrated by Margot Bergman
Foreword by Lucille Clifton
Franklin Street Gallery Productions,
September 2004
$14.95, ISBN 0-976-07160-6
Ages 4–7
Gabbin portrays an honest, caring relationship between mother and daughter that allows readers to
see the mutually beneficial aspects of adoption when love is front and center.
Online Aid
For more books, see: http://adoptionshop.com and for ideas on how to get involved in Nation
Adoption Month, log on to http://national-adoption-month.adoption.com.
Other resources include:
options From the Heart, http://www.adoptionsfromtheheart.org/05_news_events.html.
Adopt Us Kids, http://www.adoptuskids.org which offers a photo listing of children awaiting
adoption. African American Adoptions Online, which assists black and biracial birth parents and
adopting families, http://www.africanamericanadoptionsonline.com.
The National Adoption Information Clearinghouse, http://naic.acf.hhs.gov.
The National Council for Adoption, http://www.ncfa-usa.org which is celebrating its 25th anniversary.
The Best of the Best—For Kids Only
Sandra L. Jamison, a writer for BIBR, surveyed several bookstores to find out what are the top-selling books for children and young adults. These are the results:
Picture Books
Thunder Rose by Jerdine Nolen
Silver Whistle, November 2003
$16, ISBN 0-152-16472-3
Tar Beach
by Faith Ringgold
Dragonfly, December 1996
$18, ISBN 0-517-88544-1
My Dreams of Dr. Martin Luther King
by Faith Ringgold
Dragonfly, December 1998
$16.95, ISBN 0-517-88577-8
Happy to Be Nappy
by bell hooks
Jump at the Sun/Hyperion, September 2001, $14.99, ISBN 0-786-80756-3
Please, Baby, Please
by Spike and Tanya Lee
Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, November 2002
$16.95, ISBN 0-689-83233-8
Girls Hold Up This World
by Jada Pinkett Smith
Cartwheel, November 2004
$16.95, ISBN 0-439-08793-7
Chapter Books
Just For You! A Mom Like No Other
by Christine Taylor-Butler
Teaching Resources, April 2004
$3.99, ISBN 0-439-56853-6
Messy Bessey
by Patricia and Fredrick McKissack
Children’s Press, March 2000
$4.95, ISBN ISBN 0-516-27003-6
Road to Memphis
by Mildred D. Taylor
Puffin, June 1992
$16, ISBN 0-140-36077-8
Series
Cheetah Girls: Wishing on a Star, Book #1
by Deborah Gregory
Jump at the Sun/Hyperion, September 1999, $3.99, ISBN 0-786-81384-9
Crump Fairy Tales: Ebony Duckling
by Fred Crump Jr.
Winston-Derek Publishers, December 1991, ISBN 1-555-23457-7
Little Bill Series: Is It My Turn Now?
by Catherine Lukas
Simon Spotlight, Nickelodeon
Publishers, May 2004
$3.99, ISBN 0-689-86482-5
Shanna Series:
Shanna’s Princess Show
(Welcome to the Shanna Show)
by Jean Marzollo
Hyperion/Jump at the Sun, April 2003
$7.99, 0-786-81761-5
Willimena Rules! Series:
How to (Almost) Ruin Your School Play by Valerie Wilson Wesley
Jump at the Sun/Hyperion, March 2005
$3.99, ISBN 0-786-85259-3
Best Books of 2005
A Wreath for Emmett Till
by Marilyn Nelson,
illustrated by Philippe Lardy
Houghton Mifflin Company, April 2005
$17, ISBN 0-618-39752-3
Ages 13-17
Published in observance of the 50th anniversary of the murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till, who was
murdered by lynching in Mississippi in 1955, Nelson’s sonnets explore innocence brutalized with
painstaking beauty.
Hewitt Anderson’s Great Big Life
by Jerdine Nolen, illustrated by Kadir Nelson, Simon & Schuster Books
for Young Readers, January 2005
$16.95, ISBN 0-689-86866-9
Ages 5-10
Hewitt is everything his parents could want in a son. But there’s just one problem—he’s very, very
small. And his family descends from a long line of proud giants. But it turns out that Hewitt’s great,
big character is all he really needs.
Growing Up in Slavery: Stories of Young Slaves As Told by Themselves
Edited by Yuval Taylor
Illustrations by Kathleen Judge
Lawrence Hill Books, January 2005
$22.95, ISBN 1-556-52548-6
Ages 14 and up
Growing Up in Slavery presents intense, autobiographical stories of life in bondage. The
heartrending recollections will indeed give teens a deeper understanding of slavery.
Hot Jazz Special
Words and Pictures by Jonny Hannah
Candlewick Press, March 2005
$16.99, ISBN 0-763-62308-3
Ages 6-10
Hannah’s book lifts the spirits with snappy prose and exuberant pictures that capture the energy of
jazz, introducing readers to some of the famous artists.
Audiobooks
Ella Fitzgerald: The Tale of a Vocal Virtuosa
by Andrea Davis Pinkney and Brian Pinkney, read by Billy Dee Williams with original recordings
by Ella Fitzgerald, Weston Woods
Studios, unabridged cassette: $34.95
ISBN 0-786-12725-2; unabridged CD: $44.95, ISBN 0-786-18590-2
Ellington Was Not a Street
by Notzake Shange and Kadir Nelson
Read by Phylicia Rashad
Weston Woods Studios, unabridged cassette and hardcover book: $24.95 ISBN 0-439-77576-0;
unabridged CD and hardcover book: $29.95
ISBN 0-439-77582-5
Time Piece: The Book of Times
by Virginia Hamilton,
read by Lisa Renee Pitts
Blackstone Audiobooks, unabridged cassette: $19.95, ISBN 0-786-12906-9; unabridged CD: $19.95
ISBN 0-786-18242-3
-Reviewed by Jonathan Luckett
__________________________________________________
Copyright © 2006 Black Issues
Book Review
Empire State Building • 350 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1522
New York, NY • 10118-0165
(212) 947-8515 voice • (212) 947-5674 fax
On Sale Now!
Cover Story:
S. Epatha Merkerson goes from buying books for her own pleasure to purchasing rights to film Leaving Cecil Street
By Sharon D. Johnson
PLUS: Highlighting National Poetry Month
Other Voices: The Millennial Poets and Personae
By Camille Dungy
Poetry Reviews: Rhythms of Past, Present and Future
A new anthology and poetry collections
Singular Notes: Self-published poets share the limelight
Edited by Quraysh Ali Lansana