Sharon M Draper

Considered by many to be mentally challenged, a brilliant, impatient fifth-grader with cerebral palsy discovers a technological device that will allow her to speak for the first time.

Eleven-year-old Isabella's parents are divorced, so she has to switch lives every week: One week she's Isabella with her dad, his girlfriend Anastasia, and her son Darren living in a fancy house where they are one of the only black families in the neighborhood. The next week she's Izzy with her mom and her boyfriend John-Mark in a small, not-so-fancy house that she loves. Because of this, Isabella has always felt pulled between two worlds. And now...

After their counselor told them a story about spirits in the woods near their campsite, Ziggy and his friends get lost in that very place. Ziggy and his Black Dinosaur pals are excited about their overnight camping trip to Caesar's Creek State Park -- it was named after an ex-slave who later became a Shawnee chief! Their camping counselor is descended from Caesar, and she fills the campers' imaginations with intriguing but sometimes spooky stories...

While in Florida to celebrate her Grammy's birthday, nine-and-a-half-year-old Sassy worries that an approaching hurricane will ruin not only the party, but a nest of sea turtle eggs, as well. Includes facts about hurricanes and sea turtles.

Fashion-savy Sassy does not like being the smallest student in her fourth-grade class, until a family emergency calls for a pint-sized hero.

Tigers don't cry, or do they? After the death of his longtime friend and fellow Hazelwood Tiger, Andy, the driver of the car, blames himself and cannot get past his guilt and pain. While his other friends have managed to work through their grief and move on, Andy allows death to become the focus of his life. In the months that follow the accident, the lives of Andy and his friends are traced through a series of letters, articles, homework assignments,...

In 1957, Sylvia Patterson's life--that of a normal African American teenager--is disrupted by the impending integration of Little Rock's Central High when she is selected to be one of the first black students to attend the previously all white school. Includes author's note and related websites.

As Kofi, Arielle, Dana, November, and Jericho face personal challenges during their last year of high school, a misunderstood student brings a gun to class and demands to be taken seriously.

Three eighth-grade friends, preparing for the International Double Dutch Championship jump rope competition in their home town of Cincinnati, Ohio, cope with Randy's missing father, Delia's inability to read, and Yo Yo's encounter with the class bullies.

Chosen to be a U.S. spokesperson at an international symposium for kids with different abilities, Melody arrives in London where she meets like-minded kids who want to make the world more equal, no matter the unusual challenges they face, and hopes her words can make an impact.