Jerdine Nolen

Mr. Perkins has a big surprise for the annual block party, but when the truck carrying it there breaks down, twins Jada and Jamal and their best friends, Josh and Carlita, propose a different form of transportation.

Callie struggles to understand slavery when her stepbrother is sold away at the start of the Civil War, but is determined her whole family will be free one day. A strong depiction of an enslaved family and their efforts to achieve a better life, even in difficult times, will surely resonate with young readers. Includes historical notes.

"Born Chloe Ardelia Wofford, she grew up listening to stories and loved reading. As a teenager she worked at the Lorain town library and later attended Howard University. As an editor at a New York publisher, she found time early in the morning and late at night after her children were asleep to write. When she looked about over her life and all what she had seen and learned, she knew she wanted to write about her people, Black people. Today and always...

"When Layla arrives for her first day of school at Unicornia, the school for unicorns, she realizes that she's not like the other kids there. They're all pastel colors and know the rules to Horn Ball and none of them come from the Woods like Layla does. Try as she might to make friends, Layla's just ... different. But when her class gets lost during a field trip to the Fiddle Dee Deep Forest, it's up to Layla to step up and save the day."--