Searching for the Perfect Summer Reading List?

The Coretta Scott King Committee offers some terrific choices

-- School Library Journal, 6/23/2009

This summer, help celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Coretta Scott King Book Awards
by encouraging kids to explore and learn with outstanding books by African American
authors and illustrators. Based on Coretta Scott King awardees, this summer reading list
has something for every reader and interest, everything from Mother Goose rhymes to music
to sports and much more-all told from the African-American perspective. These books
provide satisfying reading experiences for all children, while promoting understanding and
appreciation of the culture of all peoples. Enjoy.—Coretta Scott King Committee

Preschool

JAZZ BABY

Written by Lisa Wheeler, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie

Harcourt, 2007

Even the youngest member of the family participates in a spontaneous dance party when Daddy puts jazz on the record player. Vibrant pictures as alive as the music are a perfect complement for the rhyming text.

LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD

By Jerry Pinkney

Little, Brown, 2007

This retelling of the childhood classic features a child of color, as she travels to her grandmother’s house. The lush watercolor illustrations will attract old and young to a story both warm and familiar.

MOTHER GOOSE: NUMBERS ON THE LOOSE

By Leo Dillon and Diane Dillon

Harcourt, 2007

The Dillons bring their considerable talents to reworking Mother Goose rhymes for a new generation of children. In this unique approach, verses that feature numbers are in the spotlight. Characters seem to march across the page that literally parade across the pages, in lively illustrations that engage the reader.

Grades 1–4

THE CHICKEN-CHASING QUEEN OF LAMAR COUNTY

Written by Janice N. Harrington, illustrated by Shelley Jackson

Farrar/Melanie Kroupa, 2007

A young girl decides she is going to be the best chicken-chaser in the county but quickly learns that the hens she is trying to grab are more clever than they appear. Bright, energetic collage illustrations add excitement to this fun-filled story.

DONAVAN’S DOUBLE TROUBLE

By Monalisa DeGross

HarperCollins, 2008

Donovan’s warm and lively family helps him cope with his difficulties with math and confusion about his relationship with his war-injured favorite uncle.

JABBERWOCKY: THE CLASSIC POEM FROM LEWIS CARROLL'S THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS, AND WHAT ALICE FOUND THERE

Written by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by Christopher Myers

Disney/Jump at the Sun, 2007

This classic poem gets an urban makeover as it is now set on a city basketball court and incorporates the sounds and feel of the game. The illustrations are bold and feature black silhouettes, and a strong typeface to add even more intensity and drama.

JAZZ ON A SATURDAY NIGHT

By Leo and Diane Dillon

Scholastic, 2007

Jazz comes alive for young readers in this homage to the classic figures who made the music. The text and the illustrations work together to demonstrate the vibrancy of the music. By creating a dream jam session, the giants of jazz are introduced to young readers.

WIND FLYERS

Written by Angela Johnson, illustrated by Loren Long

S & S, 2007

A young boy experiences the days of the Tuskeegee airmen through his uncle’s stories of his long—ago adventures. Oil painting illustrations enhance the feeling of the big sky and a world of possibilities.

Grades 5–8

BRENDAN BUCKLEY’S UNIVERSE AND EVERYTHING IN

By Sundee T. Frazier

Delacorte, 2007

Brendan Buckley has a burning desire to learn all he can about science. His love of rocks and minerals leads him to mineral show where he stumbles upon a family secret and a way to bring two different sides of his family together.

ELIJAH OF BUXTON

By Christopher Paul Curtis

Scholastic, 2007

Elijah, the first child born in a settlement of former slaves in Canada, finds his uneventful life disrupted when he attempts to locate the corrupt preacher who has stolen funds intended to purchase a family’s freedom.

FEATHERS

By Jacqueline Woodson

Putnam, 2007

As sixth-grader Frannie tries to understand a poem assigned by her teacher, another challenge arrives in the form of a new boy. His appearance triggers questions of racial identity and spirituality among Frannie and her friends.

MISS CRANDALL'S SCHOOL FOR YOUNG LADIES & LITTLE MISSES OF COLOR

By Elizabeth Alexander and Marilyn Nelson, illustrated by Floyd Cooper

Boyds Mill/Wordsong, 2007

In mid-19th-century Connecticut, Prudence Crandall opened a school for Black girls. These beautifully crafted sonnets imagine the lives and struggles of the girls and teachers as they cope with the hostility and eventual destruction of the school. Cooper’s sepia-toned illustrations enhance the telling of this dramatic effort to provide education for girls who had a strong desire to learn.

TWELVE ROUNDS TO GLORY: THE STORY OF MUHAMMED ALI

Written by Charles R. Smith, Jr., illustrated by Bryan Collier

Candlewick, 2007

Muhammad Ali continues to fascinate in this unique look at the iconic athlete. Smith’s poems evoke the rhymes Ali once created and Collier’s bold collages complement the lively text.

WE ARE THE SHIP: THE STORY OF NEGRO LEAGUE BASEBALL

By Kadir Nelson

Disney/Jump at the Sun, 2008

The talent and dignity of the men who managed and played in the Negro leagues is on full display in this moving chapter of America’s baseball history.

Grades 9–12

BECOMING BILLIE HOLIDAY

Written by Carole Boston Weatherford, illus by Floyd Cooper

Boyds Mill/Wordsong

This biography in verse captures the poignancy and drive of the young woman who would become the legendary jazz singer. Cooper’s expressionistic illustrations perfectly match the mood of music and longing so prevalent in Holiday’s life and music.

A LONG WAY GONE: MEMOIRS OF A BOY SOLDIER

By Ishmael Beah

Farrar, 2007

The ways in which children were used to fight during Sierra Leone’s civil war are dramatically told in this riveting memoir. Beah uses simple language, letting the events themselves create the intensity of this horrific story of war and childhoods lost.

MALCOLM X: A GRAPHIC BIOGRAPHY.

Written by Andrew Helfer Illus. by Randy Duburke.

Farrar/Hill & Wang, 2006

In a format sure to connect with teen readers, Helfer presents the early years of Malcolm Little and the dramatic changes in his life that led to him becoming the historic Malcolm X. Duburke’s line drawings create an air of intimacy that further adds to this compelling presentation.

TOUCHING SNOW

by M. Sindy Felin

S & S/Atheneum, 2007

Seventh-grader Karina and other members of her Haitian immigrant family hide her stepfather's violence until one terrible episode threatens to expose all and send the tyrant they call “the Daddy” to jail.

WHAT THEY FOUND: LOVE ON 145^TH STREET

By Walter Dean Myers

Random/Wendy Lamb Bks., 2007

In this companion to Myers’s 145th Street, the neighborhood is revisited, this time the beauty shop is the setting and the jumping off point for this rich group of stories. The connection to community provides a thread, however each story is unique, with sharp characterization and structure. The variations of life and love in this community are strongly evident in this masterful collection.

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