Children and Teens

2010 Summer Favorites - Biography & Sports

BIOGRAPHY

Child of the Civil Rights Movement (Hardcover)

By Raul Colon, Paula Young Shelton
$17.99
ISBN-13: 9780375843143
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Schwartz & Wade, 12/2009
Other Editions of this Title
The daughter of Andrew Young, Paula Young Shelton called Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Uncle Martin.  A true CHILD OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT (Schwartz  & Wade, $17.99), Paula and her sisters were carried along in their parents’ arms on the march to Selma.  This memoir culminates in the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965 and watching Uncle Martin stand beside President Johnson as he signed the act into law.  Ages 5-9.  ESL

Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai (Hardcover)

By Claire A. Nivola
$16.99
ISBN-13: 9780374399184
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR), 4/2008
Other Editions of this Title
Wangari grew up in Kenya listening to her elders tell stories of the trees that had once covered her country. When she grew older, she moved to the city and became a wise woman, planting trees in her garden and advising other women to do the same. Donna Jo Napoli tells the story of how Wangari Maathai, known as MAMA MITI (Simon & Schuster, $16.99), the mother of trees, changed her country’s landscape one tree at a time. Kadir Nelson’s breathtaking oil paint and fabric collage illustrations reflect the bright colors and textiles of East Africa and draw the reader into Wangari’s Kenya.  Ages 4-8.  DMC

A Gift from Childhood: Memories of an African Boyhood (Hardcover)

By Baba Wague Diakite
$18.95
ISBN-13: 9780888999313
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Groundwood Books, 2/2010

Renowned artist and storyteller Baba Wague Diakité (The Hatseller and the Monkey) shares his unique coming-of-age story in A GIFT FROM CHILDHOOD: MEMORIES OF AN AFRICAN BOYHOOD (Groundwood Books, $18.95).  Following family tradition, Diakité’s parents sent him to live with his grandparents in a small Malian village where he learned the secrets and stories of rural life.  When Diakite returned to the city for his formal education, he discovered his own talents.  Later, he moved to the U.S., where he embarked on a new life as a writer and artist.  Diakite’s stunning color and black-and-white illustrations are on earthenware tiles.  Ages 9-12.  HWP

SPORTS

 

No Easy Way: The Story of Ted Williams and the Last .400 Season (Hardcover)

By Fred Bowen, Chuck Pyle
$16.99
ISBN-13: 9780525478775
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Dutton Juvenile, 2/2010

 

Ten thousand fans showed up at the last double header of the season to see if Ted Williams was going to hit .400.  It was Ted’s Boston Red Sox against the Philadelphia Athletics, and the Athletics’ pitcher was going to make sure that there was NO EASY WAY (Dutton, $16) that Ted was going to break the record.  In the eighth inning of the first game, a smash down the right-field line brought his batting average to .404.  What would happen in the second game?  Fred Bowen’s exciting sports writing and Charles S. Pyle’s classic illustrations tell the story of a Red Sox legend whose career went down in baseball history.  Ages 6-10.  ESL