Catalog Search Results
1) Dear Martin
Author
Language
English
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High School Project Lit Titles
Project Lit - Full List
Short YA Fiction
YA Contemporary Fiction Classics
Project Lit - Full List
Short YA Fiction
YA Contemporary Fiction Classics
Description
"Justyce McAllister is a good kid, an honor student, and always there to help a friend--but none of that matters to the police officer who just put him in handcuffs. Despite leaving his rough neighborhood behind, he can't escape the scorn of his former peers or the ridicule of his new classmates. Justyce looks to the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for answers. But do they hold up anymore? He starts a journal to Dr. King to find out. Then...
2) Dough boys
Author
Language
English
Description
Told in two voices, thirteen-year-old best friends Simp and Rollie play on a basketball team in their housing project, but Rollie dreams of being a drummer and Simp, to impress the gang leader, Coach Tez.
Author
Language
English
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Description
Thirteen-year-old Maleeka Madison, insecure about her very dark skin, rejects the support of a new teacher, Miss Saunders, whose skin looks blotched because of a rare medical condition--but soon Maleeka begins to see that Miss Saunders could be a role model, and that she must learn to love herself and accept love from others.
8) Rebound
Author
Language
English
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Description
In the summer of 1988, twelve-year-old Chuck Bell is sent to stay with his grandparents, where he discovers jazz and basketball and learns more about his family's past.
9) Serena says
Author
Language
English
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Description
Serena St. John loves being best friends with the outgoing JC. But when JC goes into the hospital for a kidney transplant, she comes out with a new best friend. Suddenly on her own, Serena flounders without JC and pours her time into her vlogs, hoping to be selected as class reporter. Even though she knows she's not as outspoken as JC, Serena gets better with practice and learns that she, too, has a voice.
10) Leaving Lymon
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
Raised by his grandparents, first in Mississippi then in Wisconsin, ten-year-old Lymon moves to Chicago in 1945 to live with the mother he never knew, while yearning for his father.
11) Like Vanessa
Author
Language
English
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Description
It is 1983 and Vanessa Martin, a thirteen-year-old African American girl in Newark's public housing, dreams of following in the footsteps of the first black Miss America, Vanessa Williams; but with a dysfunctional family (mother in jail, father withdrawn, drunken grandfather, gay cousin) the odds are against her--until a new teacher at school organizes a beauty pageant and encourages Vanessa to enter.
Author
Language
English
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Description
On her birthday, twelve-year-old aspiring baker Zoe Washington receives a letter from her biological father, who is in prison for murder, telling her he is actually innocent. Determined to discover the truth, Zoe tries to investigate herself, perform well in her baking internship, and achieve her dream of auditioning for the Food Network's Kids Bake Challenge.
13) Betty before X
Author
Language
English
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Description
Raised by her aunt until she is six, Betty, who will later marry Malcolm X, joins her mother and stepfamily in 1940s Detroit, where she learns about the civil rights movement.
15) Ophie's ghosts
Author
Language
English
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Description
After a white mob murders her father, twelve-year-old Ophelia Harrison is awakened by his ghost, who tells her to wake her mother and retreat to the woods. They comply, and escape before their home is burned to the ground by the same men. The pair move to Pittsburgh to live with relatives and take jobs at Daffodil Manor, the home of a wealthy white woman. There, Ophelia continues to see ghosts and learns she has a gift with helping them move on.
Author
Language
English
Appears on these lists
Description
"The Strong family is having a reunion in New Orleans, and twelve-year-old Tristan is supposed to be keeping an eye on his younger cousin Terrance when several things happen at once: he sees his archenemy, King Cotton, and a mysterious girl grabs his magic cellphone--her name is Seraphine, and she seems to know everything about Tristan and the god Anansi (currently inhabiting the cellphone), and she has a mission for Tristan, one that is going lead...
Author
Language
English
Description
Hoping to help their mother who landed a photo shoot for her baking business, the Vanderbeeker children use their spring break to repaint the living room fuschia and let in a health inspector while the house pets run wild. After the inspector shuts down their mother's business and random abandoned pets show up at their front door, the children must find ways to right the chaos in time for the photo shoot.
18) The reckoning
Author
Language
English
Description
Twelve-year-old Lamar dreams of becoming a filmmaker, but when his grandfather is killed in a racist act of violence, Lamar becomes determined to honor his legacy by documenting the fight for justice.
19) Patina
Author
Language
English
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Middle School Project Lit Titles
Nashville Reads 2024 | The Works of Jason Reynolds
Project Lit - Full List
Nashville Reads 2024 | The Works of Jason Reynolds
Project Lit - Full List
Description
"A newbie to the track team, Patina 'Patty' Jones must learn to rely on her family and teammates as she tries to outrun her personal demons"--Provided by the publisher.