Virginia Hamilton
Edgar Award Winner: A teenager and his family must uncover the haunting historical legacy of their Civil War–era house.
Shortly after moving into an old, spooky home, thirteen-year-old Thomas Small and his family start hearing strange noises. The house has a past, and when Thomas discovers a hidden passageway that may have been part of the Underground Railroad, the family realizes the house has a history as well. To find out
Hamilton's classic coming-of-age tale: The National Book Award– and Newbery Award–winning novel about a young man who must choose between supporting his tight-knit family and pursuing his own dreams
Mayo Cornelius Higgins perches on top of a homemade forty-foot tower, considering two destinies. Behind him is his family's beloved house at the foot of a mountain that strip mining has reduced to loose rubble. In front of him,...4) Dustland
Using their psychic abilities, Justice, the Watcher, Dorian, the healer, Thomas, the magician, and Levi, the sufferer, have formed their unit. Together, they mind-travel to a strange future world called Dustland. Together, they can survive anything. But when tensions run high between Thomas and Justice, will Thomas leave them stranded in this...
Thomas Small and his best friend Pesty Darrow have been keeping the secret of the vast treasure that’s hidden in Mr. Pluto’s cave, once a stop on the Underground Railroad. Pesty also has to keep the treasure a secret from her family, who want it for themselves. And there are...
A beautiful ghost appears to a troubled teen and shows her the heartbreaking secrets of her family’s past
Fifteen-year-old Teresa has fallen in love—with a ghost. The handsome man that she’s passed on the street a few times captures her attention, and she thinks he notices her too. But when the man suddenly appears inside her home, hovering in the air and passing through solid furniture, Teresa realizes this isn’t
Halloween is Willie Bea’s favorite holiday. Her relatives always visit, and everyone cooks, bakes, and tells stories. Best of all, the kids get to dress in costume and go trick-or-treating. But this Halloween is different. When Willie’s glamorous aunt Leah, who reads palms and...
8) Zeely
Elizabeth and her brother live on a farm for a summer—and learn a whole new way of living and dreaming
Elizabeth likes to invent stories. When she travels to her uncle’s farm for a summer, she starts by making up new names for herself and her younger brother: “Geeder” and “Toeboy.” As “Geeder” explores the farm on her own and with her brother, she encounters mysteries that capture her imagination,...10) The Gathering
Knowing they have unfinished business in the future, Justice, the Watcher, Thomas, the magician, Levi, the sufferer, and Dorian, the healer, again combine to form their unit and time-travel to Dustland. The unit hopes to guide the beings of Dustland out of the dangerous, barren place in the hopes of finding a safer home. But neither...
Virginia Hamilton (1936-2002), a giant in the world of children's literature, was the first African-American woman to win a Newbery Medal and the first children's book author to be awarded a MacArthur Genius Grant. In her prize-winning anthology of American Black folktales, The People Could Fly, Hamilton has gathered and retold a collection of stories that teach us much, move us deeply, and make us laugh out loud.
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...Time Pieces is a quietly beautiful coming-of-age story from a master storyteller.
Eleven-year-old Valena, her family, and dog live in rural Ohio, where she and her cousin Melinda share experiences that include seeing the aurora borealis, surviving a tornado, and going to an amazing circus.
Yet Valena lives in both the present and the past as she struggles with racism in her daily life and listens to and learns from her mother's tales
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