Books with author Patricia C. McKissack

Illus. in full color. While searching for a sewing needle to make her doll a new dress, "Nettie Jo helps Miz Rabbit unflop her ears, Fox get the sun out of his eyes, and Panther stop his sneezing. The trio turns up on her doorstep, with a needle as a thank-you gift. McKissack sets her story in the rural South at the turn of the century and offers a feisty black heroine whose ordinary concerns are caressed by fantasy. Cook's oil paintings are suffused with a golden glow...as soft as a kiss, yet filled wtih energy. A warm, witty wedding of text and art."--(starred) Booklist.

Why has their grandmother bothered keeping a menu from a restaurant that closed years ago, a restaurant that never served very good food in the first place? Three cousins listen to Gee's own story, set in the early days of lunch counter sit-ins in Nashville, a time when a black child could sit up front in a city bus but still could not get a milkshake at a downtown restaurant. Through the eyes of ten-year-old Abby, young readers see what it was like to live through those days and they'll come to understand that, like a menu, freedom is about having choices.Each book in the series tells the story behind a different ‘scrap of time;' together they form a patchwork quilt of one black family's past that stretches back for generations.

Through moving prose and beautiful watercolors, award-winning author-illustrator duo collaborate to tell the poignant tale of a spirited young girl who comes face to face with segregation in her southern town.There’s a place in this 1950s southern town where all are welcome, no matter what their skin color…and ’Tricia Ann knows exactly how to get there. To her, it’s someplace special and she’s bursting to go by herself. When her grandmother sees that she’s ready to take such a big step, ’Tricia Ann hurries to catch the bus heading downtown. But unlike the white passengers, she must sit in the back behind the Jim Crow sign and wonder why life's so unfair. Still, for each hurtful sign seen and painful comment heard, there’s a friend around the corner reminding ’Tricia Ann that she’s not alone. And even her grandmother’s words—"You are somebody, a human being—no better, no worse than anybody else in this world”—echo in her head, lifting her spirits and pushing her forward.

In the year 2170 an underground abolitionist movement fights for the freedom of cyborgs and clones, who are treated no better than slavesThe Cyborg Wars are over and Earth has peacefully prospered for more than one hundred years. Yet sometimes history must repeat itself until humanity learns from its mistakes. In the year 2170, despite technological and political advances, cyborgs and clones are treated no better than slaves, and an underground abolitionist movement is fighting for freedom. Thirteen-year-old Leanna's entire life is thrown into chaos when The World Federation of Nations discovers her mom is part of the radical Liberty Bell Movement.

For more than a thousand years, from A.D. 500 to 1700, the medieval kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhay grew rich on the gold, salt, and slave trade that stretched across Africa. Scraping away hundreds of years of ignorance, prejudice, and mythology, award-winnnig authors Patricia and Fredrick McKissack reveal the glory of these forgotten empires while inviting us to share in the inspiring process of historical recovery that is taking place today.

After having a book snatched from her little hand, Mary McLeod, the child of former slaves, resolved to learn to read. Many years later, with $1.50 in her pocket, Mary McLeod Bethune set out to make education a reality for other African Americans. The school she started in Florida is a legacy that continues her mission today. Bethune founded the National Council of Negro Women and was appointed to the National Youth Administration by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. This inspiring, readable biography shows the power of determination and a dream.