Books with author Sharon Dennis Wyeth

"Daughter--that's my name. Daughter McGuire--I'm eleven."When Daughter McGuire, her mother, and her younger brothers, Satchel and Jerry Lee, move next door to her grandparents, she's faced with starting over in a new school, making new friends, and keeping clear of troublemakers like the Avengers. Life would also be easier if her father hadn't run off to Colorado. If her parents were together again, her mother's creepy friend Jim Signet wouldn't be hanging around.But things pick up when Daughter and her classmates Connie and Anna discover Topknot Cave and start the Explorers Club. And at school Mrs. Jackson, Daughter's teacher, suggests an exciting family heritage project. The hitch is that some people think that Daughter's family heritage is too "mixed-up". According to her family tree she is African-Italian-Irish-Jewish-Russian-American. One of the Avengers calls her a "zebra", because one of her parents is black and the other is white. Daughter is so upset, she begins to wonder what she should call herself.As her project comes together, Daughter learns more about her background and the story of the courageous woman whose name she carries. Little does Daughter McGuire know that her own courage will soon be tested in a way she had never dreamed of.Sharon Dennis Wyeth wrote The World of Daughter McGuire because she wanted to issue a challenge. As she says, "Daughter McGuire's world is by no means perfect. Parents don't behave the way you want them to and there are cruel acts of bias. But there is also humor in this world and love aplenty in Daughter, Satch and Jerry Lee's not-so-typical, typical extended family. I want my readers to make connections in spite of external bias, to celebrate ourselves as individuals in a world where conscience counts more than color."

Kristy is growing up and now she has her first crush on a boy! As she feels more and more embarrassed by her developing body, she joins the school play so she has a reason to miss swim practice. Anything to avoid putting on her bathing suit helps. Then she learns that the boy she likes is also a swimmer--and he's on a rival team that The Waves are facing at an upcoming meet. Kristy wants to see him, and she also wants to show The Barracudas just who the best swimming team is!

It is 1760. Monday de Groot and her mother, Lesley, a midwife, sail from their home in Madagascar to New York, to testify on behalf of Lesley's brother Frederick, who has been falsely imprisoned and taken as a slave. Because Lesley has the only papers to prove that Frederick is in fact a free black man, she risks the journey despite its danger for Monday--the potential discovery of the secret of her own birth. While in New York, Monday meets a brother she never knew she had and learns the truth of her heritage. She is not a free African child, as she's always believed, but a child of slaves. The effects of this revelation are astonishing, as Monday comes to grips with her identity and meets her birth mother. Based on historical documents from the 1800s, this compelling story and its remarkable characters will live on in the readers' memory long after the book has been closed.

Editorial Reviews From Publishers Weekly Palmer, Shanonstet , Amy and Lisa, new to the Alma Stephens School for Girls, run an ad in the newspaper published by Ardsley Academy, an all-boys school. They soon hook up with "The Unknowns," four roommates at Ardsley, and their adventures begin. As with most of today's series, the four heroines are a predictable blend of ethnic backgrounds and lifestyles, of personalities and looks. But Wyeth writes with considerable humor, which adds depth and interest to the story. The four girls, and the reader, can see the funny side of potentially embarrassing situations. This first book in the Pen Pals series is a pleasant--and welcome--surprise. Ages 10-14. Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. From School Library Journal Grade 5-7-- Four 13-year-old girls who share a suite in a private girls' school are the center of this new series. In the first book, the girls devise a plan to set up a pen-pal exchange with the neighboring boys' school. After several letters back and forth, a school dance is organized so that the pen pals can finally meet. In Too Cute for Words, Palmer is more attracted to Amy's pen pal than her own, and she tries to take him away. Much like the "Babysitter's Club" and the "Cheerleaders" (both Scholastic) books, this series falls short of any literary quality. The plots are simplistic, characters stereotypical, and dialogue unrealistic. Unfortunately, many girls may find them appealing, even though they don't have much to offer in terms of good literature. --Bonnie L. Raasch, C. B. Vernon Middle School, Marion, IA Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

HOT ICETaboo to the touchA fire in the coldThat was usWelcome to a stage, where a soaring painting takes shape before your eyes, a big-booty poet stands at the mike, and there’s a seat right in front, just for you. This is a place where wise old ladies live and boys act like horses.This is a vision of love that was crushed and brought back to life. And this is my story. I’m Orphea Proud. Welcome to the show.As Orphea, who discovers her sexuality as a lesbian, shares her story, powerful questions of family, prejudice, and identity are explored.