Jacqueline Woodson

"The summer before seventh grade, as the constant threat of housefires looms over her Brooklyn neighborhood, basketball-loving Sage is trying to figure out her place in her circle of friends, when a new kid named Freddy moves in"--

Through letters to his little sister, who is living in a different foster home, sixth-grader Lonnie, also known as "Locomotion," keeps a record of their lives while they are apart, describing his own foster family, including his foster brother who returns home after losing a leg in the Iraq War.

Two girls, one white and one black, gradually get to know each other as they sit on the fence that divides their town.

A rope passed down through the generations frames an African American family's story as they journey north during the time of the Great Migration.

Laurel Daneau has moved on to a new life, in a new town, but inside she's still reeling from the loss of her beloved mother and grandmother after Hurricane Katrina washed away their home. Laurel's new life is going well, with a new best friend, a place on the cheerleading squad and T-Boom, co-captain of the basketball team, for a boyfriend. Yet Laurel is haunted by voices and memories from her past.
When T-Boom introduces Laurel to meth, she immediately...

A veces, cuando por fin damos el paso, suceden cosas increíbles.
Habrá veces en que entres a un lugar
y no veas a nadie como tú.
Hay muchas razones por las que uno se puede sentir diferente.
Quizá sea por tu apariencia o por la forma en que hablas o de dónde vienes. A lo mejor es por lo que comes o por algún motivo similar. Sea cual sea la razón, no es fácil...

"Following their wise grandmother's advice, a brother and sister discover their ability to lift themselves up and imagine a better world"--

A child and her grandmother feel sad when Grandpa dies, but as time passes, funny memories of him make them laugh and feel better.

In a series of poems, eleven-year-old Lonnie writes about his life, after the death of his parents, separated from his younger sister, living in a foster home, and finding his poetic voice at school.

CJ just blew the half-mile relay for his track team, but the race on his mind is the one that's happening off the field in this short story from all-star author Jacqueline Woodson. This short story from the collection Guys Read: The Sports Pages is a winner.