Most Popular Books by Evelyn Coleman

A young girl’s life changes forever when she investigates a mystery with the help of writers, artists, and musicians in 1920s Harlem Bessie Coulter has no idea why her father spirits her and her brother, Eddie, away from their home in Burlington, North Carolina, in the middle of the night, leaving their sick mother behind. But from the moment she steps off the train at Grand Central Station, she’s captivated by this teeming, colorful city that’s both scary and exciting. Although Harlem is a thrilling place, Bessie misses her mother and can’t get used to living with her two aunts. She’s lonely and homesick, especially when her father begins going out with a beautiful, well-dressed woman. Desperate to find out what’s going on, Bessie launches an investigation that takes Eddie and her into a world of artists, jazz musicians, and writers, in search of a strange place called the Dark Tower. With the help of their next-door neighbor Lillian Moore and a Caribbean hoodoo woman named Miss Flo, Bessie is determined to uncover the mystery and get her family back together. This ebook includes a historical afterword.

An enthralling account of a young boy’s struggle to help freedom triumph over fear in the 1940s American South. It’s 1947, and twelve-year-old Clyde Thomason is proud to have an older brother who guards the Freedom Train—a train that is traveling to all forty-eight states carrying the country’s most important documents, including the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. Clyde hasn’t told his parents he won’t perform the Freedom Pledge because of stage fright, nor has he mentioned his confusing friendship with a boy of color. So when the townspeople threaten William’s family, Clyde has a choice to make: Will he keep quiet, or stand up for real freedom? Ideal for classrooms, Freedom Train contains historical photos of the Freedom Train and its guards, as well as an author’s note that provides additional information about the history of the Freedom Train.

In 1958, a girl risks everything to put a stop to a deadly Ku Klux Klan plot to bomb her Tennessee school The middle child in a family of eight, Mendy Anna Thompson was named after her grandmother’s hero—former first lady Anna Eleanor Roosevelt. Playing in the woods near her house in Monteagle, Tennessee, with Mr. Hare, her tamed wild rabbit, Mendy likes to imagine traveling around the world with Mrs. Roosevelt. But Mr. Hare is no substitute for Mendy’s best friend, Jeffrey, whom her parents have forbidden her to see because she’s black and he’s white. But one night, Mendy notices evidence of trespassers in the secret clearing behind her house. When she sets out to investigate, she uncovers a plot to bomb her high school during a visit by Eleanor Roosevelt! Now Mendy and Jeffrey, who meet in secret, must find a way to foil the Ku Klux Klan before they succeed in their wicked scheme. Based on true events, Circle of Fire is a moving and suspenseful story of friendship and race relations in the segregated South. This ebook includes a historical afterword.

1996 Notable Book for Children, Smithsonian Magazine Pick of the Lists, American Bookseller In the segregated south, a young girl thinks that she can drink from a fountain marked "Whites Only" because she is wearing her white socks. When Grandma was a little girl in Mississippi, she sneaked into town one day. It was a hot day—the kind of hot where a firecracker might light up by itself. But when this little girl saw the "Whites Only" sign on the water fountain, she had no idea what she would spark when she took off her shoes and—wearing her clean white socks—stepped up to drink. Bravery, defiance, and a touch of magic win out over hatred in this acclaimed story by Elevelyn Coleman. Tyrone Geter's paintings richly evoke its heat, mood, and legendary spirit.

When her family moves to Philadelphia's Society Hill neighborhood in 1866, Addy discovers that her new home holds dangerous secrets--including one connected to the North Carolina plantation she had escaped from only two years earlier. Includes a brief overview of the experiences of African Americans during Reconstruction, the period immediately following the Civil War.

Eleven-year-old Cécile Rey searches through many corners of 1854 New Orleans seeking a necklace, borrowed from her Tante Tay, that disappeared as she was exiting a crowded showboat. Includes facts about the 1850s.

While searching for her missing fiance, a tough-talking Atlanta journalist is stunned by a series of macabre discoveries that put her on a collision course with a deadly secret involving race, religion, love, and murder. "A thrilling, suspenseful journey, " says "Chicago Tribune."

Malik got out of the swing and walked in back of me. "I've seen you swim, girl. You're the best I've ever seen. And whenever you ready you can win. Or, you can give up", he said, placing his hand in the middle of my back. "Just remember one thing", he said, pushing me gently, so gently, I could barely feel his hand as I swung up into the air. "I'll be here for you when you need me. But only if you don't let them win". "Them who?" I asked, closing my eyes and letting the wind whisper on my face. "Them who would hold you back", he said. "Keisha . . ". He stopped the swing with both his hands on either side of me. He leaned in close to my ear and whispered, "Keisha, don't let them win. I've gotta go now, but if anybody bothers you again, I'm taking it up". -- from Born in Sin

A brief biography of Oseola McCarty, a hard-working washer woman who, without a formal education herself, donated a portion of her life savings to the University of Southern Mississippi to endow a scholarship fund for needy students.

Living together way out in the country, an African American girl and her grandmother have such a close relationship that they communicate without words.

These suspenseful stories will leave readers on the edge of their seats! Each spine-tingling tale features a brave, clever girl solving an intriguing mystery at an important time in America's past.Includes Secrets on 26th Street, Voices at Whisper Bend, and Mystery of the Dark Tower.

Daddy Wes tells how Africans were brought to America as slaves, but promises his children that as long as they can hear the rhythm of the earth, they will be free.

Set during the time of slavery, this powerful tale--told in the tradition of African-American folklore--centers on a slave named Hezekiah. When his attempt at escape fails, Hezekiah is befriended by a wise old crow who tells him what he must do in order to be free. The intriguing, moving text is highlighted by exceptional, bold full-color woodcut paintings.

In 1928, when her father tears her and her brother from their mother in North Carolina and takes them to live with aunts in Harlem, twelve-year-old Bessie is trapped in a strange place, especially after her father mysteriously disappears. Author Biography, Award-winning Author.