Books by Sharon M. Draper

"Melody is electric with excitement. She did something very, very wonderful for someone who was very, very thankful. And now she's going on her first ever airplane flight... to London. Will her wheelchair make it there in one piece? Will she finally find a best friend to be silly with? Go on a heart-thumping adventure? Maybe even meet a prince? Will she be brave enough to give a speech... when she has never uttered a single word in her entire life? Will a dream of her own enable others to have dreams of their own? What Melody will discover is that some dreams can come true, sometimes in the most unexpected ways" --

A New York Times bestseller. Melody faces her fears to follow her passion in this stunning sequel to the acclaimed middle grade novel Out of My Mind. Melody, the huge-hearted heroine of Out of My Mind, is a year older and a year braver. And now with her Medi-talker, she feels nothing’s out of her reach, not even summer camp. There have to be camps for kids like her, and she’s going to sleuth one out – a place where she can trek through a forest, fly on a zip line and ride a horse. A place where maybe she can make her own decisions, do things herself, and maybe maybe maybe, finally make a true friend. By the light of flickering campfires and the power of thunderstorms, through the shock of unexpected creatures in cabins and the first sparkle of a crush, Melody’s about to discover how brave and strong she truly is.

Melody is not like most people. She cannot walk or talk, but she has a photographic memory. She is smarter than most of the adults and smarter than her classmates. Melody refuses to be defined by cerebral palsy. And she's determined to let everyone know it, somehow.

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Sharon M. Draper comes a debut picture book about a timid little ballerina who learns that the show must go on—and will—with a little help from her friends. Bella loves ballet class and listens hard to the music so she can tippy-toe turn, point, and plié in perfect time. When Madame announces a recital, Bella is determined to do her best. But when she tries to stretch up to leap lightly like a cloud, she wobbles and almost topples—luckily, a friend catches her. Now, Bella’s nervous; maybe she can’t do this like she thought she could. On recital day, when the curtain goes up and the dancers get in position, Bella freezes. Can she find her courage in time to take the stage?

Piano-prodigy Isabella, eleven, whose black father and white mother struggle to share custody, never feels whole, especially as racial tensions affect her school, her parents both become engaged, and she and her stepbrother are stopped by police.

When a burning cross set by the Klan causes panic and fear in 1932 Bumblebee, North Carolina, fifth-grader Stella must face prejudice and find the strength to demand change in her segregated town.

"The most affecting and successful narrative ever done about the Holocaust."--The Wall Street Journal "Maus is a book that cannot be put down, truly, even to sleep. When two of the mice speak of love, you are moved, when they suffer, you weep. Slowly th

Recovering from the recent suicide of her ex-boyfriend, senior class president Keisha Montgomery finds herself attracted to a dangerous, older man.

When Gerald was a child he was fascinated by fire. But fire is dangerous and tragedy strikes. The one bright light in Gerald's life is his little half sister, Angel, whom he struggles to protect from her abusive father. Gerald finds success on the Hazelwood Tigers basketball team, and Angel develops her talents as a dancer, despite the trouble that still haunts them.

As rehearsals begin for the ballet version of Peter Pan, the teenaged members of an Ohio dance troupe lose their focus when one of their own goes missing.

Ziggy, Jerome, Rashawn and Rico are sure they¿re going to win the $200 first prize in the upcoming school talent show. With their exuberant singing, energetic dancing and glittery costumes, how can they lose? Includes black-and-white illustrations, study guide and author profile. Chapter Book: 10 chapters.

Copyright date 2006, published as #5 in the Ziggy and the Black Dinosaurs series.

A Time Best YA Book of All Time (2021) In this “searing work of historical fiction” (Booklist), Coretta Scott King Award-winning author Sharon M. Draper tells the epic story of a young girl torn from her African village, sold into slavery, and stripped of everything she has ever known—except hope. Amari's life was once perfect. Engaged to the handsomest man in her tribe, adored by her family, and fortunate enough to live in a beautiful village, it never occurred to her that it could all be taken away in an instant. But that was what happened when her village was invaded by slave traders. Her family was brutally murdered as she was dragged away to a slave ship and sent to be sold in the Carolinas. There she was bought by a plantation owner and given to his son as a "birthday present". Now, survival is all Amari can dream about. As she struggles to hold on to her memories, she also begins to learn English and make friends with a white indentured servant named Molly. When an opportunity to escape presents itself, Amari and Molly seize it, fleeing South to the Spanish colony in Florida at Fort Mose. Along the way, their strength is tested like never before as they struggle against hunger, cold, wild animals, hurricanes, and people eager to turn them in for reward money. The hope of a new life is all that keeps them going, but Florida feels so far away and sometimes Amari wonders how far hopes and dreams can really take her.

In this fourth book of the classic chapter book series by award-winning author Sharon M. Draper, four boys who call themselves the Black Dinosaurs go to space camp! Ziggy and his friends can’t wait for space camp, where they’ll get to learn about weightlessness and how astronauts eat—and use the bathroom—in space! But Ziggy has another goal: he wants to meet some aliens. Purple, three-headed Martians, preferably, just like in his Mega Mighty Martian Blaster game. Once he gets to camp, Ziggy learns that real-life space travel is even more exciting than what he imagined. But when a mysterious, shiny stone appears, Ziggy can’t help but wonder if his dream of alien contact has just come true...

In this third book of the classic chapter book series by award-winning author Sharon M. Draper, four boys who call themselves the Black Dinosaurs go on a spooky camping trip filled with Native American lore. Ziggy and friends are excited about their overnight camping trip to Caesar’s Creek State Park—named after a Shawnee chief. Their camp counselor is a descendant of Caesar and fills the campers’ imaginations with fun (and spooky!) stories about her ancestors and the Shawnee legends. When Ziggy and the rest of the Clubhouse gang decide to test their courage like the Shawnee youth did, things don’t go quite as planned. And when they end up lost, strange things start to happen. Could it just be the animals roaming the woods? Or are the ancient spirits of Caesar back to haunt their old stomping grounds?

Sixteen-year-old Jericho is awaiting initiation to the Warriors of Distinction, the oldest and most exclusive club in school—but how high a price will he have to pay to belong? Find out in this first novel in Sharon M. Draper’s Jericho Trilogy. When Jericho is invited to pledge for the Warriors of Distinction, he thinks his life can’t get any better. As the most exclusive club in school, the Warriors give the best parties, go out with the hottest girls, and great grades are a given. When Arielle, one of the finest girls in his class, starts coming on to him once the pledge announcements are made, Jericho is determined to do anything to become a member… But as the initiation week becomes progressively harrowing, Jericho is forced to make choices he’s not entirely comfortable with. And one member seems to have it in for the sole female pledge in the group…a pledge who will stop at nothing to show she can handle the pressure. But when is she being pushed too far, and when should Jericho and his friends step in and risk losing their places in the pledging process? As Jericho becomes increasingly uneasy, his cousin Joshua breezes through the initiation, never thinking of the consequences, even when the fine line between fun and games, and life and death is crossed.

A young girl who loves Double Dutch is caught in the crossfire of the secrets she, her best friend, and the school bullies are keeping in this emotional middle grade novel. Delia loves Double Dutch more than just about anything, and she’s really good at it—so good she and her teammates have a shot at winning the World Double Dutch Championships. Delia would die if she couldn’t jump—but she’s hiding something could keep her off the team next year. Delia’s friend Randy has a secret too, one that has him lonely and scared. And while Delia and Randy struggle to hide parts of themselves, their school is abuzz with rumors about what malicious mischief the terrible Tolliver twins—who just may have a hidden agenda of their own—are planning. Delia and Randy’s secrets collide on what should be the happiest day of Delia’s life, and the collision threatens to destroy their friendship. Why can’t life be as easy for Delia as Double Dutch?

Do you feel the soul of another calling to you? Do you know in your heart that your destiny and his wore meant to merge In the cosmos? We can help you find him. When Romiette Cappelle and her best friend, Destiny, decide to order The Scientific Soul Mate System from the back of Heavy Hunks magazine, they're not sure what they're getting into. But Destiny, a self-proclaimed psychic, assures Romi that for $44.99 plus shipping and handling, it's the only way they're ever going to find out who their soul mates really are. If nothing else, maybe Romi will get some insight into that recurring dream she's been having about fire and water. But they never expect that the scented candle and tube of dream ointment will live up to their promises and merge Romiette's destiny with that of Julio Montague, a boy she's just met in the "cosmos" of an Internet chat room. It turns out they go to the same high school, not to mention having almost the same names as Shakespeare's famous lovers! Sweet-scented dreams of Julio have almost overtaken Romi's nightmares... ...when suddenly they return, but this time in real life. It seems the Devildogs, a local gang, violently oppose the relationship of Romiette and Julio. Soon they find themselves haunted by the purple-clad shadows of the gang, and the fire and water of Romiette's dream merge in ways more terrifying -- and ultimately more affirming -- than even Destiny could have foreseen.

When Ziggy, Jerome, Rashawn, and Rico enter the school's talent contest, they are sure that they are going to win, until they meet a little girl with a big voice who not only has talent, but who needs the prize money even more than they do.

In 1957, Sylvia Patterson's life--that of a normal African American teenager--is disrupted by the impending integration of Little Rock's Central High when she is selected to be one of the first black students to attend the previously all white school. Includes author's note and related websites.

After the neighborhood basketball court is vandalized, Ziggy and his friends decide to form a club called the Black Dinosaurs and build their clubhouse in Ziggy's backyard.

Jericho, November, Arielle, and their friends must step up big time to prevent a deadly school tragedy in this harrowing conclusion to Sharon M. Draper’s Jericho Trilogy. Arielle Gresham, disliked and mistrusted by most of the students at her school, has a secret past, an unbelievably complicated present, and a shaky future. But no one knows or cares because she has managed to alienate anyone who could help her. She tries to cope with problems at school, but difficulties at home almost break her spirit. Then, as the school tries to deal with an outbreak of false fire alarms and a series of thefts, and Arielle discovers that one classmate is addicted to prescription drugs and another is a victim on vicious online bullying. Outward appearances are seldom what they seem to be—everyone is dealing with something, it’s all a matter of how you deal with it, Arielle is figuring out. But one kid can’t, and as he starts to crack, could he take the school tumbling down with him? A hero is needed. But what makes a hero?

When November Nelson loses her boyfriend, Josh, to a pledge stunt gone horribly wrong, she thinks her life can't possibly get any worse. But Josh left something behind that will change November's life forever, and now she's faced with the biggest decision she could ever imagine. How in the world will she tell her mom? And how will Josh's parents take the news? She's never needed a friend more. Jericho Prescott lost his best friend when he lost his cousin, Josh, and the pain is almost more than he can bear. His world becomes divided into "before" and "after" Josh's death. He finds the only way he can escape the emptiness he feels is to quit doing the things that made him happy when his cousin was alive, such as playing his beloved trumpet, and take up football, where he hopes the physical pain will suppress the emotional. But will hiding behind shoulder pads really help? And will his gridiron obsession prevent him from being there for his cousin's girlfriend when she needs him most? This sequel to The Battle of Jericho is a no-holds-barred look at what happens when life doesn't go as planned, by the acclaimed author of the 2007 Coretta Scott King Award winner Copper Sun.

Andy tackles his guilt and grief in the powerful first book of Sharon M. Draper’s award-winning Hazelwood High young adult trilogy. Tigers don’t cry—or do they? After the death of his longtime friend and fellow Hazelwood Tiger in a car accident, Andy, the driver, blames himself and cannot get past his guilt and pain. While his other friends have managed to work through their grief and move on, Andy allows death to become the focus of his life. In the months that follow the accident, the lives of Andy and his friends are traced through a series of letters, articles, homework assignments, and dialogues, and it becomes clear that Tigers do indeed need to cry.

Ziggy and his friends discover an old slave route under their school.

Ziggy and his friends form the group the Black Dinosaurs to find out who vandalized their basketball court.