Leonard Jenkins

Ten-year-old Juma and his aunt Aida plan to surprise his Kenyan village with an appearance by Father Christmas and find that they themselves are surprised.

Having Muscular Dystrophy makes every day a struggle for Fred. With the anticipation of the Christmas holidays approaching, Fred is expecting a big change with both his parents recently remarried. Follow Fred's story as he experiences the three D's: Divorce, Disease and Death.

Describes how the twentieth-century African American poet Langston Hughes affirms his vocation as a writer through the composition of his famous 1921 poem "The Negro Speaks of Rivers."

In a small Louisiana mill town in 1940, Jolene does not want her Momma to marry the logger who is courting her, but it seems that even her most defiantly bad behavior cannot make him go away.

Hallie discovers two runaway slaves hiding in Levi Coffin's home and must decide whether to turn them in or help them escape to freedom. Includes historical notes on the Underground Railroad and abolitionists Levi and Catharine Coffin.

Relates how the famous jazz trumpeter began his musical career, as a poor boy in New Orleans, by singing songs on street corners and playing a battered cornet in a marching band.