Feeling most alive when he's playing the blues with his grandfather, Clayton is devastated when his grandfather dies and his mother forbids him from playing music, losses that compel him to run away and join bluesmen on the road.

Every Tuesday Lola and her mother visit their local library to return and check out books, attend story readings, and share a special treat.

"Trace Carter doesn't know how to feel at ease in his new life in New York. Even though his artsy Auntie Lea is cool, her brownstone still isn't his home. Haunted by flashbacks of the accident that killed his parents, the best he can do is try to distract himself from memories of the past. But the past isn't done with him. When Trace takes a wrong turn in the New York Public Library, he finds someone else lost in the stacks with him: a crying little...

Perfectionistic Jerzey desperately wants to be a good ballet dancer like her sisters, but her efforts to learn are repeatedly thwarted, until she finds help in an unexpected place.

When he can't find his cat to enter in the neighborhood pet show, Archie must do some fast thinking to win a prize.

Seven-year-old Shaquille O'Neal, a talented basketball and video game player, learns to share the spotlight with his cousin Barry when the youngsters work together to earn money by watering plants.

Eight-year-old EllRay Jakes's attempts to defend himself against the class bully always end up getting him in trouble, but he promises to do his best when his dad offers to take him to Disneyland if he can be good for an entire week--which may be a few days too long.

Publisher Annotation: Lightning couldn't strike twice, could it? After a terrible year, Madalyn needs clear skies desperately. Moving in with her great-uncle, Papa Lobo, and switching to a new school is just the first step. It's not all rainbows and sunshine, though. Madalyn discovers she's the only Black girl in her class, and while most of her classmates are friendly, assumptions lead to some serious storms. Papa Lobo's long-running feud with neighbor...

Fourth-grader Bakari Katari Johnson is having a really bad day--class bullies Tariq and Keisha are mad at him, his best friend Wardell has nominated him for hall monitor, a pack of ice zombies from a frozen world are demanding he return the magic ring that Keisha has, and somehow he has to find a way to save the school.

A little girl uses her 5 senses as she helps her mother prepare dinner.