Awards: Coretta Scott King

The Coretta Scott King Award is presented annually by the Coretta Scott King Task Force of the ALA's Social Responsibilities Round Table. Recipients are authors and illustrators of African descent whose distinguished books promote an understanding and appreciation of the "American Dream". 

TITLE & AUTHOR

Another Way To Dance

SOUTHGATE, M

Black ballet dancer Vicki is certain she loves to dance, but can she contend with racism and doubt surrounding her talents?

Bud, Not Buddy*

When his mother dies in 1936, Bud hits the road, convinced that his mother's posters of a jazz band would lead him to the father he has never met.

Forged By Fire*

While his mother was serving a prison sentence for child neglect, Gerald lived with his aunt. Then, one day, his mother returns with her new husband and Angel, Gerald's little sister. As the children grow up, it becomes more and more apparent that Angel needs Gerald's protection from her father's sexual abuse. But who will protect Gerald?

Heaven

JOHNSON, A

When Marley, who is African American, learns that her itinerant uncle is really her father and her loving "parents" are her aunt and uncle, she has to come to terms with her feelings of anger, betrayal and curiosity as to who she really is.

I Hadn't Meant To Tell You This*

Two girls, one a poor abused white girl, the other a middle class African American whose mother had left the family, build a friendship in spite of their cultural and racial differences.

I Thought My Soul Would Rise And Fly

The ending of the Civil War has brought, in theory, long-sought freedom, but the former slaves at Davis Hall are still tied to the plantation. Patsy, who has secretly learned to read and write, keeps a diary in which she questions what freedom means and writes of her hope to be a teacher.

Let The Circle Be Unbroken

Like Sisters On The Homefront*

WILLIAMS-GARCIA, R

When 14-year-old Gayle becomes pregnant a second time, her mother sends her to Georgia to live with her Uncle Luther. Strong-willed and impulsive, Gayle eventually makes friends with her pious cousin Constance, but develops a true affinity for Luther's stubborn, spirited grandmother.

Miracle's Boys

Lafayette's close friendship with his older brother Charlie changes after Charlie is released from the correctional facility and returns a hostile stranger.

Motown And Didi

MYERS, W

Didi dreams of college and her boyfriend Motown dreams of steady work, but first, both of them must survive in the brutal present, which is Harlem - a backdrop of junkies, threats, danger and death.

Road To Memphis*

The saga of the Logan family of Roll Of Thunder, Hear My Cry continues as Cassie comes to the aid of a black youth trying to flee the state after injuring a white boy.

Skin I'm In*

An African American girl learns to accept herself when tough kids at school harass by following the example of a strong African American teacher.

Slam*

17-year-old Greg "Slam" Harris can do it all on the court, but his grades aren't so hot. When his teachers put pressure on him, he blows up, and suddenly Slam is going one-on-one with his future.

Somewhere In The Darkness

A teenage boy accompanies his father, who has recently escaped from prison, on a trip that turns out to be an often painful, time of discovery for them both. He learns that although some things can't be fixed, they can be understood - and forgiven.

Tears Of A Tiger

Andy is an African-American teenager whose life derails when, after a long evening of drinking, the car he drives crashes, killing his best friend. His guilt and despair lead him to turn away from family, friends and his plans for the future.

Toning The Sweep

Ola, Emmie's grandma who lives in the California desert is dying of cancer. Emily borrows a video camera and begins to record Ola's friends, reminiscing about their times together. In giving her grandmother a gift of 'memories of her people', Emily's knowledge and understanding of her own family, and especially of Ola, grows.

Watsons Go To Birmingham - 1963

An engaging novel of a middle-class black family's trip from Flint, Michigan, to Birmingham, Alabama, in the tumultuous days of the Civil Rights movement.