Coretta Scott King Awards 2003 The American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia announced the winners of the Coretta Scott King Award on January 27th. The Coretta Scott King Award is presented annually by the Coretta Scott King Task Force of the American Library Association'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." The Award commemorates the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and honors his widow, Coretta Scott King, for her courage and determination in continuing the work for peace and world brotherhood. Winners of the Coretta Scott King Award receive a framed citation, an honorarium, and a set of Encyclopaedia Britannica or World Book Encyclopedias. Both the winning and honored books are reviewed below. Author Award Winner Bronx Masquerade Nikki Grimes    On Open Mike Fridays, Mr. Ward's classroom is the place to be because that is the day he challenges his students to step up and read their own poetry. Ward's is a diverse class and by their own admission, they hardly know each other. Each of the students has a voice as distinct as the lives he or she leads. There is Tyrone the homey who wants to be a hip-hop star, abused Chankara who has no use for "imitation love that packs a pinch," lonely Lupe who says her "rosaries and begs for someone to love," Sheila Gamberoni lost in a school where everyone "around me is dark and ethnic," dyslexic Raynard, and single mother Gloria. Throughout the year, in free verse and rap, they pour out their pain and their dreams, and reveal their innermost thoughts. Each of them longs to shed the masquerade that hides his true self. Grimes balances narrative and poetry seamlessly but with eighteen characters, she can offer little more than a glimpse into each one's soul. Their words are heartbreaking, thought provoking, and inspiring, and in the course of a year, these kids create new bonds and come to realize the power of self worth. Young adults who read this might be persuaded to write their own poetry as a form of cathartic release. 2002, Dial, $16.99. Ages 12 to 16. Reviewer: Beverley Fahey ISBN: 0-8037-2569-8 Best Books: Best Books for Young Adults, 2003 ; American Library Association-YALSA; United States Middle and Junior High School Library Catalog, Supplement to the Eighth Edition, 2002 ; H.W. Wilson; United States Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, 2003 ; American Library Association-YALSA; United States Honor Books The Red Rose Box Brenda Woods    Poetic language, southern cadences and the excitement of an era and areas ripe with possibility all come together in this book about ten-year-old Leah Hopper who receives a remarkable gift: a traveling case covered with red roses. Its contents are equally special: red nail polish, pink satin slippers and bed jacket, ear rings, lavender bath bubbles¾all from a mysterious Aunt Olivia who encloses a letter in the red rose box for Leah's mother. The letter says, simply, "I am very sorry." Suddenly, Leah's world changes. She and her sister, Ruth, mother and grandmother travel to see Olivia and her well-off husband in Los Angeles, a world vastly different from Sulphur, Louisiana and its Jim Crow existence. In Los Angeles, even drinking fountains are magically integrated. It is during a second trip to New York's Harlem with Aunt Olivia and Uncle Bill that the girls learn that a hurricane has wiped out Sulphur, their parents, and friends. Their Aunt and Uncle's world must become theirs. Leah and Ruth are torn between this new life and their old one. Leah misses her "daddy, tall and brown," with his tall tales, her down-to-earth-mother and her dead friends. This finely written story is set in the era in which Brown vs. the Board of Education has just sounded the death knell for segregation. This is a book to be read for its language, its historical setting and its timeless theme of growing up in a changing world. 2002, G. P. Putnam's Sons, Ages 10 to 15, $16.99. Reviewer: Judy Crowder ISBN: 0-399-23702-X Talkin' About Bessie: The Story of Aviator Elizabeth Coleman Nikki Grimes Illustrated by E. B. Lewis     Born in 1892, Bessie Coleman grew up in Texas, moved to Chicago, learned to fly in Paris, and became the first licensed African-American female pilot. She fell to her death in l926. The fictionalized story is based on fact and told in free verse, with Bessie offstage at a mourner's gathering as people reminisce¾her mother recalls her reading the Bible aloud as a child, sisters and brothers relate telling anecdotes. The telling opens with a white customer of Bessie's laundry business who recalls her looking straight at a person rather than downcast, a reporter who covers her as a chance to "lift the Race," her French flight instructor, and throughout, people speak of Bessie's achievements and her determination to do something. E. B. Lewis's watercolors glow with love for his subject and Bessie's cheerful smile and confidence shine from the page. It is only in the afterword that readers learn how Coleman died--by falling out of a plane as it went into a nose-dive and she was not buckled into the seat but leaning over looking for a place to land a parachute for a barnstorming show. It is an unusual picture book biography and one that works well to show children how a biographer might take pieces of information from many sources to create a picture of a person. 2002, Orchard Books, Ages 7 to 11, $16.95. Reviewer: Susan Hepler ISBN: 0-439-35243-6 Illustrator Award Winner Talkin' About Bessie: The Story of Aviator Elizabeth Coleman Nikki Grimes Illustrated by E. B. Lewis    There are many threads in this story based on the life of Elizabeth Coleman. She was born dirt poor in the early days of 1892. As an African American, life was very hard, and her father left the family so Bessie was raised by her mother--an illiterate woman who wanted all of her children to know how to read and write. Bessie learned and wanted to become someone. She did laundry; she started college, but ran out of money. Never one to be defeated, she went to Chicago, learned to be a manicurist and then went to France where she could learn to fly airplanes--no U.S. school would accept a woman of color. She did what she set out to and returned home an aviator. She was a barnstormer, who suffered a serious accident and in yet another accident died at the age of 34. The fascinating approach to this story, which has been told in other books, is the way the information about Bessie is presented. All of the significant people in her life present their view as her life is revealed to young readers. From father to mother, sisters, teachers, flight instructors and more, the picture of this intelligent, dedicated woman who rose above her circumstances is revealed. Opening and closing notes provide facts to this fictional but accurate account. E. B. Lewis has done a masterful job with full-page scenes of Bessie's life and inset sepia tone images of each speaker. A book that is inspirational and worthy of being read more than once. 2002, Orchard Books, $16.95. Ages 4 to 8. Reviewer: Marilyn Courtot ISBN: 0-439-35243-6 Best Books: School Library Journal Book Review Stars, October 2002 ; Cahners; United States Honor Books Rap a Tap Tap: Here's Bojangles - Think of That! Leo and Diane Dillon    Once again the Dillons have successfully combined text with their unique colorful illustrations to create an exciting visual package in this book that aptly describes the life of legendary tap dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, while also managing to highlight his dancing ways. The simple one line per page format kicks off and continues throughout the book. Sing-song rhyming lines and the repetitive phrase "rap a tap tap--think of that" alternate with each other to produce an appealing page-turner geared to the young set. A shadowy illusion technique gives Mr. Bojangles the appearance of actually toe-tapping his feet. Mr. Bojangles threads his way through bright cityscapes where people are engaged in a variety of daily activities. By absorbing the book from cover to cover the reader learns that the dancer entertained all kinds of people with whom he had contact and that his talent was viewed as a work of art. Add this book to any library or home shelf to increase awareness of a wonderful real life entertainer. 2002, The Blue Sky Press/Scholastic, $15.95. Ages 4 to 8. Reviewer: Nancy Garhan Attebury ISBN: 0-590-47883-4 Best Books: Publishers Weekly Book Review Stars, August 12, 2002 ; Cahners; United States Visiting Langston Willie Perdomo Illustrated by Bryan Collier    A paean to Langston Hughes in lilting jazz rhythms, poet and Harlem native Willie Perdomo's spare narrative follows a young girl as she visits Hughes's brownstone home in Harlem. Coretta Scott King Awardee Bryan Collier's watercolor and collage illustrations match the feeling of Perdomo's words. His images are riff with emotion rather than realism. The little girl's pink-striped shirt and her daddy's faux alligator jacket add to the color of the place-and to each of them as individuals. This is a book filled with pride; a book meant to give pride. A prefatory Author's Note gives a brief biographical sketch of Hughes, which emphasizes his motivations as a writer. 2002, Henry Holt, $15.95. Ages 4 to 8. Reviewer: Kathleen Karr ISBN: 0-8050-6744-2 John Steptoe New Talent Award Author Chill Wind Janet McDonald    Aisha's welfare checks are about to run out but she still wants to "hang." Aisha doesn't want to do any work, just eat junk food and chill with her friends. An over-weight, high school drop out with two children and no husband, she tries everything to get money, from pretending she's crazy to asking her older siblings for help to buying a lottery ticket. On a whim she calls 1-800-BIG-MODELS, but she blows her chance as a model by showing up late and fighting with the receptionist. She finally buckles down and gets a job through Workfare, the transition program from welfare to work, where she patrols the subway. The model agency director spots her working, however, and signs her up for a job. Miraculously, Aisha is a star and a new woman breaking free of her past and resolving issues with work, money, and her mother. The book accurately depicts kids growing up in poor ghettos with appropriate slang and dialogue and shows how kids get caught in their past. Aisha is loveable and funny, the events believable, and the ending idealistic. 2002, Frances Foster Books, Ages 14 to 18, $16.00. Reviewer: Janet L. Rose ISBN: 0-374-39958-1 Coretta Scott King Award - 2002 Coretta Scott King Award - 2001 To stay up to date on new books by these authors, consider subscribing to The Children's Literature Comprehensive Database. 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