Theodore Taylor

"This beautiful picture book tells the little-known story of Raven Wilkinson, the first African American woman to dance for a major classical ballet company and an inspiration to Misty Copeland. When she was only five years old, her parents took her to see the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. Raven perched on her crushed velvet seat, heard the tympani, and cried with delight even before the curtain lifted. From that moment on, her passion for dance only...

"In 1882, Black botanist and mycologist Charles S. Parker sprouted up in the lush, green Pacific Northwest. From the beginning, Charles's passion was plants, and he trudged through forests, climbed mountains, and waded into lakes to find them. When he was drafted to fight in World War I, Charles experienced prejudice against Black soldiers and witnessed the massive ecological devastation that war caused. Those experiences made him even more determined...

"Will Little Shaq be able to show he's ready for his very own pet?"--

With his parents in India, sixteen-year-old Ben Jepson is in charge of Los Coyotes Preserve, a refuge for big cats near Los Angeles, when two powerful groups try to shut it down by intimidation, murder, and kidnapping the largest tiger in captivity.

Evan, an eleven-year-old boy in 1914 whose strict father has little time for him, is delighted when his long-lost grandfather returns, relates his many sea adventures, and hobbles around like Evan who has a club foot.