Most Popular Books by Sharon M. Draper

Piano-prodigy Isabella, eleven, whose black father and white mother struggle to share custody, never feels whole, especially as racial tensions affect her school, her parents both become engaged, and she and her stepbrother are stopped by police.

Striving Readers

As rehearsals begin for the ballet version of Peter Pan, the teenaged members of an Ohio dance troupe lose their focus when one of their own goes missing.

The flame of love burns bright in the second book of Sharon M. Draper’s award-winning Hazelwood High trilogy. When Gerald was a child he was fascinated by fire. But fire is dangerous and powerful, and tragedy strikes. His substance-addicted mother is taken from him. Then he loses the loving generosity of a favorite aunt, and a brutal stepfather with a flaming temper and an evil secret makes his life miserable. The one bright light in Gerald''s life is his little half sister, Angel, whom he struggles to protect from her father, who is abusing her. Somehow Gerald manages to finds success as a member of the Hazelwood Tigers basketball team, and Angel develops her talents as a dancer, despite the trouble that still haunts them. And Gerald learns, painfully, that young friends can die and old enemies must be faced. In the end he must stand up to his stepfather alone in a blazing confrontation. In this second book of the Hazelwood High trilogy, Sharon M. Draper has woven characters and events from Tears of a Tiger in an unflinchingly realistic portrayal of poverty and child abuse. It is an inspiring story of a young man who rises above the tragic circumstances of his life by drawing on the love and strength of family and friends.

When pale strangers enter fifteen-year-old Amari''s village, her entire tribe welcomes them; for in her remote part of Africa, visitors are always a cause for celebration. But these strangers are not here to celebrate. They are here to capture the strongest, healthiest villagers and to murder the rest. They are slave traders. And in the time it takes a gun to fire, Amari''s life as she''s known it is destroyed, along with her family and village. Beaten, branded, and dragged onto a slave ship, Amari is forced to witness horrors worse than any nightmare and endure humiliations she had never thought possible -- including being sold to a plantation owner in the Carolinas who gives her to his sixteen-year-old son, Clay, as his birthday present. Now, survival and escape are all Amari dreams about. As she struggles to hold on to her memories in the face of backbreaking plantation work and daily degradation at the hands of Clay, she finds friendship in unexpected places. Polly, an outspoken indentured white girl, proves not to be as hateful as she''d first seemed upon Amari''s arrival, and the plantation owner''s wife, despite her trappings of luxury and demons of her own, is kind to Amari. But these small comforts can''t relieve Amari''s feelings of hopelessness and despair, and when an opportunity to escape presents itself, Amari and Polly decide to work together to find the thing they both want most...freedom. Grand and sweeping in scope, detailed and penetrating in its look at the complicated interrelationships of those who live together on a plantation, Copper Sun is an unflinching and unforgettable look at the African slave trade and slavery in America.

Andy tackles his guilt and grief in the first book of Sharon M. Draper’s award-winning Hazelwood High trilogy. Tigers don’t cry—or do they? After the death of his longtime friend and fellow Hazelwood Tiger in a car accident, Andy, the driver, blames himself and cannot get past his guilt and pain. While his other friends have managed to work through their grief and move on, Andy allows death to become the focus of his life. In the months that follow the accident, the lives of Andy and his friends are traced through a series of letters, articles, homework assignments, and dialogues, and it becomes clear that Tigers do indeed need to cry.

Jericho, November, Arielle, and their friends must step up big time to prevent a deadly school tragedy in this harrowing conclusion to Sharon M. Draper’s Jericho Trilogy. Arielle Gresham, disliked and mistrusted by most of the students at her school, has a secret past, an unbelievably complicated present, and a shaky future. But no one knows or cares because she has managed to alienate anyone who could help her. She tries to cope with problems at school, but difficulties at home almost break her spirit. Then, as the school tries to deal with an outbreak of false fire alarms and a series of thefts, and Arielle discovers that one classmate is addicted to prescription drugs and another is a victim on vicious online bullying. Outward appearances are seldom what they seem to be—everyone is dealing with something, it’s all a matter of how you deal with it, Arielle is figuring out. But one kid can’t, and as he starts to crack, could he take the school tumbling down with him? A hero is needed. But what makes a hero?

A teenaged boy''s death in a hazing accident has lasting effects on his pregnant girlfriend and his guilt-ridden cousin, who gives up a promising music career to play football during his senior year in high school. A Coretta Scott King Honor Book. Reprint.

Recovering from the recent suicide of her ex-boyfriend, senior class president Keisha Montgomery finds herself attracted to a dangerous, older man.

Four boys who call themselves the Black Dinosaurs dig up a mysterious box of bones in this first book of the classic chapter book series by award-winning author Sharon M. Draper. Ziggy and his friends Rico, Rashawn, and Jerome build a clubhouse in Ziggy’s backyard and decide to bury their secret treasures nearby. But when the boys start digging, they uncover a box of bones and are swept up in a mystery more intriguing—and scary—than anything they could have imagined. Who could have buried a box of bones behind their clubhouse?

Delia loves Double Dutch. And she''s good at it. Really good. So good that her team has a chance to win the World Double Dutch Championships this year -- Delia is sure of it. What she is less sure of is her chance of passing the school''s state exam, because Delia has been using her success at Double Dutch to mask a secret that could jeopardize her place on the team, and also her future. Delia''s not the only one with a secret. Her potential boyfriend, Randy, has one too -- his dad has been missing for weeks, and Randy hasn''t told anyone for fear he''ll be put in a foster home. But he is running out of money and getting scared. The one thing that isn''t a secret is that their classmates, the Tolliver twins, are out to cause trouble. With their skull caps, angry demeanors, and hints of violence emanating from even the way they stalk down the school halls, they seem to enjoy intimidating the other kids. But will they cross the line from intimidation to violence? With consummate skill and an uncanny ability to capture how real kids think, act, and feel, Tears of a Tiger author Sharon M. Draper weaves these three stories tighter and tighter, creating a novel that tingles with suspense and emotion.

A high school junior and his cousin suffer the ramifications of joining what seems to be a "reputable" school club.

Ziggy and the rest of the Black Dinosaurs are thrilled to find out that there is a tunnel under their school that was once used by the Underground Railroad, and decide to check it out.

A little girl loves ballet, but she has to overcome her fear to join her friends in the ballet pagent.

After their counselor told them a story about spirits in the woods near their campsite, Ziggy and his friends get lost in that very place.

When a burning cross set by the Klan causes panic and fear in 1932 Bumblebee, North Carolina, fifth-grader Stella must face prejudice and find the strength to demand change in her segregated town.

In this fourth book of the classic chapter book series by award-winning author Sharon M. Draper, four boys who call themselves the Black Dinosaurs go to space camp! Ziggy and his friends can’t wait for space camp, where they’ll get to learn about weightlessness and how astronauts eat—and use the bathroom—in space! But Ziggy has another goal: he wants to meet some aliens. Purple, three-headed Martians, preferably, just like in his Mega Mighty Martian Blaster game. Once he gets to camp, Ziggy learns that real-life space travel is even more exciting than what he imagined. But when a mysterious, shiny stone appears, Ziggy can’t help but wonder if his dream of alien contact has just come true...

Copyright date 2006, published as #5 in the Ziggy and the Black Dinosaurs series.

Do you feel the soul of another calling to you? Do you know in your heart that your destiny and his wore meant to merge In the cosmos? We can help you find him. When Romiette Cappelle and her best friend, Destiny, decide to order The Scientific Soul Mate System from the back of Heavy Hunks magazine, they''re not sure what they''re getting into. But Destiny, a self-proclaimed psychic, assures Romi that for $44.99 plus shipping and handling, it''s the only way they''re ever going to find out who their soul mates really are. If nothing else, maybe Romi will get some insight into that recurring dream she''s been having about fire and water. But they never expect that the scented candle and tube of dream ointment will live up to their promises and merge Romiette''s destiny with that of Julio Montague, a boy she''s just met in the "cosmos" of an Internet chat room. It turns out they go to the same high school, not to mention having almost the same names as Shakespeare''s famous lovers! Sweet-scented dreams of Julio have almost overtaken Romi''s nightmares... ...when suddenly they return, but this time in real life. It seems the Devildogs, a local gang, violently oppose the relationship of Romiette and Julio. Soon they find themselves haunted by the purple-clad shadows of the gang, and the fire and water of Romiette''s dream merge in ways more terrifying -- and ultimately more affirming -- than even Destiny could have foreseen.

"Originally published as the series title Ziggy and the black dinosaurs."--Title page verso.

A New York Times bestseller! Melody faces her fears to follow her passion in this stunning sequel to the acclaimed, New York Times bestselling middle grade novel Out of My Mind. Melody, the huge-hearted heroine of Out of My Mind, is a year older, and a year braver. And now with her Medi-talker, she feels nothing’s out of her reach, not even summer camp. There have to be camps for differently-abled kids like her, and she’s going to sleuth one out. A place where she can trek through a forest, fly on a zip line, and even ride on a horse! A place where maybe she really can finally make a real friend, make her own decisions, and even do things on her own—the dream! By the light of flickering campfires and the power of thunderstorms, through the terror of unexpected creatures in cabins and the first sparkle of a crush, Melody’s about to discover how brave and strong she really is.

Melody è l''alunna più intelligente della scuola. Però nessuno lo sa. Quasi tutti, compresi i suoi insegnanti e i medici, ritengono che lei non abbia alcuna capacità di apprendimento. Se solo potesse dire che cosa pensa... Perché Melody non può comunicare. Non può camminare. Non può scrivere. Finché un giorno, a undici anni, scopre qualcosa che potrebbe permetterle di parlare. E con le parole potrà volare.

Melody ha ormai dodici anni e può comunicare grazie al computer Elvira, nonostante la sua paralisi cerebrale. Ma questo non le basta: sta crescendo e vuole diventare più autonoma. Decide così di cercare un campo estivo adatto a ragazzi come lei e si imbatte nel Green Glades, lì per la prima volta trascorrerà una settimana lontana dalla famiglia. Ogni giorno al campo ci sono nuove sfide e Melody si trova a vivere esperienze per lei incredibili, dal nuoto all’equitazione. In sette giorni, tra falò serali e passeggiate nel bosco, Melody riesce a superare le sue paure e a capire il valore dell’indipendenza, in un percorso che la porterà a credere di più in se stessa, a trovare nuovi amici e perfino a provare la scintilla di un amore. Con la voce limpida e ironica di sempre, Melody torna per raccontare il diritto di desiderare l’indipendenza, di scegliere per se stessa, di amare, nonostante la disabilità, di fronte a un mondo adulto che dà sempre per scontato cosa sia meglio per lei.

Melody es la chica más inteligente en la escuela, pero nadie lo sabe. La mayoría de las personas, incluyendo a sus profesores y médicos, creen que ella está cognitivamente desafió y le han colocado en educación especial. Si ella sólo podía compartir lo que piensa y lo sabe, pero la melodía no puede hablar, caminar o escribir. Los lectores serán movidos por su unidad y perseverancia.

"The most affecting and successful narrative ever done about the Holocaust."--The Wall Street Journal "Maus is a book that cannot be put down, truly, even to sleep. When two of the mice speak of love, you are moved, when they suffer, you weep. Slowly th

When Ziggy, Jerome, Rashawn, and Rico enter the school''s talent contest, they are sure that they are going to win, until they meet a little girl with a big voice who not only has talent, but who needs the prize money even more than they do.

A maioria das pessoas não se dá conta do poder das palavras. PAra Melody Brooks, elas são pequenos tesouros. MElody tem paralisia cerebral: não pode andar, não pode ir ao banheiro ou se alimentar sozinha, nunca disse uma palavra... E ela tem quase onze anos. OS médicos foram categóricos e disseram que Melody seria um fardo, mas seus pais sabiam do potencial da filha. BAstava apenas querer enxergar. MElody tem memória fotográfica, um rico vocabulário e uma sensível percepção da vida. TAlvez seja a menina mais inteligente de sua escola. MAs quase ninguém consegue percebê-la. NÃo sabem que ela consegue ouvi-los, entendê-los e que tem muito a dizer. MElody quer tocar o mundo. ROmper com os limites aparentemente intransponíveis impostos por seu corpo. DEterminada, ela vai encontrar uma forma de mostrar que pode ir além e surpreenderá a todos.