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2006 Coretta Scott King Awards
Author Award
- Lester, Julius. Day of Tears: A Novel in Dialogue. New York: Hyperion Books for Children, 2005.
Day of Tears: A Novel in Dialogue is a masterful fictionalized account of the largest slave auction in U.S. history, held 1859 in Savannah, Georgia. In a powerfully dramatic format, the voices of enslaved Africans and their masters move between monologues and conversations. This is an accessible novel that allows the reader to understand the moral dilemmas faced by the characters, and their challenge to affirm humanity in the midst of slavery.
Illustrator Award
- Giovanni, Nikki. Rosa. Illustrated by Bryan Collier. New York: Henry Holt, 2005.
In Rosa, Bryan Collier uses uniquely bold illustrations depicting Rosa Parks as an inspirational and unwavering force. Intricate profiles hidden in the details of the background gives the reader a sense of collective community spirit. Collier portrays the legendary seamstress known as the mother of the Civil Rights Movement in a vivid mix of watercolor and collage. Illuminated with golden light he creates an image of a weary and determined Mrs. Parks. Her frustration with the status quo of the Jim Crow South is palpable.
New Talent Award
- Adoff, Jaime. Jimi & Me. New York: Jump at the Sun/Hyperion Books, 2005.
Jimi & Me is a poignant novel written in free verse describing the tumultuous experience of Keith James, a thirteen year-old, bi-racial teen who must cope with the unexpected murder of his father. Left destitute, Keith and his mother must leave their comfortable life in Brooklyn to live in a small town in Ohio, to share a home with his paternal aunt. Faced with loss, change, and betrayal, Keith finds solace in his music and his idol Jimi Hendrix.
Author Honors
- Bolden, Tonya. Maritcha: A Nineteenth Century American Girl. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2005.
“Aim high! Stand tall! Be Strong! and do” are the opening words of Tonya Bolden’s Maritcha: A Nineteenth Century American Girl. Embellishing on Maritcha Remond Lyons’ eighty-one page memoir, this beautifully crafted book, describes the life of the daughter of a well established free black family living in New York City in the mid 1800’s. Racial riots causing the flight of the Lyons family does not prevent Maritcha from graduating as the first black student from the local high school in her new home state of Connecticut. She truly stood tall!
- Grimes, Nikki. Dark Sons. New York: Jump at the Sun/Hyperion Books for Children, 2005.
Two first-born sons, one from Biblical times, one contemporary are heartbroken when their beloved fathers each shift their devotion to the second born son. The parallel stories of Ishmael and Sam reveal the deep anger and hurt they both feel from their father’s betrayals. Nikki Grimes’ powerful novel in free verse closes with both young men finding forgiveness for their earthly fathers through the guidance from the Father they “could count on.”
- Nelson, Marilyn. A Wreath for Emmett Till. Illustrated by Phillipe Lardy. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2005.
Marilyn Nelson has memorialized the life of Emmett Till in a crown of sonnets that is heart wrenchingly beautiful. An innocent fourteen year old whose “stuttering whistle” at a white woman leads to his brutal beating and drowning death, Till’s story is one of several incidents that sparked the Civil Rights Movement.
Illustrator Honor
- Christie, R. Gregory. Brothers in Hope: The Story of the Lost Boys of Sudan. New York: Lee & Low Books, 2005.
This is the story of an eight year old boy’s courage to lead a group of orphans safely out of the Sudan, their war-torn homeland. R. Gregory Christie uses a combination of muted earth tones and bold colors as a backdrop to tell the story of young men who have persevered through hard times. Their courage and beliefs allow them to overcome insurmountable circumstances of survival.
*Book descriptions come from American Library Association.
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