Zuri Ray And The Backyard Bash

From New York Times bestselling author Tami Charles and rising star illustrator Sharon Sordo comes the second book in a charming picture book series about a fun, spunky girl with strong opinions, big ideas, and a huge heart! Zuri Ray is back! And this time, she's got a party to plan. With summer coming to an end, a backyard bash is an absolute must, and Zuri's not letting her parents' questionable tastes anywhere near the details. The food, the decorations, the entertainment--everything has to be perfect. Good thing her friends are ready to help! But when the party doesn't go exactly according to plan, will Zuri be able to let loose and improvise? Or will the chaos be too much to handle? Perfect for fans of Fancy Nancy and Fresh Princess, Zuri Ray and the Backyard Bash highlights how much fun can be had even when plans fall apart.

From New York Times bestselling author Tami Charles and rising star illustrator Sharon Sordo comes the first book in a charming picture book series about a fun, spunky girl with a huge heart! Meet Zuri Ray. She’s always willing to go the extra mile for family and friends and is up for any challenge. At least, that was before her best friend, Jessie, asked her to join a ballet camp. Now Zuri isn’t sure if she’s up for everything. While Jessie can’t wait to chassé and plié while wearing tight hair buns and frilly tutus, that doesn’t sound like Zuri at all! But she can’t let her friend down. Maybe classical ballet just needs a new spin . . . Perfect for fans of Fancy Nancy and Fresh Princess, Zuri Ray Tries Ballet encourages kids to follow their hearts and stay true to themselves!

A ripped-from-the-headlines novel of ambition, music, and innocence lost, perfect for fans of Elizabeth Acevedo and Jason Reynolds! Be bold. Get seen. Be Heard.For seventeen-year-old Denver, music is everything. Writing, performing, and her ultimate goal: escaping her very small, very white hometown.So Denver is more than ready on the day she and her best friends Dali and Shak sing their way into the orbit of the biggest R&B star in the world, Sean "Mercury" Ellis. Merc gives them everything: parties, perks, wild nights -- plus hours and hours in the recording studio. Even the painful sacrifices and the lies the girls have to tell are all worth it.Until they're not.Denver begins to realize that she's trapped in Merc's world, struggling to hold on to her own voice. As the dream turns into a nightmare, she must make a choice: lose her big break, or get broken.Inspired by true events, Muted is a fearless exploration of the dark side of the music industry, the business of exploitation, how a girl's dreams can be used against her -- and what it takes to fight back.

This book illustrates how everyone may have their differences, but in the end we must learn to work together. Both, the girls and the boys, learned how powerful of a team they could be when they chose to cooperate with each other for a mutual benefit.

"A compelling read about the quest for fame!" —Debbie Allen, star of Fame "Redemption is a heartbeat away." —Guadalupe Garcia McCall, author of the Pura Belpre Award winner Under the Mesquite Beatriz dreams of a life spent dancing--until tragedy on the day of her quinceañera changes everything. Up until her fifteenth birthday, the most important thing in the world to Beatriz Mendez was her dream of becoming a professional dancer and getting herself and her family far from the gang life that defined their days--that and meeting her dance idol Debbie Allen on the set of her favorite TV show, Fame. But after the latest battle in a constant turf war leaves her brother, Junito, dead and her mother grieving, Beatriz has a new set of priorities. How is she supposed to feel the rhythm when her brother's gang needs running, when her mami can't brush her own teeth, and when the last thing she can remember of her old self is dancing with her brother, followed by running and gunshots? When the class brainiac reminds Beatriz of her love of the dance floor, her banished dreams sneak back in. Now the only question is: will the gang let her go? Set in New Jersey in 1984, Beatriz's story is a timeless one of a teenager's navigation of romance, her brother's choices, and her own family's difficult past. A companion novel to the much-lauded Like Vanessa.

A young girl in Haiti is eager to learn how to carry a basket to market in an exuberant picture book with universal appeal. “To carry the panye, we move gracefully, even under the weight of the sun and the moon.” In the hills above Port-au-Prince, a young girl named Fallon wants more than anything to carry a large woven basket to the market, just like her Manman. As she watches her mother wrap her hair in a mouchwa, Fallon tries to twist her own braids into a scarf and balance the empty panye atop her head, but realizes it’s much harder than she thought. BOOM! Is she ready after all? Lyrical and inspiring, with vibrant illustrations highlighting the beauty of Haiti, My Day with the Panye is a story of family legacy, cultural tradition, and hope for the future. Readers who are curious about the art of carrying a panye will find more about this ancient and global practice in an author’s note at the end.

“A Haitian grandmother and granddaughter share a holiday, a family recipe, and a story of freedom. . . . A stunning and necessary historical picture book.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) The shake-shake of maracas vibrates down to my toes. Ti Gran’s feet tap-tap to the rhythm. Every year, Haitians all over the world ring in the new year by eating a special soup, a tradition dating back to the Haitian Revolution. This year, Ti Gran is teaching Belle how to make Freedom Soup just like she was taught when she was a little girl. Together, they dance and clap as they prepare the holiday feast, and Ti Gran tells Belle about the history of the soup, the history of Belle’s family, and the history of Haiti, where Belle’s family is from. In this celebration of cultural traditions passed from one generation to the next, Jacqueline Alcántara’s lush illustrations bring to life both Belle’s story and the story of the Haitian Revolution. Tami Charles’s lyrical text, as accessible as it is sensory, makes for a tale that readers will enjoy to the last drop.