Sharon Flake

Tow-Kaye just learned that the love of his life is pregnant--and though he knows what the right thing to do is, he's scared to death to do it. Jeffrey hates having a mom who dresses like a teenager, but when another sexy mom moves in next door--well, that's a different kind of problem. In these and twenty-two other short stories and poems, readers plumb the inner lives of African American teenage boys.

In The Skin I'm In, readers saw into the life of Maleeka Madison, a teen who suffered from the ridicule she received because of her dark skin color. For decades fans have wanted to know the fate of the bully who made Maleeka's life miserable, Char. Charlese Jones, with her raw, blistering voice speaks the truths many girls face, offering insight to some of the causes and conditions that make a bully. Turned out of the only home she has known, Char...

Thirteen-year-old Maleeka, uncomfortable because her skin is extremely dark, meets a new teacher with a birthmark on her face and makes some discoveries about how to love who she is and what she looks like.

"Best friends Duck and Cat have a problem--Cat makes Duck sneeze! 'I think-achoo!-I'm allergic to you,' Duck declares. Hilarity ensues as Cat keeps trying to solve the problem--but Duck keeps sneezing! Is Duck really allergic to Cat or is something else going on?"--

"An anthology featuring award-winning diverse authors about diverse characters. Short stories, a graphic novel, and a one-act play explore such topics as gentrification, acceptance, untimely death, coming out, and poverty, and range in genre from contemporary realistic fiction to adventure and romance"--

Teenaged Raspberry Hill tries to sort out her confused feelings of disgust, shame, and love for her homeless, drug addicted father and worries that she may have inherited his lying and stealing ways.