Finding Langston


Book Description

A Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book Winner of the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction When eleven-year-old Langston's father moves them from their home in Alabama to Chicago's Bronzeville district, it feels like he's giving up everything he loves. It's 1946. Langston's mother has just died, and now they're leaving the rest of his family and friends. He misses everything-- Grandma's Sunday suppers, the red dirt roads, and the magnolia trees his mother loved. In the city, they live in a small apartment surrounded by noise and chaos. It doesn't feel like a new start, or a better life. At home he's lonely, his father always busy at work; at school he's bullied for being a country boy. But Langston's new home has one fantastic thing. Unlike the whites-only library in Alabama, the Chicago Public Library welcomes everyone. There, hiding out after school, Langston discovers another Langston--a poet whom he learns inspired his mother enough to name her only son after him. Lesa Cline-Ransome, author of the Coretta Scott King Honor picture book Before She Was Harriet, has crafted a lyrical debut novel about one boy's experiences during the Great Migration. Includes an author's note about the historical context and her research. Don't miss the companion novel, Leaving Lymon, which centers on one of Langston's classmates and explores grief, resilience, and the circumstances that can drive a boy to become a bully-- and offer a chance at redemption. A Junior Library Guild selection! A CLA Notable Children's Book in Language Arts A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year, with 5 Starred Reviews A School Library Journal Best Book of 2018




Being Clem


Book Description

The final novel in the award-winning Finding Langston trilogy from Coretta Scott King Author Honoree and Scott O'Dell Award medalist Lesa Cline-Ransome. Clem can make anybody, even his grumpy older sisters, smile with his jokes. But when his family receives news that his father has died in the infamous Port Chicago disaster, everything begins to fall apart. Clem's mother is forced to work long, tough hours as a maid for a wealthy white family. Soon Clem can barely recognize his home--and himself. Can he live up to his father's legacy? In her award-winning trilogy, Lesa Cline-Ransome masterfully recreates mid-twentieth century America through the eyes of three boys: Langston, Lymon, and, now, Clem. Exploring the impact of the Great Migration, the Harlem Renaissance, Jim Crow laws, and much more, Lesa's work manages at once to be both an intimate portrait of each boy and his family as well as a landscape of American history. A Kirkus Reviews Best Middle Grade Book of the Year A Chicago Public Library Best Book of the Year A CCBC Choice A Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books Blue Ribbon Book!A CSMCL Best Multicultural Children's Book of the Year A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection --- Praise for Finding Langston, a Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book and winner of the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction "There aren't any explosions in this spare story. Nor is there a happy ending. Instead, Langston discovers something more enduring: solace."--The New York Times * "This crisply paced book is full of historical details of the Great Migration and the role a historic branch library played in preserving African American literary culture."--The Horn Book, Starred Review * "This is a story that will stay with readers long after they've finished it."--School Library Journal, Starred Review * "The impact on the reader could not be more powerful. A memorable debut novel."--Booklist, Starred Review * "A fascinating work of historical fiction . . . Cline-Ransome at her best."--Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review * "Finding Langston is about cultural heritage and personal growth and, at its heart, about finding home wherever you land."--Shelf Awareness, Starred Review




Before She Was Harriet


Book Description

A biography of Harriet Tubman written in verse, in which poem and watercolor come together to honor a woman of humble origins whose courage and compassion make her larger than life.




Not Without Laughter


Book Description

Poet Langston Hughes' only novel, a coming-of-age tale that unfolds amid an African American family in rural Kansas, explores the dilemmas of life in a racially divided society.




Overground Railroad


Book Description

From the award-winning author and illustrator of Before She Was Harriet comes an original and moving perspective of the Great Migration, as seen through the eyes of the young girl Ruth Ellen, whose family journeys from North Carolina to New York City.




Sealed


Book Description

Katie Langston is an unlikely convert to Christianity. She grew up in a devout, conservative Mormon family in Utah, served a proselytizing mission to Bulgaria when she was 21, married for "time and all eternity" in the Mormon temple when she was 23. From the outside, she had a typical Mormon life. Inside, she was coming apart at the seams. From childhood, she battled "The Questions"—obsessive-compulsive disorder, though she didn't have a diagnosis for it until much later—and lived inside a complex maze of anxiety and fear. This was compounded by Mormonism's emphasis on "worthiness," a designation of acceptability in Mormon practice, that brought her to the edge of despair as a young mother. Then, almost by accident, she had an encounter with the grace of Jesus Christ—and her world changed. In candid but not sensationalized ways, Langston explores little-understood Mormon practices and teachings while grappling with universal human questions such as the nature of faith, the complexity of family, the process of healing, and what it means to truly belong. This book is intended to be a bridge-builder, a way to help non-Mormons understand Mormonism and Mormons orthodox Christianity through the power of personal narrative. Most of all, it is a testimony of Jesus Christ, in the hopes that those who read it—Mormon, Christian, or neither—will catch a glimpse of the spectacular, life-changing grace of God.




Pretend She's Here


Book Description

Mega-bestselling author Luanne Rice returns with a ripped-from-the-headlines story of a girl who is kidnapped by her friend's family. Emily Lonergan's best friend died last year.And Emily hasn't stopped grieving. Lizzie Porter was lively, loud, and fun -- Emily's better half. Emily can't accept that she's gone.When Lizzie's parents and her sister come back to town to visit, Emily's heartened to see them. The Porters understand her pain. They miss Lizzie desperately, too.Desperately enough to do something crazy.Something unthinkable.Suddenly, Emily's life is hurtling toward a very dark place -- and she's not sure she'll ever be able to return to what she once knew was real.From New York Times bestselling author Luanne Rice comes a breathless, unputdownable story of suspense, secrets -- and the strength that love gives us to survive even the most shocking of circumstances.




When Langston Dances


Book Description

Inspired by watching a performance of the Alvin Ailey Dance Company, a young black boy longs to dance and enrolls in ballet school.




Journey Thru the Unknown... (the Unknown Comic)


Book Description

The memoirs of Murray Langston, aka "The Unknown Comic," is a detailed account of the Highlights and Lowlights of each year of my life, from June 27, 1944 until my 69th birthday coming up on June 27, 2013. It's my story of how a poor kid from Montreal, being influenced by Jerry Lewis, longed to follow in his funny steps and somehow leave Canada and make it to Hollywood. Spiced with humor, drama, and celebrities which made me consider calling the book, "Name-Droppers," the reader will be surprised at many of the revelations which include being threatened by Frank Sinatra, partying all night with Elvis Presley, spending Christmas Eve with Lucille Ball, watching Bob Hope's Christmas show when I was in the military and working with him 20 years later, attending the Academy Awards, double dating with Robin Williams, appearing with Patrick Swayze in his first film, hanging out at Steve Martin's house, playing practical jokes on Carol Burnett, friending David Letterman on his first arrival to L.A., holding Kate Hudson when she was only weeks old, hanging out at the Playboy Mansion, co-starring with Jim Carrey in his very first television appearance. Read about my appearing for 4 years with Sonny & Cher, working alongside Ronald Reagan, O.J. Simpson, Bobby Darin, the Jackson 5 and my hero at the time, Jerry Lewis, among so many others. Read about how I also worked on several other TV series starring Roger Miller, Wolfman Jack, Bobby Vinton, the Hudson Brothers, and more. Read about my appearing on practically every talk show of that era from The Tonight Show to Merv Griffin, Mike Douglas, John Davidson, Dinah Shore, even Howard Stern... and more. Read about my appearing at almost every Hotel in Las Vegas, from the Sahara, the Riviera, The Sands, The Tropicana, The Landmark, The Dunes and more. Read about how I produced, wrote, directed and starred in a couple of feature films, besides appearing in over 20 movies along with over 800 television appearances while starring in and directing several plays along the way with fellow actors Linda Blair, Pat Paulsen, Johnny Whitaker, Eddie Mekka, and more. Read about the Ladies who I appeared on stage with including, Charo, Helen Reddy, Melissa Manchester, Gladys Knight, Crystal Gayle, the Supremes and more... Read about the many comics who were my opening act like Drew Carey, David Spade, Kevin Nealon, Ryan Stiles and more. Read about the many comics who I worked with in their early years who later became famous like Jay Leno, Cheech and Chong, Freddie Prinze, Gabe Kaplan, Michael Keaton, Howie Mandel and more... Read about the many celebrities I worked with who I later became close friends with like Ruth Buzzi, Frankie Avalon, Dom DeLuise, Jerry Van Dyke, Ted Knight, Harvey Korman, especially my mentor Redd Foxx, and more... Read about celebrities who I worked and hung out with who were arrogant and not very nice people like Mickey Rooney, Sonny Bono, Billy Crystal, Chris Rock, Vickie Lawrence and more... Read about some of the ladies I dated like Miss U.S.A., Playboy centerfolds, Debra Winger, Deidre Hall, Teri Garr, and Lucie Arnaz to mention a few. Read about how I am currently single but was married twice with two daughters, one 24, who is Britney Spears' background singer and is about to make a huge splash on her own. The other a 14 year old with "Down" syndrome who is the light of my life, and pure liquid love.




Louisiana Purchase


Book Description

The big purchase that led to fundamental questions about what America would become In 1803 President Thomas Jefferson bought the Louisiana Territory from the French for $15 million, extending the United States beyond the Mississippi River for the first time. Now the United States had big questions to answer: How would Louisiana be governed? How would it be divided? Would it be comprised of free states or slave states? What would happen to the Native Americans? With biographical sketches of the people who helped forge the answers to these questions, such as Lewis and Clark, Napoleon Bonaparte, and of course, Thomas Jefferson, this is the tale of the expansion of the United States into a new territory as well as a new era.