Flake, Sharon

In 1953 ten-year-old Octobia May lives in her Aunt's boarding house in the South, surrounded by an African American community which has its own secrets and internal racism, and spends her days wondering if Mr. Davenport in room 204 is really a vampire, or something else entirely.

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.

A collection of nine short stories and thirteen poems by Sharon Flake that offer insight into the emotions, experiences, and values of African-American males.

Thirteen-year-old Maleeka Madison, insecure about her very dark skin, rejects the support of a new teacher, Miss Saunders, whose skin looks blotched because of a rare medical condition--but soon Maleeka begins to see that Miss Saunders could be a role model, and that she must learn to love herself and accept love from others.

Ten-year-old Queen learns valuable life lessons about being a good friend when Leroy, a new kid in the neighborhood, comes to Queen's school.

Raspberry steals money from a friend in order to get her mother out of a tough situation, and must now face the consequenes and the fear of going down the same path as her drug-addicted father.

Two years after the shooting death of thirteen-year-old Mann's little brother, Mann's father, who believes his son died because he made him too "soft," takes Mann and his friend camping and abandons them in an attempt to make them tough.

"Cat thinks Duck should stop meowing and act like a duck. But Duck has other ideas"--Front flap.

In 1953 ten-year-old Octobia May lives in her Aunt's boarding house in the South, surrounded by an African American community which has its own secrets and internal racism, and spends her days wondering if Mr. Davenport in room 204 is really a vampire--or something else entirely.

Thirteen-year-old Mann, weighed down by the death of his little brother, an innocent victim in a shooting, is heading down the road to self-destruction until his father intervenes.