The award-winning author of Emako Blue and The Red Rose Box weaves a powerful story from the lives of a wonderfully diverse group of Los Angeles students.
If you could get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for anything at all, what would it be?
When Ms. Hart gives this assignment to her tenth-grade creative writing class, it does more than get kids thinking—it opens up their lives in ways they never expected:
• Shante finds both a new boyfriend in Jake and trouble because he’s white; • Sunday survives a sexual assault from her mother’s boyfriend, but worries he still might come back; • Marlon’s basketball dreams could be shattered when he tears up his knee; • and all Dorian wants is dinner for his three younger brothers.
These teens persevere through hardship and heartache, laughter and love, and in the end, their voices shine through inspiring journal entries that answer the question in unusual and unexpected ways.
Brenda Woods was born in Ohio, grew up in Southern California, and attended California State University, Northridge. Her award-winning books for young readers include The Blossoming Universe of Violet Diamond (a CCBC choice and a Kirkus Reviews Best Book); the Coretta Scott King Honor winner The Red Rose Box; the ALAN Pick Saint Louis Armstrong Beach; and VOYA Top Shelf Fiction selection Emako Blue. Woods’s numerous awards and honors include the Judy Lopez Memorial Book Award, the FOCAL International Award, and the ILA Children’s Choice Young Adult Fiction Award. She lives in the Los Angeles area. To learn more, visit brenda-woods.com.
View titles by Brenda Woods
The award-winning author of Emako Blue and The Red Rose Box weaves a powerful story from the lives of a wonderfully diverse group of Los Angeles students.
If you could get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for anything at all, what would it be?
When Ms. Hart gives this assignment to her tenth-grade creative writing class, it does more than get kids thinking—it opens up their lives in ways they never expected:
• Shante finds both a new boyfriend in Jake and trouble because he’s white; • Sunday survives a sexual assault from her mother’s boyfriend, but worries he still might come back; • Marlon’s basketball dreams could be shattered when he tears up his knee; • and all Dorian wants is dinner for his three younger brothers.
These teens persevere through hardship and heartache, laughter and love, and in the end, their voices shine through inspiring journal entries that answer the question in unusual and unexpected ways.
Brenda Woods was born in Ohio, grew up in Southern California, and attended California State University, Northridge. Her award-winning books for young readers include The Blossoming Universe of Violet Diamond (a CCBC choice and a Kirkus Reviews Best Book); the Coretta Scott King Honor winner The Red Rose Box; the ALAN Pick Saint Louis Armstrong Beach; and VOYA Top Shelf Fiction selection Emako Blue. Woods’s numerous awards and honors include the Judy Lopez Memorial Book Award, the FOCAL International Award, and the ILA Children’s Choice Young Adult Fiction Award. She lives in the Los Angeles area. To learn more, visit brenda-woods.com.
View titles by Brenda Woods
