Brenda Woods

Gabriel, twelve, gains new perspective when he becomes friends with Meriwether, a Black World War II hero who has recently returned to the unwelcoming Jim Crow South.

The Unsung Hero of Birdsong, USA

"Introverted, daydream-prone Zoe is afraid her real life will never be as exciting as her imaginary one"--

Zoe in Wonderland

Narrated by her friends, a dramatic novel details the life of Emako Blue, who, gifted with an extraordinary voice, catches the attention of a famous record producer, but an unimaginable act of violence shatters her dreams.

Emako Blue

When their owner plans to sell one of them in 1802, twelve-year-old Sally and her family run away from their Georgia plantation to look for both freedom from slavery and a home in Florida with the Seminole Indians.

My Name Is Sally Little Song

With Just One Wing

In 1953, Leah Hopper dreams of leaving the poverty and segregation of her home in Sulphur, Louisiana, and when Aunt Olivia sends train tickets to Los Angeles as part of her tenth birthday present, Leah and her sister Ruth get a first taste of freedom.

The red rose box

Il lungo viaggio di Sally

Van D. Woods

From the small community of Hemingway, South Carolina, to the streets of New York City, Growing Up Sylvias offers a biography of Sylvia Woods, the Queen of Soul Food, and her husband, Herbert Woods. Written by Sylvias daughter-in-law and son, Brenda and Van D. Woods it explores and relates to a journey of success and happiness of an American family. Aimed at young readers, it tells how Sylvia and Herbert hailed from a humble background in the South and became the owners of a multimillion-dollar enterprise in the North. It also includes assignments, reading activities, and quizzes for use in the classroom. Growing Up Sylvias shares the story of a family who represents what can be done with faith, love, determination, and unity within a family.

Growing up Sylvia’S

Feeling out of place as a biracial student in an all-white school and tiring of people thinking she is adopted, Violet investigates her late African-American father's heritage by forging a tenuous bond with an unwelcoming paternal grandmother. By the Coretta Scott King Honor-winning author of The Red Rose Box.

The Blossoming Universe of Violet Diamond

The whole world seems to transform during the summer of 1965, when Eden’s cousin from Mississippi comes to visit her in L.A. just as the Watts Riots erupt, in this stirring new novel by Coretta Scott King Honor winner Brenda Woods. When Eden’s cousin Winter comes for a visit, it turns out he’s not just there to sightsee. He wants to figure out what happened to his dad, who disappeared ten years earlier from the Watts area of L.A. So the cousins set out to investigate together, and what they discover brings them joy—and heartache. It also opens up a whole new understanding of their world, just as the area they’ve got their sights on explodes in a clash between the police and the Black residents. For six days Watts is like a war zone, and Eden and Winter become heroes in their own part of the drama. Eden hopes to be a composer someday, and the only way she can describe that summer is a song with an unexpected ending, full of changes in tempo and mood--totally unforgettable.

When Winter Robeson Came

Coretta Scott King Honor winner Brenda Woods’ moving, uplifting story of a girl finally meeting the African American side of her family explores racism and how it feels to be biracial, and celebrates families of all kinds. Violet is a smart, funny, brown-eyed, brown-haired girl in a family of blonds. Her mom is white, and her dad, who died before she was born, was black. She attends a mostly white school where she sometimes feels like a brown leaf on a pile of snow. She’s tired of people asking if she’s adopted. Now that Violet’s eleven, she decides it’s time to learn about her African American heritage. And despite getting off to a rocky start trying to reclaim her dad’s side of the family, she can feel her confidence growing as the puzzle pieces of her life finally start coming together. Readers will cheer for Violet, sharing her joy as she discovers her roots.

The whole world seems to transform during the summer of 1965, when Eden's cousin from Mississippi comes to visit her in L.A. just as the Watts Riots erupt, in this stirring new novel by Coretta Scott King Honor winner Brenda Woods. When Eden's cousin Winter comes for a visit, it turns out he's not just there to sightsee. He wants to figure out what happened to his dad, who disappeared ten years earlier from the Watts area of L.A. So the cousins set out to investigate together, and what they discover brings them joy--and heartache. It also opens up a whole new understanding of their world, just as the area they've got their sights on explodes in a clash between the police and the Black residents. For six days Watts is like a war zone, and Eden and Winter become heroes in their own part of the drama. Eden hopes to be a composer someday, and the only way she can describe that summer is a song with an unexpected ending, full of changes in tempo and mood--totally unforgettable.

Sally Harrison and her family are slaves on a plantation in Georgia. But when Master decides to sell Sally and her brother, the family escapes to seek shelter with a tribe of Seminoles who are rumored to adopt runaway slaves. After a perilous journey, Sally’s family finds and joins the tribe. But while her father and brother easily adjust to Indian ways, Sally can’t seem to find her place. Combining the poetry of Sally’s songs with the heartracing tension of the family’s escape, author Brenda Woods delivers a breathtaking story of a girl caught between worlds.

On her tenth birthday, Leah receives a surprise gift from glamorous Aunt Olivia, Mama's only sister, who lives in Los Angeles. It is a red rose box. Not many people in 1958 Louisiana have seen such a beautiful traveling case, covered with red roses, filled with jewelry, silk bedclothes, expensive soaps...and train tickets to California. Soon after, Leah and her sister, Ruth, find themselves in Hollywood, far away from cotton fields and Jim Crow laws. To Leah, California feels like freedom. But when disaster strikes back home, Leah and Ruth have to stay with Aunt Olivia permanently. Will freedom ever feel like home?

Brenda Woods

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