Showing results by narrator "Joniece Abbott Pratt" in All Categories

Ten-year-old Jada Sly is an artist and a spy-in-training. When she isn't studying the art from her idols like Jackie Ormes, the first-known African American cartoonist, she's chronicling her spy training and other observations in her art journal. Back home in New York City, after living in France for five years, Jada is ready to embark on her first and greatest spy adventure yet. She plans to scour New York City in search of her missing mother, even though everyone thinks her mom died in a plane crash. Except Jada, who is certain her mom was a spy, too.

In his first work for the theater, James Baldwin brought all the fervor and majestic rhetoric of the storefront churches of his childhood along with an unwavering awareness of the price those churches exacted from their worshipers. For years Sister Margaret Alexander has moved her Harlem congregation with a mixture of personal charisma and ferocious piety. But when Margaret's estranged husband, a scapegrace jazz musician, comes home to die, she is in danger of losing both her standing in the church and the son she has tried to keep on the godly path.

Since its publication in 1982, The Color Purple has resonated with generations of readers across the globe. The novel catapulted author Alice Walker to international fame, brought Oprah Winfrey and Whoopi Goldberg acting acclaim in the 1985 film adaptation, and inspired theatrical productions around the world, including the Tony Award–winning Broadway musical. This cultural touchstone—which so profoundly touches on race, family, survival, spirituality, sisterhood, and love in all forms—continues to beget new iterations, most recently a feature film.

April Jefferson doesn’t know why she and her friends are traveling back in time. All she knows is that she and Henry and Toad are now in Michigan! They still don’t know where their father is, and they have no idea how to get home. Can they find the missing pieces to the puzzle, or will they be stuck in history forever?

Girls like Reya Samuels always come from Prince George’s County. Reya is rich and she’s not afraid to show it—she wears designer clothes, drives a custom pink Audi, and lives in a neighborhood tucked behind a fancy cast iron gate. She works hard, but she can get anything she wants with a snap. Sommer Watkins is from Seat Pleasant, where the cast iron gates are significantly smaller—and attached to the windows, where most folks are still trying to make ends meet. Every day for Sommer is a hustle, working at her dad’s bookstore.

April and Toad were hoping to go home to New York with their father. But History had other ideas. This time, the magical book sends April, Henry, and Toad to Colorado where they'll face their most dangerous threats yet: grizzly bears, lightning-fast trains, and snow. Lots and lots of snow! Can the three kids find the missing pieces to the puzzle... or will they be stuck in history forever?

Where did Professor Abner Jefferson go? Can the kids put history back together, find the pieces of the puzzle, and save Professor Abner or will they be stuck in history forever?

April, Henry, and Toad have finally found April and Toad's father, Professor Abner Jefferson. He's hiding in a barn in Boston, Massachusetts, and the Revolutionary War is about to start! But April and Toad can't even think about getting their father home to modern-day New York... yet. Because right now, there's a man named Paul Revere roaming about, and he needs to take a very important ride. Can the three kids find the missing pieces to the puzzle... or will they be stuck in history forever?

Professor Abner Jefferson is missing. His children watched him get sucked into a book. Now they must find him. By going back... through History!

It's wash day—Tasha's least favorite day of the week! Wash day means stinging eyes, aching back, and water everywhere, even in Tasha's ears! But with big sis comforting her, Mama humming to the music, and Granny telling stories of wash days past, the weekly ritual soon becomes more than a weekend chore—it's a special bonding time for three generations of beautiful Black women.