1. The Glory Field by Walter Dean Myers
Six stories of the Lewis family, an African-American family that survives generations of discrimination by supporting and caring for each other and their land.
Walter Dean Myers was born in West Virginia, but grew up in Harlem with foster parents, whom he honors by using their last name as his middle name. He loves to write and has written over 50 books, many of them award-winners.
Many issues in the book connect to our lives: the importance of family in getting through hard times; prejudice (if not racial, age or class prejudice); teenagers’ confusion about who we are and who we want to be; education and what it can do for us; understanding our personal history.
In the first story, set in 1753, the main character, Muhammad, is brought to America from on a slave ship.from Sierra Leone, West Africa. He is uncomfortable and sad to be forced to leave his home.
In the second story, set in 1864, Lizzy Lewis helps her brother Lem and uncle Joshua escape the plantation. Her difficult journey to freedom involves a clingy white mistress, an angry overseeer, and whippings, but she makes it.
In the third story, set in 1900, Elijah Lewis rescues a man to earn reward money to help his family. Motivated by his love for his family’s land, he gets his reward despite the dishonesty of a white sheriff.
The fourth story is set in Luvenia Lewis is a maid for a white family and dreams of going to college. When she loses her job as a result of her boss’s daughter’s antics, she is devastated.
The fifth story, set in 1964, is about Tommy, a gifted basketball player who is encouraged to be among the first African-Americans to attend a white college. In his home town, he confronts racism and discovers what it means to be a strong black man.
The last story, set in 1994, is about Malcolm, a musician in Harlem whose cousin Shep, a crack addict living in a shelter, blows the money for the family reunion on drugs. After an arduous journey, the boys make it to the reunion, at the Glory Field, bond with relatives, and learn more about their family and survival.