For Lafayette and his brothers, the challenges of growing up in New York City are compounded by the facts that they've lost their parents and it's up to eldest brother Ty'ree to support the boys, and middle brother Charlie has just returned home from a correctional facility.
It's 1936, in Flint, Michigan. Ten-year-old Bud may be a motherless boy
on the run, but he's on a mission. His momma never told him who his
father was, but she left a clue: posters of Herman E. Calloway and his
famous band, the Dusky Devastators of the Depression!
1999 Heaven by Angela Johnson
At fourteen, Marley knows she has Momma's hands and Pops's love for ice
cream, that her brother doesn't get on her nerves too much, and that
Uncle Jack is a big mystery. But Marley doesn't know all she thinks she
does, because she doesn't know the truth.
1998 Forged by Fire by Sharon M. Draper
When his loving aunt dies, Gerald suddenly is thrust into a new home filled with anger and abuse. A brutal stepfather with a flaming temper and an evil secret makes Gerald miserable, and the only light in his grim life is Angel, his young stepsister.
1997 Slam by Walter Dean Myers
Seventeen-year-old Greg "Slam" Harris can do it all on the basketball court. He's seen ballplayers come and go, and he knows he could be one of the lucky ones. Maybe he'll make it to the top. Or maybe he'll stumble along the way. Slam's grades aren't that hot. And when his teachers jam his troubles in his face, he blows up. Slam never doubted himself on the court until he found himself going one-on-one with his own future, and he didn't have the ball.