Julius Lester, Author Hyperion/Jump at the Sun $15.99 (177p) ISBN 978-0-7868-0490-0
Unfolding like a play, Lester's novel in dialogue—based on actual events—cannot help but be informed by his research and writing for his 1969 Newbery Honor book, To Be a Slave
. In many ways, the scenes here beg to be dramatized upon
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Julius Lester, Author Arcade Publishing $19.95 (276p) ISBN 978-1-55970-059-7
Forthrightness and independence characterize these essays, previously published in the New York Times , Boston Globe , New Republic , etc. Nine are on writers and writing, five on race and 21 on subjects ranging from safe sex, teenage suicides,...
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Julius Lester, Author Henry Holt & Company $17.95 (248p) ISBN 978-0-8050-0588-2
Lester, son of a black southern Methodist minister, writes of the eventful odyssey that culminated in his conversion to Judaism. The private journey was often at odds with his public life. As writer, radio commentator in New York and college...
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Julius Lester, Author Arcade Publishing $27 (228p) ISBN 978-1-55970-258-4
Veteran novelist Lester ( Do Lord Remember Me ) here takes on the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. in a story that resonates with anguish and authenticity. The author uses flashbacks and a range of voices to tell the tale of his King stand-in, John...
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Julius Lester, Author . HarperTeen/Amistad $16.99 (129p) ISBN 978-0-06-155890-0
A sense of foreboding permeates the first half of this powerful novel, which opens with an allusion to a lynching: in the Deep South, says an unidentified narrator, the oldest trees “do not speak because they are ashamed.” Lester (Pharaoh
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Julius Lester, Author . Harcourt $17 (198p) ISBN 978-0-15-202056-9
Just in time for Valentine's Day, Lester (Time's Memory
) retells the tale of Cupid and Psyche, with appearances by some highly appealing lesser Greek and Roman characters, such as Oizys, goddess of pain, and the highly likeable...
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Julius Lester, Author . FSG $17 (230p) ISBN 978-0-374-37178-4
While supernatural spiritual threads often weave their way into tales of escape from slavery, including Lester's own recent The Old African
, this book is notable for the way in which the author brings the godly to the human realm. Ekundayo (a...
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Julius Lester, Author . St. Martin's $23.95 (256p) ISBN 978-0-312-28820-4
Lester, author of the critically acclaimed novel Do Lord Remember Me
and the memoir Lovesong
, melds the classic college mystery with deeply theological ruminations on suffering and death. Rebecca Nachman is a former rabbi whose emotional failures...
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Julius Lester, Author Dial Books $16.99 (160p) ISBN 978-0-8037-2867-7
A handful of titles guide teenagers in areas of writing, manners and other complicated topics. Julius Lester, Newbery Honor author of To Be a Slave and a university professor, offers advice, On Writing for Children and Other People. The volume...
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Julius Lester, Author . Harcourt/Silver Whistle $6.95 (0p) ISBN 978-0-15-524698-0
"Though his subject matter may be sensational, the author penetrates the minds of two children left motherless by their father's murder of her, in a taut psychological mystery," wrote PW. Ages 12-up. (June)
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"The author imagines a titillating paradise within the pharaoh's walls and makes a compelling case for [young Moses] caught between the faith of his Hebrew mother and his adoptive family's aesthetics and beliefs," wrote PW
in our...
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Julius Lester, Author . Harcourt/Silver Whistle $17 (192p) ISBN 978-0-15-216305-1
Though his subject matter may be sensational, Lester (Pharaoh's Daughter) penetrates the minds of two children left motherless by their father's murder of her, to spin a taut psychological mystery. "My mother is dead. Dad killed her,"
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Julius Lester, Author, William Shakespeare, Author, Julius Lester, Adapted by Scholastic $14.95 (151p) ISBN 978-0-590-41967-3
More than a retelling, this aptly termed ""reconceptualization"" provocatively modernizes Shakespeare's play. As in the original, the middle-aged general Othello the ``moor'' and young European noblewoman Desdemona fall in love and marry secretly....
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Julius Lester, Author, Lisa Cohen, Illustrator, Lester Cohen, Author , illus. by Lisa Cohen. Hyperion/Jump at the Sun $15.99 (48p) ISBN 978-0-7868-0463-4
Lester's (When Dad Killed Mom, reviewed below) picture-book tribute to the blues—an art form in which "the music and the beat wrap around your heart like one of your grandmother's hugs"—and some of its greatest...
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Julius Lester, Author, David Shannon, Illustrator Scholastic $15.95 (72p) ISBN 978-0-590-41973-4
Lester ( To Be a Slave ), himself of African and Jewish ancestry, here recounts 12 folktales from African and Jewish traditions, which he has freely adapted to fit his ``mouth and tongue.'' The combination of the two cultures works well; each story...
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Julius Lester, Author, Geraldo Valerio, Illustrator , illus. by Geraldo Valério. Dial $16.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-8037-2513-3
Lester’s (John Henry
) yarn straddles the line between folktale and modern ghost story. It’s set in the present—the hero, Malcolm David, has a computer in his bedroom—but Valério’s (All Aboard for Dreamland!
) na&
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Julius Lester, illus. by Carl Angel. Creston (PGW, dist.), $16.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-939547-24-8
Ailing ancient trees with gray, masklike faces bid a mystical girl, Silence, to go to the human world and “save Yesterday.” Silence recalls her life as a foundling, banished by humans and raised in the forest. When she enters her old village, she is
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Julius Lester, Author, Joe Cepeda, Illustrator Scholastic Press $15.95 (40p) ISBN 978-0-590-86468-8
""I allow my imagination free play here,"" writes Lester in his introduction to this fresh interpretation of ""How God Made the Butterflies,"" a creation tale he retold more traditionally in 1969 in Black Folktales. An African-American deity looks...
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Julius Lester, Author, Joe Cepeda, Illustrator Scholastic Press $16.95 (40p) ISBN 978-0-439-17871-6
Julius Lester blends elements of two selections in his Black Folktales and brings back characters from What a Truly Cool World in Why Heaven Is Far Away, illus. by Joe Cepeda. Returning angel Shaniqua reports to God that the animals and humans...
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Julius Lester, Author, Leonard Jenkins, Illustrator Clarion Books $14.95 (0p) ISBN 978-0-395-60521-9
As Jenkins's striking oil paintings evoke a beautiful green landscape flanked by purple mountains, Lester's severe story describes a woman who lays her child to sleep under a tree. When the child cries, a giant eagle swoops down onto the baby,...
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Julius Lester, Author, Paula Wiseman, Editor Harcourt Children's Books $17 (192p) ISBN 978-0-15-201826-9
Lester (To Be a Slave) creates a captivating story and a compelling portrait of a Moses torn between two cultures, from the time of his discovery in the bulrushes to his solo flight to Midian. A brief introduction explains that the author has ""remov
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Julius Lester, Author, Karen Barbour, Illustrator , illus. by Karen Barbour. HarperCollins/Amistad $15.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-06-028596-8
Adults unsure of how to begin talking about race will find in these pages a way to tap into the subject and the questions it raises. Lester (To
Be a Slave
) addresses readers as if he is speaking to each in private conversation. He explains his...
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Julius Lester, Author, Rod Brown, Illustrator Puffin Books $6.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-14-056669-7
""Brown's 21 paintings provide a cohesive narrative line and have a stunning power of their own, but the confrontational tone of the text may usurp readers' attention,"" said PW of this volume, which traces the African-American journey from the...
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Julius Lester, Author, Rod Brown, Illustrator Dial Books $17.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-8037-1893-7
Twenty-one of Brown's 36 paintings that were originally included in an exhibit entitled ""From Slavery to Freedom"" are showcased here and provide the inspiration for Lester's (To Be a Slave) strong and searing text. In double-page spreads with...
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Julius Lester, Author, Phyllis Fogelman, Editor, Jerry Pinkney, Illustrator Dial Books $16.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-8037-1987-3
In this offering from a talented duo (Black Cowboy, Wild Horses), teddy bears inadvertently set off a chain reaction when they slip to their young owners a dream promising that they can do whatever they want, whenever they want, without punishment....
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Julius Lester, Author, Emily Lisker, Illustrator Harcourt Children's Books $17 (112p) ISBN 978-0-15-201238-0
Working in the tradition of midrashim, or explorations of biblical texts, through the use of imagination and story, Lester (What a Truly Cool World) crafts a humorous, deeply personal and irreverent interpretation of the book of Genesis. His tales...
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Puns and alliteration abound in Lester's (To Be a Slave; Sam and the Tigers) roundup of six zany, zippy tales. The author introduces some cockeyed characters, among them a bee who falls in love with a balalaika-playing girl bee and learns to...
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Julius Lester, Author, Terea D. Shaffer, Illustrator, John Clapp, Illustrator , illus. by John Clapp. Harcourt/Silver Whistle $17 (32p) ISBN 978-0-15-200773-7
As he writes in an introductory note, Lester (To Be a Slave
) explains that just as a composer creates variations around a musical theme, this story is "a set of variations around the theme of the color black," and that he has aimed to...
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Julius Lester, Author, Ralph Pinto, Illustrator Puffin Books $3.95 (32p) ISBN 978-0-8037-0234-9
""The younger child will be fascinated to learn why dogs chase cats, why the little man wants to be big,'' commented PW, further noting that Lester skillfully retells these tales from black folklore. Expert, full-color pictures by Pinto illustrate...
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Julius Lester, Author, Jerry Pinkney, Illustrator Puffin Books $8.99 (143p) ISBN 978-0-14-130347-5
Lester juxtaposes a contemporary voice and settings (like shopping malls) with some dialect in these ""wonderfully funny folktales,"" said PW. ""For many purists, though, it will not replace the original stories."" Ages 8-up. (Jan.)
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Julius Lester, Author, Jerry Pinkney, Illustrator , illus. by Jerry Pinkney. Dial $19.99 (79p) ISBN 978-0-8037-2564-5
Based on legend, this story by frequent collaborators Lester and Pinkney moves gracefully and affectingly from darkness into light. As the tale opens, a plantation master whips a young slave who has attempted to escape. Yet the slaves witnessing...
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Julius Lester, Author, Jerry Pinkney, Illustrator Dial Books $18.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-8037-2028-2
Troubled by the racist trappings--the characters' names and the stereotypical illustrations--of The Story of Little Black Sambo, but drawn nonetheless to its hero and its humor, Lester and Pinkney set out to reinvent the tale. Their interpretation...
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Julius Lester, Author, Jerry Pinkney, Illustrator Dial Books $19.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-8037-1787-9
A spirit of freedom pervades the pages of this picture book, accompanied by the sound of thundering hooves and the feel of the heat and dust of the plains. Based on an incident in the life of Texas cowboy Bob Lemmons, the tale centers on his success
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Julius Lester, Author, Jerry Pinkney, Illustrator, Jerry Pinkney, Photographer Dial Books $18.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-8037-1606-3
A great American hero comes fully to life in this epic retelling filled with glorious, detailed watercolors. From his momentous birth, when all the animals come to see him and the sun won't go to bed, John Henry works wonders. As a child he helps...
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Julius Lester, Author, Jerry Pinckney, Illustrator, Jerry Pinkney, Illustrator Dial Books $16.89 (176p) ISBN 978-0-8037-0272-1
Lester's thoughtful preface to his retelling of the Joel Chandler Harris folktales elucidates the problems inherent in a project of this sort, which, unfortunately, this volume does not entirely resolve. Harris's stories are told in the Gullah...
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