Summer vacation has just begun and Dayshaun wants to spend Saturday morning playing his new video game. But Dayshaun's mother has other plans: she volunteers at a nearby community garden and that means Dayshaun has to volunteer, too. When Dayshaun puts on his grandfather's grubby old gardening hat, something unexpected happens-the hands of time turn backward and Dayshaun finds himself in the free Black community of Weeksville during the summer of 1863 While helping the survivors of the New York City Draft Riots, Dayshaun meets a frail old man who entrusts him with a precious family heirloom....

Best friends Carlos and Tariq love their block, but Barkley Street has started to change. The playground has been taken over by older boys, which leaves Carlos and Tariq with no place to call their own. They decide to turn the yard of an abandoned brownstone into their secret hang-out spot. Carlos and Tariq soon discover, however, that the overgrown yard is already occupied by an ancient phoenix When the Pythons try to claim the yard for their gang, the magical bird gives the friends the courage to make a stand against the bullies who threaten to ruin their beloved neighborhood.

Zaria has dreamed of England for as long as she can remember-according to the novels she's read, everything magical happens there When her grandfather suffers a stroke, Zaria and her mother head to London to help care for him. Zaria reads fantastic tales to her grandfather every afternoon, and she's thrilled to discover that her cousin Winston shares her love of wands, wizards, and mythical creatures. But Zaria soon finds that life in London is actually quite ordinary-until she goes on a day trip to nearby Windsor Castle. There Zaria meets two extraordinary ghosts who need help finding their...

STASH: Charity, a young woman is accused of killing and castrating her abusive father. QUALITY: Two white women do laundry while discussing the challenges of living in a neighborhood that is gradually being gentrified. INNOCENTS: Three black women gather behind a courthouse in the South to reflect on their loss of innocence. SELF/PRESERVATION: A white couple, desperate to save their home from eminent domain, falsely claims their cellar was once part of the Underground Railroad. HER VOW: After miraculously recovering from a coma, Lila attacks life with a vigor that frightens and alienates her...

Christmas is coming, but eight-year-old Mariqua Thatcher isn't looking forward to the holidays. Mama's gone and Gramma doesn't know what to do with her feisty granddaughter. Almost every day Mariqua gets into a fight at school, and no one seems to understand how she feels inside. But things start to change when a mysterious street vendor gives Mariqua a beautifully carved angel as a gift. Each night Mariqua whispers in the angel's ear and soon her wishes start to come true Mariqua begins to do better at school, and she even wins an important role in the church pageant. But best of all,...