Non-Fiction Books Available Through the Center

Title: A Is For Africa Author: Ifeoma Onyefulu Language: English Age Group: Ages 4 to 8 Year: 1993 Length: 24 pp Publisher: Puffin Type: Non-Fiction

Description: From A-Z, stunning color photographs depict everyday life in Nigeria, where the author grew up. The images depict warm family life and traditional villages scenes.

Title: A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier Author: Ishmael Beah Language: English Age Group: Ages 14 to Adult Year: 2007 Length: 226 pp Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux Type: Non-Fiction

Description: In the fifty-plus conflicts now going on around the globe, it is estimated that there are some 300,000 child soldiers. Ishmael Beah, the author of this horrifying yet vitally important memoir, used to be one of them. What is war like for a twelve- or thirteen-year-old soldier? How does a child become a killer? How does one stop? Child soldiers have been profiled by journalists, and novelists have tried to imagine their lives. But until now, there has been no firsthand account by someone who came through such hell and survived.

Title: Africa is Not a Country Author: Margy Burns Knight Language: English Age Group: Ages 6 to 12 Year: 2002 Length: 48 pp Publisher: Millbrook Press Type: Non-Fiction

Description: Instead of the "vanishing tribes" view of one Africa with tourists from different countries photographing the animals and primitive people, this informative picture book celebrates the diversity of the 53 nations that make up the continent today. On each page there's a quick vignette of children in one country, with a bright, happy, colorful illustration. Three girls in school uniform walk on Cairo's jammed city sidewalks. A boy in Nigeria practices the ancient Igbo dances. At the back a small note on each country fills in facts about geography, currency, population, etc.

Title: Africa: An Encyclopedia for Students Author: John Middleton Language: English Age Group: Ages 12 to 16 Year: 2001 Length: 900 pp Publisher: Charles Scribner's Sons Type: Non-Fiction

Description: A comprehensive look at the continent of Africa and the countries that comprise it, including peoples and cultures, the land and its history, art and architecture, and daily life.

Title: Ancient Kushites, The Author: Liz Sonneborn Language: English Age Group: Ages 9 to 12 Year: 2005 Length: 112 pp Publisher: Scholastic Press Type: Non-Fiction

Description: Liz Sonneborn is a prolific author who has written biographies, source books and general history books on a broad spectrum of topics for young people and adults. The Ancient Kushites begins with the story of the 1905 discovery by archaeologists of the Kush kingdom, one of the world’s greatest ancient civilizations which had heretofore been overshadowed by its northern neighbor, Egypt. Lavishly illustrated and filled with details which bring history to life for middle school students, the book not only covers the ancient period of Kushite culture (3000 B.C. to 500 A.D.), but also relates how Nubian conversion to Christianity led to continued clashes with Egypt after its take-over by Islamic Arabs in 642, and how the construction of the Aswan Dam in 1961 sparked new interest in this ancient culture.

Title: Apartheid: Calibrations of Color Author: Patra McSharry Language: English Age Group: Ages 12 to 16 Year: 1991 Length: 172 pp Publisher: Rosen Publishing Group Type: Non-Fiction

Description: A collection of writings and photographs by South Africans who share "a vision of a nonracial future." Selections include such different genres and points of view as a satirical play by a white South African; a black photographer's pictures of rural tenant laborers; a long piece from a historical novel about the life of a slave; the description by a black (presumably American) of anti-apartheid demonstrations at Columbia University in New York; the account of a Durban trade union theater center; and the story of a woman searching for her dead son in Scotland.

Title: Empires of Medieval West Africa: Ghana, Mali, and Songhay Author: David C. Conrad Language: English Age Group: Ages 11 to 14 Year: 2005 Length: 128 pp Publisher: Facts on File Type: Non-Fiction

Description: David Conrad Professor of History at SUNY Oswego, David Conrad is one of the foremost scholars on West African history. He has been a Fulbright Scholar, fellow of the Royal Geographic Society, president of the Mande Studies Association and study leader for a Smithsonian Institution tour of West Africa, and has written a dozen books on West African history, culture, musical and oral epic traditions. The Empires of Medieval West Africa: Ghana, Mali and Songhay is part of an 8-volume Great Empires of the Past series published by Facts on File in 2005. This 128-page volume’s illustrations include 13 photographs by the author. It is notable for correcting the out-of-date information from secondary sources often included in texts for middle school world history courses. Conrad connects the historical traditions of West Africa to contemporary religion, music and cuisine.

Title: I Lost my Tooth in Africa Author: Penda Diakite Language: English Age Group: Ages 4 to 8 Year: 2007 Length: 32 pp Publisher: Scholastic Press Type: Non-Fiction

Description: I lost my tooth in Africa is a vibrant, lively story about eight year old Amina, who takes a long journey from America to Africa, to visit her family in Mali. When Amina looses her tooth in Mali, places it under a gourd and tangles with the African tooth-fairy, she learns that growing up is also about responsibility.

Title: Ikenna Goes to Nigeria Author: Ifeoma Onyefulu Language: English Age Group: Ages 6 to 10 Year: 2007 Length: 37 pp Publisher: Frances Lincoln Children's Books Type: Non-fiction

Description: Ikenna is looking forward to lots of sun when he goes to Nigeria - even though he and his mum are going during the rainy season. In Lagos, he plays with his cousins before driving to Onitsha to see other relatives. Then the rain starts! But there is still lots to do including meeting Great-Uncle Hillary, who drove the royal train across Nigeria in 1956, and going with his mum to the Osun Festival at Osogbo, where he is surrounded by the sights and sounds of age-old ceremonies and traditions. Ikenna feels sad leaving his big family behind, but he's determined to visit Nigeria again.

Title: Illustrator's Notebook, The Author: Mohieddin Ellabbad Language: English Age Group: Ages 9 to 12 Year: 2006 Length: 36 pp Publisher: Groundwood Books Type: Non-Fiction

Description: The famous Egyptian illustrator Mohieddin Ellabbad presents his "notebook" which shares how he grew up and took on his profession. He uses text, photographs, drawings, and Arabic script to communicate his aspirations as an artist. Most compelling are the questions he raises for readers, for example, "Where do stories come from?" and "How does the way you feel affect the way you draw?" Younger readers will be delighted by how he combines images and shows the change in his country over time.

Title: Kings and Queens of West Africa  Author: Sylviane A. Diouf Language: English Age Group: Ages 9 to 12 Year: 2000 Length: 63 pp Publisher: Franklin Watts Type: Non-Fiction

Description: For many centuries there have been organized states and powerful empires in West Africa. Their wealth came from agriculture and mining, which gave rise to trade through the region and with Central and North Africa. Emperor Mansa Musa who reigned over Mali in the 14th century established trade and cultural relations with the Islamic world. King Osei Tutu of Asante (17th century Ghana) used commercial ties with the Europeans to expand his territories. Ndate yalla Mobdj, queen of Walo in 19th century Senegal tried to protect the trade and independence of her realm from a French takeover. These royal figures shaped the course of history in West Africa through their strength, wisdom and vision. Readers get to examine these great lives and their impact on the region today.

Title: Master Weaver From Ghana, The Author: Gilbert Ahiagble Language: English Age Group: Ages 9 to 12 Year: 1998 Length: 32 pp Publisher: Open Hand Publishing Type: Non-Fiction

Description: A first-rate look at an art form that has been a livelihood in this African nation for hundreds of years. Information on Ahiagble and his family, featured in the book, with details about their lifestyle and the history and technique of strip weaving by the Ewe people, are clearly presented through text and full-color photographs. The authors convey a marvelous feeling for the life and culture of these Ghanaians.

Title: Middle Passage, The Author: Tom Feelings Language: English Age Group: Ages 10 to 16 Year: 1995 Length: 80 pp Publisher: Dial Type: Non-Fiction

Description: Feelings's art speaks to the soul in this magnificent visual record of the Black Diaspora in the Americas. Clarke provides a concise narrative of the slave trade, and then readers pause at a double-spread image of a man, woman, bird, sun, and land before the pages become horrific. Guns, yokes, chains, whips, knives?one can see anger, grief, sadness, pain, and almost hear the screams coming from the captives' open mouths. The crowded holes, ankle chains, branding, rats, and sharks swarming around the ship as bodies are thrown overboard all build, image by image, to the reality of man's inhumanity to man.

Title: No More Strangers Now: Young Voices from a New South Africa Author: Tim McKee Language: English Age Group: Ages 10 to 16 Year: 2000 Length: 112 pp Publisher: DK Children Type: Non-Fiction

Description: Through powerful personal narratives and photographs, this remarkable book brings together twelve South African teenagers whose distinct voices illuminate their experiences under apartheid and the joyous yet challenging years of freedom since. In their own words, these teens reveal what it was like to grow up in a country bitterly divided by racial separation, violence, and poverty. Eighteen-year-old Bandile Mashinini tells of police breaking down his door night after night because of his family’s outspoken resistance to apartheid. Sixteen-year-old Ricardo Thando Tollie speaks of living in a tin shack only a few miles from the elegant houses of white suburbs. And fifteen-year-old Lesandra Jansen van Vuuren describes her isolated childhood as a white South African, taught to fear and mistrust people with skin darker than her own. But here, too, are stories of hope; of a willingness to reach out, to forgive, and to heal. Although they speak with a diverse range of voices, experiences, and attitudes, these young people are united in the belief that the new South Africa will truly be different from the one they have known. Their lives stand testament to the power and resilience of the human spirit and to a country’s ability to redefine itself.

Title: Origin of Life on Earth: An African Creation Myth, The Author: Sankofa, David A. Anderson, and Kathleen Atkins Wilson Language: English Age Group: Ages 9 to 12 Year: 1991 Length: 32 pp Publisher: Sights Productions Type: Non-Fiction

Description: This Yoruba creation myth begins in the heavenly court of the all-powerful and his agents, male and female orishas. All the orishas are content, save one named Obtala, whose wondering impels him to employ his power in some meaningful way. He prepares thoughtfully for this work, aided by his fellow orishas, and descends from heaven on a golden chain. He takes soil that has been sown with the personality of the orishas and forms humans in his own image,``carefully and lovingly,'' so that the resulting creatures (even the imperfect ones) are ``beautiful to behold.'' The all-powerful then brings them to life and sets the earth spinning, completing this noble, reverent, and positive tale. In the colorful illustrations, glowing with hot yellow and sapphire, ebony silhouettes are effectively set off by elegant, vibrantly patterned clothing and gold ornaments. The bright backgrounds recall batiked African textiles.

Title: Our Stories, Our Songs: African Children Talk about AIDS Author: Deborah Ellis Language: English Age Group: Ages 10 to Adult Year: 2005 Length: 101 pp Publisher: Fitzhenry and Whiteside Type: Non-Fiction

Description: In Sub-Saharan Africa, there are more than 11.5 million orphans. The AIDS pandemic has claimed their parents, their aunts, and their uncles. What is life like for these children? Who do they care for, and who cares for them? Come and meet them. They might surprise you.

Title: Royal Kingdoms of Ghana, Mali and Songhay, The Author: Patricia and Frederick McKissack Language: English Age Group: Ages 9 to 12 Year: 1995 Length: 128 pp Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. Type: Non-Fiction

Description: The McKissacks ( Sojourner Truth: Ain't I a Woman? ) continue to illuminate aspects of African American heritage with this introduction to three major kingdoms of medieval Africa: Ghana, Mali and Songhay. Based on folklore, contemporaneous accounts and modern scholarly research, their discussion covers the origins, customs, people and political history of these civilizations, which flourished from approximately A.D. 500 to 1700 but which until recently have been neglected by historians.

Title: Sundiata: Lion King of Mali Author: David Wisniewski Language: English Age Group: Ages 9 to 12 Year: 1999 Length: 32 pp Publisher: Clarion Books Type: Non-Fiction

Description: An appealing biography of Sundiata, credited as the founder of the Mali empire. A lengthy author's note informs readers as to how little firsthand information on the topic is available, and that what is known has been handed down orally by griots , or African storytellers. Therefore, the narrative has the distinctive, if somewhat mystical, flow of an oral history. Sundiata neither walks nor speaks for the first seven years of his life, but is still named heir over his older brother. Regardless of the pronouncement, following the king's death, Sundiata and his mother are forced into exile. How the Lion King of Mali defeats his enemies and becomes the rightful ruler makes for an exciting tale.