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About The Book

2016 Audie Award Finalist for Middle Grade

Sharon M. Draper presents “storytelling at its finest” (School Library Journal, starred review) in this New York Times bestselling Depression-era novel about a young girl who must learn to be brave in the face of violent prejudice when the Ku Klux Klan reappears in her segregated southern town.

Stella lives in the segregated South—in Bumblebee, North Carolina, to be exact about it. Some stores she can go into. Some stores she can’t. Some folks are right pleasant. Others are a lot less so. To Stella, it sort of evens out, and heck, the Klan hasn’t bothered them for years. But one late night, later than she should ever be up, much less wandering around outside, Stella and her little brother see something they’re never supposed to see, something that is the first flicker of change to come, unwelcome change by any stretch of the imagination. As Stella’s community—her world—is upended, she decides to fight fire with fire. And she learns that ashes don’t necessarily signify an end.

About The Author

Photograph (c) Sharon Draper

Sharon M. Draper is a three-time New York Times bestselling author for Out of My MindBlended, and Out of My Heart. She’s also won Coretta Scott King Awards for Copper Sun and Forged by Fire and multiple honors. She’s also the recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards Award honoring her significant and lasting contribution to writing for teens. Sharon taught high school English for twenty-five years and was named National Teacher of the Year. She now lives in Florida. Visit her at SharonDraper.com.

About The Reader

Product Details

Awards and Honors

  • ALA Notable Children's Books
  • ILA Teachers' Choices
  • CCBC Choices (Cooperative Children's Book Council)
  • South Carolina Picture Book Award Nominee
  • Iowa Children's Choice Award Nominee
  • CBC/NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book
  • William Allen White Children's Book Award Reading List (KS)
  • NYPL 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing
  • Young Hoosier Book Award Nominee (IN)
  • Oregon Battle of the Books List
  • Grand Canyon Reader Award Nominee (AZ)
  • Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award Master List
  • Capital Choices Noteworthy Books for Children's and Teens (DC)
  • NCTE Notable Children's Books in the Language Arts
  • Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award Master List (IL)
  • Great Lakes Great Books Master List (MI)
  • Kansas NEA Reading Circle List Starred Junior Title
  • ILA Notable Books for a Global Society
  • Children's Sequoyah Book Award Master List (OK)
  • Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award Master List (VT)
  • Charlie May Simon Children's Book Award Nominee (AR)
  • Black-Eyed Susan Book Award Nominee (MD)
  • Georgia Children's Book Award Finalist
  • Skipping Stones Honor Book
  • Judy Lopez Memorial Award Honor Book
  • Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year Selection Title
  • ALA Notable Children's Recording
  • Rhode Island Children's Book Award Nominee
  • MSTA Reading Circle List
  • Wisconsin State Reading Association's Reading List
  • Ohioana Book Award Finalist
  • Golden Sower Award Nominee (NE)
  • NCTE Charlotte Huck Outstanding Fiction Award
  • Horace Mann Upstanders Book Award
  • Center for the Study of Multicultural Children's Literature Best Multicultural Books List
  • Lectio Book Award Finalist (TX)

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