An appealing novel for newly independent readers is set in 1928 Harlem, where Lilly Belle is spending the summer as a member of the Harlem Young Writers Workshop sponsored by A’Lelia Walker, daughter of Madame C. J. Walker. Lilly Belle is from Smyrna, a small town in Tennessee, and even as she misses home she’s delighted by so much of what Harlem has to offer, not the least of which are the workshop seminars led by a woman named Zora Neale Hurston. She’s made good friends with Melvon, one of the boys about her age attending the workshop, but a girl named Alice is a problem. She teases Lilly Belle and another girl, Cora Mae, about their lack of sophistication and rural, southern ways. Then Lilly Belle discovers that Alice stole words from a magazine called The Crisis, turning in someone else’s writing as her own. Lilly Belle makes the choice to reach out rather than get revenge in Patricia McKissack’s lively fictional story, populated with a host of real figures from Harlem’s history. Part of McKissack’s Scraps of Time series, Lilly Belle’s story is framed by a narrative featuring two contemporary African American children. (Ages 7–10)

A historical chapter book series from three-time Coretta Scott King Award winner and Newbery Honor author, Patricia C. McKissack.

For Lilly Belle, ?the capital of Black America? is about as far from her hometown of Smyrna, Tennessee, as a twelve-year-old can get?maybe not in miles but certainly in mindset. Then a summer program for gifted young writers opens a whole new world for Lilly Belle. Jazz music in the street lulls her to sleep, her classroom is in a mansion, and the author Zora Neale Hurston is her teacher, helping her understand the power of words, especially her own. Once again, award-winning author Patricia C. McKissack builds an involving story around real events and famous figures.

"McKissack writes with empathy for the characters as well as a good eye for details that bring the period to life." --Booklist