National Network for Equitable Library Service

"Abducted as an 11-year-old child from her village in West Africa and forced to walk for months to the sea in a coffle--a string of slaves-- Aminata Diallo is sent to live as a slave in South

Lara is mother to Maudie and stepmother to Jasmine and Eve.

" In the quiet of a warm summer's evening, two young mothers are forced to give up their babies.

"“Its an immense night out there, wheeling and windy. The lights on the street and in the houses against the black wetness, little unilluminating glints that might be painted on it.

The subject of 'Kokoro,' which can be translated as 'the heart of things' or as 'feeling,' is the delicate matter of the contrast between the meanings the various parties of a relationship attach t