Eric Velasquez

Ramsey dons his superhero cape to rescue Grandma from the huge octopus she is trying to cook--or is he simply telling a story? Includes author's note on the story's origin and a recipe for Octopus stew.

The author describes Christmas at his grandmother's apartment in Spanish Harlem the year she introduced him to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Diego Velazquez's portrait of Juan de Pareja, which has had a profound and lasting effect on him.

"The octopus Grandma is cooking has grown to titanic proportions. ¡Tenga cuidado! Ramsey shouts. Be careful! But it's too late. The octopus traps Grandma! Ramsey must use both art and intellect to free his beloved abuela. Then the story takes a surprising twist. And it can be read two ways. Open the fold-out pages to find Ramsey telling a story to his family. Keep the pages folded, and Ramsey's octopus adventure is real. This beautifully illustrated...

America's Sherlock Holmes in sneakers continues his war on crime in ten more cases, the solutions to which are found in the back of the book.

A biography of Muhammad Ali, from his childhood in Louisville, Kentucky, his legendary boxing career, and his conversion to Islam and opposition to the war in Vietnam, to his appearance at the 1996 summer Olympics in Atlanta.

Separated from their mother by the harsh social and economic conditions prevalent among blacks in South Africa, thirteen-year-old Naledi and her younger brother make a journey of over 300 kilometers to find her in Johannesburg.

"A moving portrait of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. from his niece My Uncle Martin's Big Heart is a story about love: love between a young girl and her uncle, and all the love she sees her uncle share -- with his family members, with his church congregation, and with all people. In this inspiring narrative about Martin Luther King Jr. -- told by his niece -- young readers will discover the story of the man behind the civil rights hero...

A portrait of the trailblazing Supreme Court Justice describes the prejudices that challenged her pursuit of an education and a career in law, her achievements as the second woman ever appointed to the Supreme Court and her important contributions to high-profile cases.

"Millie danced to jazz in her Italian neighborhood. Pedro danced to Latin songs in his Puerto Rican neighborhood. It was the 1940s in New York City, and they were forbidden to dance together . . . until first a band and then a ballroom broke the rules. Machito and His Afro-Cubans hit the scene with a brand-new sound, blending jazz trumpets and saxophones with Latin maracas and congas creating Latin jazz, music for the head, the heart, and the hips....