Eleven-year-old Coota has thoughts of becoming a rap star that are changed when his mother sends him from Roxbury, Massachusetts to stay in North Carolina to spend time with his grandmother, Miss Mattie. She is a retired school teacher who does not own a television, won't call him by his nickname "Coota" and insists that he read.

In North Carolina, he discovers a slave's diary, and learns from his civil-rights activist grandmother about the Underground Railroad codes sewn into colorful quilts decorating her home. He also becomes a friend of Cheryl, a young girl who is blind but can see the importance of respect and dignity. By the time Coota returns to the "Bury," he is rapping about Harriet Tubman

This is the first book in the trilogy, "The Coota Experiences." The book challenges youth to some critical thinking and to learn the importance of communicating without using racial slurs, ethnic slurs; the importance of building their vocabulary and learning about history. It is a book with positive and revealing thoughts about triumphs over adversity. 

Author: Haywood Fennell

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