The Last Slave by Marilyn Nelson (grades 4-6)

Born to a military family in Cleveland, Ohio, Marilyn Nelson started her career as a poet in her elementary school. Her father was one of the last to graduate from Tuskegee Airmen, primarily African American military pilots and airmen who fought in World War II. Marilyn is an author and translator for over 20 books for children and grownups. She was a Poet Laureate of Connecticut (2001-2006). Nelson’s work is described as “examining complex issues around race, feminism, and the ongoing trauma of slavery in American life in narratives poised between song and speech.” Her book The Homeplace (1990) depicts her family’s history dating back to the sale of Nelson’s great-great-grandmother into slavery.