Describes the inventions created by the peoples of Africa in hunting, agriculture, architecture, metalwork, medicine, the arts, and other fields, and how they have spread through the world and continue to fit into modern African civilization.

Retold Afro-American folktales of animals, fantasy, the supernatural, and desire for freedom, born of the sorrow of the slaves, but passed on in hope.
 

Danticat brings Haiti's beautiful and heroic queen to life. Queen Anacaona's island was peaceful until the Spanish explorers conquered it in 1492. The conquistadors were cruel to Anacaona's people, and when they revolted, their queen was resigned to a tragic fate.