Böcker i Young Palmetto Books-serien

Founded in 2013 by Steven Lynn, dean of the South Carolina Honors College, this annual writing contest was designed to engage the state's future leaders and thinkers. Each year the Honors College invited South Carolina high school juniors and seniors to respond to the question "e;How can we make South Carolina better?"e; in 750 words or fewer, in the genre of their choice. The finalists, selected by a panel of preliminary judges, were invited to the University of South Carolina campus for a second round comprising a forty-minute impromptu writing contest. This round was evaluated by two grand judges-South Carolina natives who have achieved national acclaim: short-story writer and novelist Pam Durban and poet Nikky Finney. Each chose a topic for the impromptu contest: write about a meaningful book and complete the statement "e;I come from...."e; This volume features the writing of the seventy-one finalists from the 2016-17 South Carolina High School Writing Contest.

More than 500 years ago, a tribe of Native Americans lived peacefully next to a river in an area called Cofitachequi, near what is now Camden, South Carolina. A kind and generous woman, who was a member of the Otter Clan, ruled this tribe. She became known as the Lady of Cofitachequi. All the people of the tribe and animals in the area loved the Lady. An adoring otter tells this true historical account of what happened to the Lady and her kin when Spanish explorers led by Hernando de Soto came looking for gold and silver. De Soto demanded that the tribe hand over precious metals and gems, but all the people had to offer were freshwater pearls and copper. In anger de Soto ordered his army to loot the temples and take all the food. Before leaving, they took the Lady captive and forced her to go with them. Otter watched with tears in his eyes as the Lady was taken away. Where did the Lady of Cofitachequi go, and would Otter and the people of the town ever see her again?

Crabbing is a story about young boys learning from their grandfather about the coastal tradition of catching crabs during an eventful day on a saltwater creek. Tilda Balsley's realistic yet poetic depictions coupled with Monica Wyrick's beautiful watercolor illustrations provide a glimpse into the diversity of life along the backwaters of the lowcountry. Crabbing is an intriguing "e;how-to"e; for children and evokes nostalgic reminders for readersof any age who have enjoyed the challenge of catching blue crabs.Following the story, additional material providesparents and teachers with educational information about blue crabs as well as other lowcountry wildlife including pelicans, cordgrass, dolphins, grasshoppers, and Spanish moss and about habitat protection. To round out the blue crab experience, a delicious crab cake recipe, simple enough for children to make, is included as well.

The Shark's Tooth is a poetic tale of imagination and conservation in which a young girl visiting her grandparents' beach house finds friendship with the ocean's creatures. Sharks' teeth are given to her by her new aquatic friends as gifts, symbolic of her connections to nature and the sea. As the little girl grows up and moves away to the city, she loses her kinship to the natural world. When she returns to the beach house as an adult, she is convinced that her childhood memories were only acts of make-believe-until she receives a sign that her ocean adventures may have been real after all.The Shark's Tooth is the first children's book written by New York Times best-selling author Ron Rash. Cecile L. K. Martin's colorful cut-paper illustrations complement the story, and novelist and children's author Mary Alice Monroe provides an engaging afterword on the story's empowering message of creativity and conservation.

From the Civil War ruins of Hilton Head, to the site of the H. L. Hunley submarine in Charleston and the University of South Carolina's historic Horseshoe in Columbia, Delta Wells and her brother Jax's vacation is an exciting and educational adventure through history.

Three friends prepare for an alien invasion with aluminum foil, peanut butter, and science. This book will appeal to budding scientists and even reluctant young readers as it answers burning questions such as ""How close is science fiction to real life?"" and ""Can peanut butter really keep your brain safe from an alien assault?

Robert Smalls, born a slave in 1839 in Beaufort, South Carolina, gained fame as an African American hero of the American Civil War. The Freedom Ship of Robert Smalls tells the inspirational story of Small's life as a slave, his boyhood dream of freedom, and his bold and daring plan as a young man to commandeer a Confederate gunboat from Charleston Harbor and escape with fifteen fellow slaves and family members. Smalls joined the Union Navy and rose to the rank of captain and became the first African American to command a U.S. service ship. After the war Smalls returned to Beaufort, bought the home of his former master, and began a long career in state and national politics. This new edition of The Freedom Ship of Robert Smalls, originally published in 1971, features Louise Meriwether's original narrative, now illustrated by the colorful paintings of renowned Southern artist Jonathan Green.

Lowcountry storyteller Delores B. Nevils and acclaimed artist Jonathan Green collaborate to share the story of Amadeus, a loud and proud leghorn rooster who comes to live with a widow lady in the Corners community of St. Helena Island on the South Carolina coast. The widow lady's dogs-Kane and Able-and cats-Mae Liza, Scooter, and Pumpkin-are unhappy with the arrival of this new resident in their yard. Amadeus makes himself at home and becomes the pride of the neighborhood. When the widow lady comes to welcome Amadeus and his constant cock-a-doodle-dooing, a rivalry develops between the rooster and the original residents of the yard, with unexpected results. The cautionary story of Amadeus teaches a valuable lesson for readers of all ages about what can be lost without cooperation and friendship. As the characters learn from the consequences of their actions, if you do not take care of everyone and everything around you, then you just might end up with nothing.

Set during the Anglo-Cherokee War (1758-61), The Last Sister, by Courtney McKinney-Whitaker, traces a young woman's journey through grief, vengeance, guilt, and love in the unpredictable world of the early American frontier. After a band of fellow settlers fakes a Cherokee raid to conceal their murder of her family, seventeen-year-old Catriona "e;Catie"e; Blair embarks on a quest to report the crime and bring the murderers to justice, while desperately seeking to regain her own sense of safety. This journey leads Catie across rural South Carolina and through Cherokee territory-where she encounters wild animals, physical injury, privation, British and Cherokee leaders, and an unexpected romance with a young lieutenant from a Scottish Highland regiment-on her path to a new life as she strives to overcome personal tragedy. The Anglo-Cherokee War erupted out of tensions between British American settlers and the Cherokee peoples, who had been allies during the early years of the French and Indian War. In 1759 South Carolina governor William Henry Lyttelton declared war on the Cherokee nation partly in retaliation for what he perceived as unprovoked attacks on backcountry settlements. Catie's story challenges many common notions about early America. It also presents the Cherokee as a sovereign and powerful nation whose alliance was important to Britain and addresses the complex issues of race, class, and ethnicity that united and divided the British, the Cherokee, the Scottish highlanders, and the Scottish lowlanders, while it incorporates issues of power that led to increased violence toward women on the early American frontier.

Fragments of the Ark follows the exploits of runaway slave Peter Mango, his family, and a band of fellow escaped slaves as they commandeer a Confederate gunboat out of Charleston harbor and deliver it to the Union navy. Mango is made captain of this liberated vessel and commands its crew through the duration of the war. He also travels to Washington to meet President Lincoln, adding his voice to others trying to persuade the president to allow black men to enlist in the armed forces. After the war Mango bought a home from his former master and became a political organizer for voting rights. Eventually he was elected a delegate to South Carolina's state convention to rewrite its constitution. Based on the inspirational life of Robert Smalls, Fragments of the Ark explores the American Civil War through the eyes of its most deeply wounded souls. Against this chaotic backdrop, the novel sweeps readers into Mango's heroic quest for the most basic of human rights, a safe haven to nurture a family bound by love and not fear, and the freedom to be the master of his own life.

In a summer spent in Charleston, South Carolina, eleven-year-old Kirby, Grandma, and Grandpa plant a butterfly garden, and Kirby documents the wondrous adventures in learning that follow. Their observations, excitement, and curiosity are vividly captured through Kirby's journal and newly acquired hobby of photography as together they discover an abundance of life just outside their own backdoor.

In heartfelt essays, poems, short stories, and drama, these diverse writers lay bare their attitudes and impressions of South Carolina as they have experienced it and as they hope to reshape it. The resulting anthology is a compelling portrait of the state's potential as advocated by some of its best and brightest young writers.