Books by Jamaican authors for children 8-12 years (Updated)

This is an update of my post of October 2012.
Children who read for pleasure improve their word knowledge, grammar and reading comprehension far beyond what is taught in formal classes. This holds true whether they are reading stories about children like themselves or different from themselves. Why then should we be concerned that books about children like themselves are available for their reading pleasure?

In a blog post in October 2012, Diane Browne wrote 

 “But where is the embracing of the Caribbean literature by the education system so that we may read about ourselves more often than we do, not only in set books, but just in the library at school? Do we think that our children can learn anything from the books being written now? Have our adult gatekeepers read the books and recognized their worth, not only as entertaining stories, but also as self validation, points from which discussion may arise in a young people valiantly searching for themselves, as all young people do? Books allow them to work through their fears, their sources of joy, their experiences, to try on various selves. It would seem a good thing if these selves could be related to their own lives.”

Summer Edwards said in a 2012 blog “Now that I am older and have had a chance to read children's literature from many cultures, I realize that the children's books that have truly made a difference in my life - both my child life and my adult life- are the ones where the stories were set in West Indian places, with characters that talked and looked like me and knew the same things I did.”

In her Reflection on Jamaican children reading  Curdella Forbes wrote “Access to fiction written specifically for Caribbean children and teens is still extremely limited for most Jamaican children…Jamaican fiction outside of the school curriculum is unknown to many children. Some parents who would love to purchase nonschool books for their children cannot afford the cost. Those who can, have extensive options offered by the distributing giant Scholastic. With multiple outlets in the Caribbean, Scholastic leaves its local competitors far behind.”
To help those who would like to purchase books by Jamaican authors, I have updated  my list  and added some links. 

List of books by Jamaican Authors

1. Flying with Icarus  by Curdella Forbes                  2003 (Walker Books)

Carlong Sand Pebble Series  available in Sangsters Book Stores

2. Jojo’s Treasure Hunt by Cherrell Shelley-Robinson           2003 (10-12)

3. Freedom Come by Jean Goulbourne                                  2002 (10 -12)

4. Island Princess in Brooklyn by Diane Browne       2011 (10-14)

5. Bernie and the Captain’s Ghost by Hazel Campbell          2010 (10-12)

6. Tek Mi! Noh Tek Mi by C. Shelley-Robinson et al            2008 (10-14)

7. Every Little Thing will be All Right by Diane Browne 2003 (8-10)

8. Little Island - Big Adventures by Maria Roberts-Squires 2007 (12-14)

9. Jenny and the General by Jean D’Costa                 2006 (8-10)

10. Miss Bettina’s House by Hazel Campbell                        2004 (8-10)

11. Ash the Flash by Hazel Campbell and Nattalie Gordon   2014 (10-12)

Published by LMH,  available at outlets supplied by Novelty Trading.

12. Juice Box and Scandal by Hazel Campbell

13. Tilly Bummie by Hazel Campbell

14. Ramgoat Dashalong by Hazel Campbell

15. Goat Boy Never Cries by Hazel Campbell

16. Be-All-You-Can-Be: Yalena and the Spelling Bee by Lil’ Island kids

17. Fly Away Home and other Caribbean Stories by Andy Mead

18. Project Climate Change by Petre Williams-Raynor

19. Inner City Girl by Colleen Smith-Dennis

20. Saving Joe Louis by Isabel Marvin

By Diane Browne

21. A Tumbling World - A Time of Fire

22. Cordelia Finds Fame and Fortune. Now available as an ebook: 

23. The Ring and the Roaring Water

By Linda Gambrill (Beenybud Stories)

24. Miss Tiny (7- 9)

25. A Boy Named Neville (7 - 9)

26. Croaking Johnny and Dizzy Lizzie (7 - 9)

Island Fiction Series (Macmillan Caribbean 2009) available at outlets supplied by Novelty Trading and on Amazon.

27. Delroy in the Marog Kingdom by Billy Elm  2009 (9-14)

28. Night of the Indigo by Michael Holgate  2009 (12-15)

Scholastic

29. Blue Mountain Trouble by Martin Mordecai 2009 (8-12) 

By Cedella Marley

30. The Boy from Nine Miles (2008)

31. One Love (2011)

32. Every Little Thing (2012)

33. A Jamaican Storyteller’s Tale by Lorrimer A. Burford ( 2005)

By Suzanne Francis Brown

34. The Mystery of the Golden Table (Arawak Publishing)

35. Searching for Pirates. A Port Royal Adventure (Arawak)

36. Marcus Garvey. (Suzanne Francis-Brown/Jean-Jacques Vayssieres)(Ian Randle Publ)

37. The Mermaid Escapade (E-Published, Kindle, 2013) 

38. By Helen Williams ‘Delroy and the Marog Princess’ (self-published e-book sequel to Delroy in the Marog Kingdom).

The following stories were written longer ago (‘70’s,’80’s and ‘90’s). They are probably better known than more recent publications, because many of them were on school book lists.

By James Berry

39. A Thief in the Village and Other Stories 1987 (12-up)

40. Ajeemah and His Son – Harper Collins1993 (8-up)

By Everard Palmer

41.  A Cow Called Boy 1972 (6-10)

42. The Sun Salutes You (Republished by Macmillan Caribbean 2007) (8-12)

43. My Father Sun-Sun Johnson 1974 (8-12)(Republished by Macmillan Caribbean 2012)

44. Cloud with the Silver Lining 1987 (8-12)(Republished by Macmillan Caribbean 2011)

By Jean D’Costa

45. Sprat Morrison

46. Escape to Last Man Peak

By Andrew Salkey (all reprinted by Peepal Tree Press 2011 in the Caribbean Modern Classics  Series) (12 - up) 

47. Drought (Oxford 1966; )

48. Earthquake

49.  Riot
50. Hurricane

By Vic Reid (1913 - 1987)

51. Sixty-Five (1960), London: Longman.

52. The Young Warriors (1967), London: Longman.

53. Peter of Mount Ephraim (1971), Kingston: Jamaica Publishing House.

54. The Jamaicans (revised edition 1978), Kingston: Institute of Jamaica.

55. Nanny Town (1983)

56. The Horses of the Morning (1985)

57. The Leopard

In response to comments, I have added the following:
By Geoffrey Philp
58. Grandpa Sydney's Anancy Stories   There is also a Kindle edition 
59. Marcus and the Amazons (an e-book)
60. The Christmas Dutch Pot Baby (an e-book)
By Renaee Smith
61. The Great Compost Heap

Books added in 2015
No Boy Like Amanda by Hope Barnett

The Turtle Tale by Latoya Newman
Young Heroes of the Caribbean by Gwyneth Harold Davidson. Print version will be available in June 2015.

If anyone reading this post knows of, or has written other stories for 8 -14 year-olds, I would be most grateful if you would let me know.