In 1964, ten-year-old African American singer Melody Ellison decides to fix up her Detroit neighborhood playground and plant a garden, but when her friends put her in charge, Melody finds out just how hard it can be to lead.

Denise Lewis Patrick grew up in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Lots of relatives lived nearby, so there was always someone watching out for her and always someone to play with. Every week, Denise and her brother went to the library, where she would read and dream in the children's room overlooking a wonderful river. She wrote and illustrated her first book when she was ten--she glued yellow cloth to cardboard for the cover and sewed the pages together on her mom's sewing machine. Today, Denise lives in New Jersey, where she still loves to read, write, and make books.