Traditional, oral tales from the Zulu, Ashanti, and other tribes of Africa.

AIDS is destroying sub-Saharan Africa. To learn about the real human beings who are affected, pick any book on this list.

For a young adult audience. A few stories are set in northern, Islamic societies, but most are set in sub-Saharan Africa. Mostly written in the 1980s.

Not entirely from south of the Sahara, but at least all these stories are very current in setting. This is important, considering recent changes wrought by AIDS, for example.

Like the book above, but with an important difference. All these stories pre-date AIDS in South Africa. You should definitely remember that things have changed since these stories were written.

A detective agency in modern Botswana. Calm, sensible people, who would be right at home on "The Waltons."

Good introductory book about Africa, for kids ages 9-12.

Life in Kenya, among villages of cattle herders trying to cope with forces brought to their villages by Christian missionaries.

Nigerian tribal life in upheaval, in the aftermath of colonialism.

Women in Rhodesia in the 1960s.

There is nothing funny about drought.

I'm putting this here in hopes that it will draw people to this list, so they'll see the other items here.

I'm putting this here in hopes that it will draw people to this list, so they'll see the other items here.