In 1961, one of the bloodiest years in the integration movement, she and a classmate, the late Hamilton Holmes, became the first African-Americans admitted to the University of Georgia when the NAACP won a lawsuit filed on their behalf.

The title of "Round & Round Together" was inspired by the fact that it was the park's merry-go-round that little Sharon rode that fateful afternoon. In the book, the author seamlessly interweaves eyewitness accounts of the long effort to desegregate Gwynn Oak with descriptions of what was simultaneously transpiring elsewhere around the country in the Civil Rights Movement.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) -- After defending more than 60 people charged with capital murder and getting three men off Alabama's death row, attorney Richard Jaffe wants to get people talking about the death penalty and what he believes are its flaws.

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) -- The chaos of Nigeria's largest city of Lagos gets boiled down to prose as a narrator notes "how unpretty" its sprawl looks, with "its unplanned houses sprouting like weeds." Another author describes the madness of the commute, how six roads meet and "there is no traffic light."

A sobering clarion call to heed the history lessons of our horrifying past in these presumably post-racial times.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Lil Wayne is offering a literary tour of his prison days.

Barack Obama's historic run for the presidency spawned a cottage industry of books about him and the First Lady, with several even being published well before the inauguration. Most of the early offerings were merely take-the-money-and-run rip-offs, which is why this critic suggested that those impatient for a keepsake consider waiting for someone to come up with a worthwhile biography likely to stand the test of time.

This book features contributions from Occupy activists who were there from the beginning. It offers insights for those actively protesting or expressing support for the movement, and for the millions more who sympathize with the goal of a more equitable and democratic future.

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) -- The author of internationally acclaimed novel "Things Fall Apart" and other works examining the political failures and corruption of oil-rich Nigeria has again turned down a national honor over the failings of the nation.

Webmaster and literary figure Troy Johnson talks about both the challenges and rewards of running www.AALBC.com