This month's "Recommended Reads" are contributed by Christel Temple, assistant professor, Department of Africana Studies.

During Black History Month we saturate ourselves in Black history, culture, art and literature in order to familiarize ourselves with resources that can enrich us all year long. The following selection of books offers something for everyone.

Step Into A World: A Global Anthology of The New Black Literature edited by Kevin A. Powell (John Wiley & Sons, 2000): A collection of the most contemporary literature and ideas of Black writers and critics from the U. S., Canada, Europe and Africa, this anthology is modern, hip and interesting. It reads like the pages of Vibe and Amsterdam News, with a touch of Callaloo, has a section on hip-hop journalism, and offers the usual genres, plus emails and manifestos.

Kindred by Octavia Butler (Beacon Press, 1988): A fascinating, nearly sci-fi, novel about how a young Black woman gets snatched back into the past-the antebellum South-to rescue and attempt to reform her white, slaveholding ancestors.

Sugar in the Raw: Voices of Young Black Girls in America by Rebecca Carroll (Three Rivers Press, 1997): In 15 interview-based narratives, African-American girls, ages 11 to 20 testify about their identities, hopes, dreams, struggles, fears and empowerment. This is required reading for educators seeking to know their students better, and the book could be welcome company to young girls who want affirmation in their own process of growth and development.

All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes by Maya Angelou (Vintage Books Edition, 1991): This memoir of Angelou's years in post-independence Ghana is a thoughtful and emotional rendering of how African Americans can reacquaint themselves with their ancestral homeland.

Gorilla, My Love by Toni Cade Bambara (Vintage Books, 1992): In 15 short stories, Bambara takes readers on an insider's tour of African-American urban and rural communities. Readers will chuckle lightly, laugh heartily and share this collection with their best friends.

Here I Stand (Beacon Press, 1988) by Paul Robeson: We forget that before the success of modern Black sports heroes, Paul Robeson, born in 1898, was the 20th century's premier all-star Black college athlete who excelled globally in theater, film, musical performance and politics. Through this autobiography, we can reacquaint ourselves with this hero.

Fences by August Wilson (Plume/ Penguin, 1986): This Pulitzer prize-winning drama is engaging reading about Black male struggles and the endurance of the Black family as a former Negro League baseball player comes to terms with denied opportunity.

Still I Rise: A Cartoon History of African Americans by Roland Own Laird, Jr. (W. W. Norton & Co., 1997): Written and penciled in the best tradition of the political cartoon and comic strip, this graphic depiction of Black history is informative and fun reading for all ages.

Hidden in Plain View: The Secret Story of Quilts and the Underground Railroad by Jacqueline Tobin and Raymond G. Dobard (Anchor Books, 2000): There are more messages and secrets embodied in the African-American and abolitionist tradition of quilting than we ever realized. This book, filled with history, photographs and quilt code patterns is curiously intriguing.

Dinner at Aunt Connie's House by Faith Ringgold (Hyperion Books for Children, 1993) and My Dream of Martin Luther King by Faith Ringgold (Dragonfly Books/Crown Publishers, 1995): These two children's books are must-haves for multicultural children's collections. In Dinner, imagine having an aunt whose paintings of Rosa Parks, Sojourner Truth, Marian Anderson and others come alive and share their stories. In My Dream, Ringgold translates Dr. King's dream and America's racial past into language and paintings that effectively teach all children.

Have a favorite book you'd like to share? Email Insights@umbc.edu.