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Sharon Draper, author of “Copper Sun,” and Kadir Nelson, illustrator of “Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom,” are the winners of the 2007 Coretta Scott King Awards, which honors African American authors and illustrators of outstanding books for children and young adults. Traci L. Jones, author of “Standing Against the Wind,” is the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Author Award winner.

In “Copper Sun,” 15-year-old Amari’s struggle with the evils of slavery will intrigue today’s teens. Forced onto a slave ship and eventually sold as a gift for a plantation owner’s son, Amari forms an unlikely alliance with an indentured servant and a young slave boy, the threesome escape and set off on a treacherous journey of hope and survival.

“You can’t help but be drawn into Amari’s life as you turn the pages,” said Coretta Scott King Book Award Jury Chair Darwin L. Henderson. “Amari's spirit and determination will leave readers breathless, even as they gain a deeper understanding of the history of slavery in our country.”

“Copper Sun” is published by Simon & Schuster/Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

In “Moses,” written by Carole Boston Weatherford and published by Jump at the Sun/Hyperion Books for Children, the strong emotional impact of Kadir Nelson’s illustrations combine with rich sensory language to make this book a work of art. Nelson’s bold and expressively detailed paintings capture the essence of Harriet Tubman’s hard journey toward freedom.

Nelson, who lives in San Diego, began drawing at age 3. He is the recipient of the 2005 Coretta Scott King Award for illustration and a 2004 Coretta Scott King honor award. In 2002, he won an NAACP Image Award.

In “Standing Against the Wind, Traci L. Jones captures 13-year-old Patrice’s sense of alienation and strong self-determination as she is uprooted from her comfortable home in Georgia just before her mother goes to jail. Patrice learns to dodge the cruel bullying of streetwise boys, reach her goals and succeed “against the wind.” The book is published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

One King Author Honor Book was selected: “The Road to Paris” written by Nikki Grimes and published by G.P. Putnum’s Sons, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group.

Two King Illustrator Honor Books were selected: “Jazz,” illustrated by Christopher Myers, written by Walter Dean Myers and published by Holiday House, Inc.; and “Poetry for Young People: Langston Hughes” illustrated by Benny Andrews, edited by David Roessel and Arnold Rampersad, and published by Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.

The announcement was made in January by the by the Coretta Scott King Committee of the ALA’s Ethnic & Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table (EMIERT).American Library Association which sponsors the annual awards.