“We are history. This, right here, is all history ever has been: regular people living their regular lives, making things up as they go, hoping they get it right.” That’s what Caitlyn ultimately concludes about her new school. But it takes moving from New York to Vermont and going to a quirky new school to … Read more
El Deafo is a graphic novel that tells Cece Bell’s own story of growing up in Virginia in the 1970s. Students love graphic novels and they are a great way to hook even the most reluctant readers with their colorful illustrations which support the plot and illuminate the world of the story. El Deafo is … Read more
Katherine Applegate invites you to listen to trees. “…if you find yourself standing near a particularly friendly-looking tree on a particularly lucky-feeling day, it can’t hurt to listen up. Trees can’t tell jokes. But we can certainly tell stories.” And so Red, a Wise Old Tree, invites us to listen to this story of a … Read more
Basketball. Competition. Family. Health. Poetry. Kwame Alexander weaves all these all elements together in his Newbery Medal and Coretta Scott King Award winning novel in verse, The Crossover. OH, WOW – DID YOU SEE THAT NASTY CROSSOVER?Now you see why they call me Filthy.Folks, I hope you got your tickets,Because I’m about to put on … Read more
A novel in verse. From Newbery-winning author, Kwame Alexander. For middle schools. About soccer. About books. And relationships. Nick Hall is a pretty typical middle schooler. He’s a king on the soccer field, he’s doing well in school, and he’s gearing up to ask out April, the girl of his dreams. However, Nick doesn’t like … Read more
“This story was going to begin like all the best stories. With a school bus falling from the sky.But no one saw it happen. No one heard anything. So instead, this story will begin like all the…good ones.With boogers.” And thus begins a story in ten acts, told as only Jason Reynolds could tell it … Read more
Searching for books with diverse characters? How do you know which underrepresented group to feature? It can be hard to do when you can only choose one book at a time. Enter Flying Lessons, a collection of short stories with several protagonists often overlooked in children’s literature, written by some of our finest authors. Consider … Read more
Zoe Washington is intrepid. She’s just turned 12, she wants to be a pastry chef, she’s interning at a local bakery, and she wants to audition for Food Network’s Kids Bake Off Challenge (and be the first Black girl to win). She’s also trying to navigate a rough patch with her longtime best friend, Trevor. … Read more
“Always remember, when you are with your people, you are home.” Welcome to the ARRT Room – A Room To Talk. Here, six Brooklyn middle school students are afforded one hour each Friday to talk amongst themselves – no adults present. The students are blessed with a humane and understanding teacher who creates this private … Read more
“But in a place like Eerie-on-Sea, legends can sometimes have a little more… bite.” This is a lesson that Herbert “Herbie” Lemon, Lost-and-Founder of the Grand Nautilus Hotel, quickly discovers when he learns about the fearsome Malamander – a half-fish, half-man – that’s kept the town of Eerie-on-Sea weary of misty evenings for generations. “Because … Read more
What would you do if you discovered your grandfather had turned into a 13-year-old wise-cracking kid? Grandpa Melvin is a scientist and he’s discovered a cure for aging. (It involves jellyfish.) He appears on his estranged daughter’s doorstep, looking for help breaking into his old lab and to recover his research. He ends up enrolled … Read more
“You need a stable family environment.”“You need a family that’s not all broken like yours is.” Charlie finds herself leaving her city home in Raleigh, North Carolina, sent away to small-town Colby, through no fault of her own. Her father is in jail for fighting and now he’s “getting corrected,” and her mother is depressed … Read more
There’s a lot to know about Maria Luisa, better known as Malú, but let’s start with this: she loves punk music, she loves to make creative zines, and she hates cilantro. Malú’s father runs a punk record store in Florida, while Malú and her mother – whom she teases as SuperMexican – are temporarily moving … Read more
“Some of these places I am still getting to know, some of these places I have known all my life. All these places made me, are making me.” Amara Baker lives in Beaverton, Oregon, and all she wants for her twelfth birthday is to go to New York with her father on his business trip … Read more
