“We realize the importance of our voices only when we are silenced.” Malala Yousafzai was raised to stand up for what she believes. She took this to heart as her conviction was severely challenged when the Taliban took control of her formally peaceful town. Despite their tactics of fear and violence, Malala continued to stand … Read more
Brown Girl Dreaming is the memoir-in-verse of acclaimed novelist, Jacqueline Woodson. A book rich in personal memories and unforgettable phrasing, it will be enjoyed by a wide range of students and their families. Growing up in Ohio, South Carolina, and then Brooklyn, Woodson uses a series of elegantly wrought poems to paint a richly layered … Read more
E.B. White wrote three novels for children. You probably know Charlotte’s Web and Stuart Little. Now is the time to discover or re-visit the equally special The Trumpet of the Swan. The book starts with the young Sam Beaver, a budding naturalist who witnesses a pair of Trumpeter Swans, nesting by a little pond in … Read more
Appleblossom is the smallest of her mama’s first batch of babies, so she and her siblings all have A names – Abdul, Alisa, Augusta, Atticus and so on. Mama Possum is busy teaching her babies the finer points of a life on the stage, complete with Shakespearean dialogue and courtly dancing. Consider this scene as … Read more
We invite readers to revisit, rediscover, and rethink what you know about fairy tales with Rump: The (Fairly) True Tale of Rumpelstiltskin. Author Liesl Shurtliff presents the story-behind-the-story of the fabled Rumpelstiltskin, pulling back the curtain to reveal the truth behind his famed ability to spin straw into gold, and the heavy price that ability … Read more
Newbery Medal-winning Holes is a rich, complex book that has already engaged a generation of readers. It is sure to provide a wealth of spirited discussion and fun activities when you read it school-wide. At its heart, Holes is the story of Stanley Yelnats, a boy wrongly accused of a crime and sentenced to spend … Read more
What better way to learn history than through the eyes of a beloved character as she experiences it firsthand? Esperanza Ortega guides us through her beautiful coming-of-age story in the 1930s. With the effects of the Mexican Revolution and the Great Depression lingering in her hometown of Aguascaleintes, Mexico, the wellborn Esperanza goes from anticipating … Read more
Riding Freedom, by Pam Muñoz Ryan, is a fictionalized account of Charlotte Parkhurst – the little known, but very real, self-made “man.” It is also a rich story, beautifully told. The plan is elegantly simple. If a girl can’t be as free as a boy in the mid-19th century, then Charlotte would become a boy. … Read more
“A step at a time. One problem at a time—just figure out this one problem.” Linda Sue Park tells a story of perseverance, a story of hope, a story taken from recent history. A Long Walk to Water is Salva Dut’s story, but it’s also a story of so many others who are born into dire … Read more
Read to Them is proud to offer the special, moving, magical Wonder, by R.J. Palacio. One of the most acclaimed books of our time, Wonder has swept readers of multiple generations – a wide range of students, parents, librarians, and teachers. It is a title we’ll be talking about a generation from now. Wonder tells … Read more
A rich, modern, and now classic fable. Nim’s Island takes us to the idyllic spot in the Pacific where a young girl, Nim, lives with her scientist father. They are self-sufficient in their paradise, complete with solar powered computer batteries and a satellite dish. This isn’t a standard stranded-on-a-desert-island story. We spend all our time with … Read more
Robert C. O’Brien’s Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH is a Newbery-winning novel that sports an array of attractions. An intrepid mouse trying to save her family. A family farm with an array of creatures like Dragon, the cat. A wise owl living in the great tree in the forest. The mysterious rats from … Read more
“…because there isn’t anything as humble or patient or loving or loyal as the dog I have in my arms right now.” Marty Preston lives in a rural town in West Virginia where one of his favorite activities is exploring the land. Marty’s life is changed when he finds a thin, skittish beagle he names … Read more
Nory Horace was trying to turn herself into a kitten. She was hiding in case something went wrong. The world went blurry, and Nory’s heart beat faster. Her body stretched and shrank. But wait. Her front legs weren’t kitten legs. And what was this nose? It was more of a snout. A beaver nose. Zamboozle! … Read more
“Our house is bare and our rice hardly fills our bowls, but we have plenty of stories.” Minli lives in the Valley of the Fruitless Mountain where she and her parents work tirelessly to put food on their table. Each night, Minli finds herself nourished by her father’s tales – especially the story of the … Read more
“Once there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy…” So begins C.S. Lewis’s timeless classic, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. The Pevensie siblings are sent away from London amid the air-raids of World War II to stay with a Professor in his country-side home. It’s quite by accident that … Read more
Chris Kurtz has created Flora, the pig with passion! She has “a heart born for adventure and hooves stuck in a pen.” When Luna the farm cat warns her not to go looking for trouble, Flora responds, “But I don’t want to stay out of trouble! I want something to happen around here!” One day, … Read more
How many people get a do-over on life? Can a leopard change its spots? After a fall off the roof lands Chase in a coma, he regains consciousness with a concussion and amnesia. The concussion keeps the all-county running back temporarily off the football team. But the real challenge is the amnesia. Chase has to … Read more
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is a nonfiction title that informs, amazes, and inspires all readers, young and not so young. To call it another inspiring must-read doesn’t do it justice. Yes, it has all of the components of a heartfelt hometown hero story. An unlikely hero? Check. An against-all-odds situation? Check. Tragedy and … Read more
Iron resolve. Ferocious courage. And a healthy dose of insanity. In Marion Jensen’s Almost Super, each of these attributes is as important to members of the Bailey family as are the superpowers they receive on the leap year after they turn twelve. But for brothers Rafter and Benny, those coveted superpowers may just look a … Read more
“On the outside, happy and sad often look the same.” What is it like to try to read when the letters seem to move on the page? What is like to be in the room full of people – and still feel all alone? Meet Ally. She’s dyslexic, but she doesn’t know there’s an actual … Read more
“It’s important to stand up for what’s right, but sometimes there’s a fine line between courage and stupidity.” Hoot is the great Carl Hiaasen’s first foray into children’s literature, and he won the Newbery Honor for it. Well known for his adult novels with fast-paced, humorous tales of environmental shenanigans in Florida, Hiaasen hit a … Read more
Three characters; separated by continents, divided by decades, and bound by harrowing circumstances that reach beyond time and place. The journeys of the three protagonists in Alan Gratz’s Refugee are distinct in history, yet they share a common trajectory of escaping cruelty to find freedom. Josef from Germany in the 1930s, Isabel from Cuba in … Read more
We all know that student who loves books — really, really loves books. Amy Anne Ollinger is just that student. Her favorite place in the whole world is her school library, and her favorite book is From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. You can imagine her shock when this book-loving girl finds … Read more
