Can a classic written over 100 years ago still have something to share with modern readers? Yes, when the classic is L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, especially in this edition with black-and-white versions of W.W. Denslow’s whimsical illustrations. Come along with Dorothy on her journey from Kansas to Oz and back again, … 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
The One and Only Ivan, winner of the 2013 Newbery medal, is a very special book. It’s the story of a silverback gorilla, forsaken as a shopping mall attraction. Ivan manages, thanks to an array of supporters, to survive and flourish and discover a new and better habitat. It’s a story told from Ivan’s perspective … 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
He was only one squirrel. There wasn’t much time. What should he do? Nuts to You by Newbery Medal winner Lynne Rae Perkins encourages us to ask this question and plenty of others. The story will take students and families on a journey of self-discovery and survival, and it will have every reader laughing out … 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
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
What happens when a self-proclaimed “school’s biggest prankster” has to move from his cool beach-side home to the perfectly-named Yawnee Valley, filled with boring cows? (Yawnee Valley is so boring that “counting moos is a popular pastime.”) Well, it sure doesn’t feel like a “fresh start” to Miles Murphy. But it is an opportunity to … 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
But you know what’s one thing that’s definitely not required for being an expert baker? Having arms. That’s what. Aven Green Baking Machine introduces us to eight-year-old Aven who is not only an expert baker, but she’s also a smart, wry kid learning to navigate life with the help of her friends, her family, and … Read more
