Reading Suggestions
Spring 2023
274 Pages
Animal Conservation, Wildlife Rescue, Novels in Verse
Odder spends her days off the coast of central California, practicing her underwater acrobatics and spinning the quirky stories for which she's known. She's a fearless daredevil, curious to a fault. But when Odder comes face-to-face with a hungry great white shark, her life takes a dramatic turn, one that will challenge everything she believes about herself--and about the humans who hope to save her.
Inspired by the true story of a Monterey Bay Aquarium program that pairs orphaned otter pups with surrogate mothers, this poignant and humorous tale told in free verse examines bravery and healing through the eyes of one of nature's most beloved and charming
Two Degrees by Alan Gratz
365 pages
Climate Change, Natural Disasters, Survival, Multiple Perspectives
"A fictional story about climate change geared for the middle grade audience. It is told through the eyes of four middle school students, all individuals battling climate disasters in North America; the parallel plots are linked by climate events. In Nevada, Japanese American Akira Kristiansen witnesses giant sequoias catching fire, which seems impossible. She is separated from her family as she struggles to survive the extraordinary wildfire. In Manitoba, eighth-grade boys Owen Mackenzie (white) and George Gruyère (Mushkegowuk) face ravenous polar bears. In Miami, Puerto Rican Florida resident Natalie Torres is washed away by a hurricane. All characters suffer losses and scars. Gratz writes at the end of the book that he was inspired by Greta Thunberg and other climate protestors and wanted to boost their signal. The chapters are short and flow well enough to keep the reader's attention. Gratz drives home the point that we are all very closely connected when it comes to climate change and that everyone should be looking at the big picture. VERDICT Gratz urges readers to see that what is happening around them isn't in isolation but affects everyone around the world. Fans of Gratz and the "I Survived" series will welcome this action-packed title." -Lisa Gieskes © Copyright 2022
Jennifer Chan is Not Alone by Tae Keller
277 pages
Realistic Fiction, Bullying, Friendship, Identity, Paranormal
The Science of Breakable Things by Tae Keller
297 pages
Realistic Fiction, Depression, Mental Health, Science Experiments
Natalie's uplifting story of using the scientific process to "save" her mother from depression is what Booklist calls "a winning story full of heart and action."
Eggs are breakable. Hope is not.
When Natalie's science teacher suggests that she enter an egg drop competition, Natalie thinks that this might be the perfect solution to all of her problems. There's prize money, and if she and her friends wins, then she can fly her botanist mother to see the miraculous Cobalt Blue Orchids--flowers that survive against impossible odds. Natalie's mother has been suffering from depression, and Natalie is sure that the flowers' magic will inspire her mom to love life again. Which means it's time for Natalie's friends to step up and show her that talking about a problem is like taking a plant out of a dark cupboard and giving it light. With their help, Natalie begins an uplifting journey to discover the science of hope, love, and miracles.
A vibrant, loving debut about the coming-of-age moment when kids realize that parents are people, too. Think THE FOURTEENTH GOLDFISH meets THE THING ABOUT JELLYFISH.
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR * KIRKUS REVIEWS * THE CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY * - Publisher
We Dream of Space by Erin Entrada Kelly
"Cash, Fitch, and Bird Thomas are three siblings in seventh grade together in Park, Delaware. In 1986, as the country waits expectantly for the launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger, they each struggle with their own personal anxieties. Cash, who loves basketball but has a newly broken wrist, is in danger of failing seventh grade for the second time. Fitch spends every afternoon playing Major Havoc at the arcade on Main. And Bird, his twelve-year-old twin, dreams of being NASA's first female shuttle commander. The Thomas children exist in their own orbits, circling a tense and unpredictable household, with little in common except an enthusiastic science teacher named Ms. Salonga. As the launch of the Challenger approaches, Ms. Salonga gives her students a project; they are separated into spacecraft crews and must create and complete a mission. When the fated day finally arrives, it changes all of their lives and brings them together in unexpected ways"--OCLC.
Iceberg by Jennifer Nielsen 339 pages
Historical Fiction (Titanic), Survival
Hornbook 2023 "Ever since Hazel’s father’s death, it has been hard for the family to make ends meet. When her aunt, who lives in America and works in a garment factory, invites her to live and work with her, Hazel accepts the opportunity to help support the family. Preparing to leave England, she decides to seek passage on the Titanic but is forced to stow away when she doesn’t have enough money to cover the fare. Once aboard, she befriends Charlie, a porter; Sylvia, a first-class passenger; and Mrs. Abelman, a teacher who nurtures her dream of becoming a journalist. The inquisitive Hazel investigates her surroundings quite thoroughly, from the ship’s physical construction to the passengers and their secrets. This exploration allows Nielsen (The Shadow Throne, rev. 3/14) to weave historical research into her first-person narrative. If the foreshadowing of the impending tragedy is a bit clumsy, that can be forgiven: everybody knows how the Titanic’s story unfolds. An author’s note separates fact from fiction, while primary source documents (newspaper articles, photographs, and transcripts) are occasionally interspersed between chapters." Jonathan Hunt March/April 2023 p.76
Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park
261 pages
Asian American, Historical Fiction, U.S. History, Social Awareness, Racism
Kirkus Reviews starred (January 15, 2020)
A “half-Chinese and half-white” girl finds her place in a Little House–inspired fictional settler town. After the death of her Chinese mother, Hanna, an aspiring dressmaker, and her white father seek a fresh start in Dakota Territory. It’s 1880, and they endure challenges similar to those faced by the Ingallses and so many others: dreary travel through unfamiliar lands, the struggle to protect food stores from nature, and the risky uncertainty of establishing a livelihood in a new place. Fans of the Little House books will find many of the small satisfactions of Laura’s stories—the mouthwatering descriptions of victuals, the attention to smart building construction, the glorious details of pleats and poplins—here in abundance. Park brings new depth to these well-trodden tales, though, as she renders visible both the xenophobia of the town’s white residents, which ranges in expression from microaggressions to full-out assault, and Hanna’s fight to overcome it with empathy and dignity. Hanna’s encounters with women of the nearby Ihanktonwan community are a treat; they hint at the whole world beyond a white settler perspective, a world all children deserve to learn about. A deeply personal author’s note about the story’s inspiration may leave readers wishing for additional resources for further study and more clarity about her use of Lakota/Dakota. Kirkus Reviews starred (June 15, 2020)
The Barren Grounds (Misewa Saga Bk 1)
by David Robertson
247 pages
Fantasy, Native American, Orphans & Foster Homes
Kirkus Reviews (Starred) 2020 Two uprooted Cree children find themselves in a dreamlike adventure in this series opener. The edginess 13-year-old Morgan feels runs deep. As a First Nations kid whose whole life has been lived in one white foster home after another, she feels little reason to get excited about anything. Two months in to her new foster home placement, she inherits a new foster brother, Eli, a young Cree boy who spends his time quietly drawing in his sketchbook. After a blowup with their earnestly well-intentioned white foster parents, Morgan and Eli shelter themselves in the attic, where a drawing in his pad seems to come to life, creating a portal into the wintry Barren Grounds of Misewa, where the passage of time is, Narnia-like, different from in Winnipeg. After Eli disappears into this world, Morgan is determined to go after him to bring him back. When she finds him, they discover that the Misewa community of animal beings needs their help to survive the White Time. Robertson (Norway House Cree Nation) carefully establishes Morgan’s anger and feelings of alienation, her resentment at their foster parents’ clumsy attempts to connect her to her culture culminating when they awkwardly present a gift of moccasins. The shift into a contemporary Indigenous fantasy is seamless; it is in this world that these foster siblings discover hope and meaning that sustain them when they return to Winnipeg. This middle-grade fantasy deftly and compellingly centers Indigenous culture. (Fantasy. 10-14)
The Case of the Missing Marquess (An Enola Holmes Mystery, Bk 1)
by Nancy Springer
216 pages
Historical Fiction, Mystery, Sherlock Holmes
With gleeful panache, Springer introduces an innocent but capable young sleuth-the younger sister of Mycroft and Sherlock Holmes, no less-and takes her from wild English countryside to the soupy filth of Victorian London. Having led a free-spirited but cloistered life on the ancestral country estate, 14-year-old Enola Holmes is thrown for a loop by her mother's sudden disappearance-not to mention the subsequent arrival of her long-absent big brothers, both of whom turn out to be overbearing and dismissive of women. Rather than meekly knuckle under, though, Enola makes careful preparation (she thinks) and slips off to track her wayward parent down. On the way, she falls into the furor surrounding an apparent kidnapping (see title)-and then, barely does she arrive in the big city before some authentically scary ruffians snatch her, too. Naïve but a quick study, and more resourceful than even her renowned siblings, Enola resolutely surmounts each challenge that comes her way. By the end, she has rescued the spoiled young aristocrat, eluded her brothers, gotten a lead on her mother thanks to a series of cleverly coded messages and even set herself up as a "Perditorian"-a finder of lost things and people. A tasty appetizer, with every sign of further courses to come. (Fiction. 10-12) Kirkus Reviews Starred
The Bridge Home by Padma Venkatramen
194 pages
Homelessness, Child Labor, Survival, Family, Courage
In India, 11-year-old Viji and her 12-year-old sister, Rukku, run away to Chennai after their violent father strikes out at them. Unprepared for living on the streets, they befriend two homeless boys: Arul, who lost his family in a tsunami, and Muthu, who escaped from a so-called school where he was confined and forced to work.
Together they pick through garbage dumps for glass and metal scraps to sell, sleep on an abandoned bridge, and form their own family. Rukku’s intellectual disability has made her dependent on Viji, who gradually learns that her sister is more capable than she had thought. When Rukku and Muthu fall ill, Viji makes tough decisions in hopes of saving their lives and later must cope with her grief before she can move on.
The four children and their tight-knit relationship are portrayed with conviction and finesse. Written in the form of a letter from Viji to her sister, the affecting narrative transports readers to a faraway setting that becomes vivid and real. Although the young characters face unusually difficult challenges, they nevertheless find the courage they need to move forward. The author of A Time to Dance (2014), Venkatraman offers an absorbing novel of love loss, and resilience.
Nonfiction
School Library Journal Starred (2021)
Gr 8 Up-A young readers treatment that is just as imperative and enthralling as its parent text. Celebrated journalist Grann unfolds an account of terrible fascination and poignancy, illuminating a darkened corner of American history while throwing the shadowed sins of the past into stark relief. In the prosperous days of the 1920s, the Osage Nation of Oklahoma found itself sitting atop a treasure trove of "black gold" in the form of oil reserves. This "underground reservation" led the American Indians of this area to amass vast quantities of wealth-and to attract the fatal attentions of those who sought to gain control of that wealth by any means necessary. The narrative reads like a masterful mystery and epic tragedy all in one, with Grann as the thorough investigator who reports all the facts while underlining the lived humanity of every moment. Comparing the original text to this young reader's edition, the modifications are deftly handled. A scene containing an autopsy, for example, excises the graphic details without losing a trace of the information most valuable to the story. This standard is upheld throughout. This version also contains helpful appendices, including a "who's who" of notable figures as well as a glossary. The foreword by Dennis McAuliffe, Jr. sadly divulges some of Grann's most shocking revelations far ahead of their appearances. Regardless, this version and any other remains an essential read. VERDICT A must-buy for being just the kind of absorbing, gut-wrenching work of narrative nonfiction that readers will breathlessly page through to the conclusion.
