 Chains
by Laurie Halse Anderson
Ages 10–up
As the Revolutionary War begins, 13-year-old
Isabel and her 5-year-old sister Ruth are about to be freed
from slavery by the will of their Rhode Island mistress. However,
the unscrupulous heir prevents the reading of the will and
the girls are soon the property of an abusive Loyalist couple
in New York. Isabel agrees to spy for the Patriots in exchange
for passage back to Rhode Island for herself and her sister.
This well researched exploration of the treatment of slaves
is contained in a gripping story. |
|
 The
Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation,
Volume 1: The Pox Party
by M.T. Anderson
Ages 14–up
Octavian, a black youth in Revolution-era
America, is raised in a Boston household of radical philosophers.
He is given a classical education and kept with his mother,
an African princess, in comfort. As he matures, Octavian
realizes he is an experiment to discover the intellectual
capability of Africans. When his mother dies, Octavian
runs away and joins the Patriot army. Though written
in 18th century language in the form of letters, this
powerful novel raises contemporary issues of racism,
human rights, the causes of war, and the struggle of
an individual to define himself. |
|
 The
Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation,
Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves
by M.T. Anderson
Ages 14–up
Octavian heads to Virginia where
Lord Dunmore, the colony’s governor, is emancipating
slaves in exchange for military service. Octavian soon
realizes that his liberation is not a moral decision,
but a political expediency. As the Revolutionary War,
explodes around him, Octavian struggles with ideals of
liberty and his own personal growth in this fascinating
perspective on our national origins. (sequel to The
Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the
Nation, Volume 1: The Pox Party) |
|
 Crispin:
The Cross of Lead
by Avi
Newbery Medal 2003
Ages 10–14
Set in 14th century England, Crispin
is a 13-year-old illiterate peasant who flees his village after
being accused of a crime he did not commit on the day of his
mother’s death. He hopes that the words on his mother’s lead
cross will provide a clue to his unknown father. He falls in
with Bear, a huge traveling juggler, and their relationship is
the heart of the book. |
|
 The
Seer of Shadows
by Avi
Ages 9–12
This scary ghost story, set in
19th century New York City, is narrated by 14-year-old
Horace Carpentine, apprentice to a photographer intent
on duping a wealthy client. |
|
 A
Gathering of Days:
A
New England Girl’s Journal, 1830-32
by Joan W. Blos
Newbery Medal 1980
Ages 9–12
This novel is written in the form of
a diary kept for a year by Catherine Cabot Hill, a 13-year-old
girl in New Hampshire. Catherine’s mother has died, and she must
keep house for her father and younger sister. During the year,
Catherine undergoes school discipline, encounters runaway slaves,
loses a friend, and faces new relationships when her father remarries
a woman with children of her own. |
|
 What
I Saw And How I Lied
by Judy Blundell
Ages 12–up
This noir mystery is set in 1947.
Evie (15) and her mother set off for Florida with her
stepfather Joe. Evie falls in love with Peter, an army
buddy of Joe’s. A suspicious boating accident forces
Evie to re-examine her relationships with Peter, her
mother, and her stepfather. This stylish novel has the
atmosphere of a glamorous old movie. |
|
 Young
Samurai: The Way of the Warrior
by Chris Bradford
Ages 10–up
A British merchant ship is
attacked by Japanese ninja pirates who murder the entire
crew, including Jack Fletcher’s father. Young Jack
is rescued by a powerful Samurai who adopts him and
trains him to join the warrior class. Since he is a
foreigner, Jack is treated as an outcast at Samurai
school and must use all his wit and skill to survive
and succeed. First in a projected trilogy, this fast-paced
adventure set in medieval Japan is full of spellbinding
bits of history, culture, and martial arts. |
|
 Kaleidoscope
Eyes
by Jen Bryant
Ages 9–13
In the summer of 1968, 13-year-old
Lyza and her friends search for Captain Kidd’s lost treasure
in their New Jersey neighborhood. Narrated in verse,
this novel has a strong sense of place and vividly portrays
a teenager’s conflicting emotions about the onset of
adulthood. |
|
 A
Thousand Never Evers
by Shana Burg
Ages 9–12
Set in rural Mississippi during the
civil rights movement, this emotionally compelling novel shows
the racism and violence endured by the African-American community
through Addie Ann Pickett, a junior high school girl. Caught
between her mother’s rule to stay away from trouble and her
brother and minister who argue that there comes a time when
dignity is worth more than life, Addie has to make some difficult
decisions. |
|
 Ringside
1925:
Views from the Scopes Trial
by Jen Bryant
Ages 12–up
The fictionalized inhabitants of
Dayton, TN, home of the infamous “monkey trial,” speak
in a range of perspectives about the teaching of evolution. |
|
 Bud,
Not Buddy
by Christopher Paul Curtis
Newbery Medal 2000
Ages 9–12
Bud is a 10-year-old orphan in Depression-era
Michigan. He runs away to Grand Rapids, searching for the man
he believes might be his father, jazz musician Herman E. Calloway.
Along the way Bud has all sorts of exciting adventures, narrated
in his own authentic and often hilarious voice. Calloway is less
than thrilled to meet Bud, but the other members of his band
make Bud feel at home. |
|
 The
Midwife’s Apprentice
by Karen Cushman
Newbery Medal
1996
Ages 10–up
In medieval England, a young girl rises
from dire poverty by becoming the apprentice to Jane Sharp, a
cranky and bossy midwife. First known as Beetle, since she was
found living in a dung heap, the girl struggles to learn the
skills of her new profession. As she grows in knowledge and self-confidence,
the girl finally respects herself enough to choose a real name:
Alyce. |
|
 To
the Big Top
by Jill Esbaum
Ages 5–8
Benny and his friend Sam land
jobs helping with the elephants when the circus comes
to town. As the boys move from backstage to choice seats
in the Big Top, this book captures the excitement of
the circus arriving in small town America in the late
1800s. |
|
 March
On! The Day My Brother Martin Changed The World
by Christine King Farris, London
Ladd
Ages 9–12
Christine
King Farris, Martin Luther King, Junior’s older
sister describes the 1963 March on Washington with an
intimate down-to-earth perspective, presenting her brother
as a man rather than as an icon. |
|
 The
Red Necklace
by Sally Gardner
Ages 12–up
This suspenseful and haunting book
is set during the French Revolution. Yann Magoza, an orphan
traveling with a troupe of magicians, can read minds. While
performing at a castle, Yann meets Sidonie, the daughter of
a cruel marquis, and a scheming count murders one of the troupe
of magicians. |
|
 Once
by Morris Gleitzman
Ages 12–up
Everybody deserves to have something
good in their life at least once, believes Felix, a 10-year
old Polish Jew, who runs away from a Catholic orphanage to
search for his parents. After finding his home occupied by
hostile neighbors, Felix lives in hiding, in constant fear
of discovery, as he slowly becomes aware of the Nazi atrocities.
Felix’s traumatized present-tense narrative drives this powerful
novel which manages to find welcome bits of humor and heroic
kindness in the midst of horror and tragedy. |
|
 The
Diamond of Drury Lane
by Julia Golding
Ages 10–14
Cat has lived in the Drury Lane
Theater Royal ever since she was abandoned as a baby
and taken in by Mr. Sheridan, the owner of the theater.
After Cat sees Mr. Sheridan hiding a valuable diamond,
she and her friends decide to help safeguard the treasure.
Set in 1790s London, England, this thrilling mystery
will keep readers glued to the pages. (first in a projected
quartet) |
|
 Poisoned
Honey
A
Story of Mary Magdalene
by Beatrice Gormley
Ages 12–up
Mari (13) wants to be in control
of her own destiny, but women in 1st century Palestine
have little power, so Mari submits to an arranged marriage.
But her father and fiancé die of fever and Mari
finds herself at the mercy of others. An Egyptian wisewoman
teaches Mari the ways of the occult arts and she is gradually
consumed by evil spirits before her eventual redemption.
This biblical fiction brings the culture of early Palestine
to vivid life. |
|
 Picture
the Dead
by Adele Griffin, Lisa Brown
Ages 12–up
When Jennie’s twin brother
dies in the Civil War in 1864, Jennie feels his loss
like a wound. A year later, her cousin Quinn arrives
home to Massachusetts with the news that his brother
Will, Jennie’s fiancé, is also dead. Quinn, who is
much changed by the war, begins to court Jennie, who
responds though she senses that something mysterious
surrounds Will’s death. Jennie is haunted by both her
dead brother and Will, and suffers a recurring sensation
of being choked. Newspaper clippings, scrapbook entries,
and black-and-white drawings illustrate Jennie’s first
person narration in this effective gothic ghost story
portraying a country recovering from the horrors and
loss of war. |
|
 Ivy
by Julie Hearn
Ages 12–up
Two 19th century London women of the
Ragged Children’s Welfare Association rescue the orphan Ivy,
a Pre-Raphaelite beauty, who has been discarded by her family
as useless. The laudanum addicted Ivy spends most of her time
in a swoon, but the other characters scheme and frolic in this
lush absorbing novel. |
|
 Brooklyn
Bridge
by Karen Hesse, Chris Sheban
Ages 10–14
It’s 1903 in Brooklyn and all 14-year-old
Joseph Michtom wants to do is go to the brand-new amusement
park at Coney Island. But his Russian immigrant parents have
just invented the stuffed teddy bear, and Joseph is too busy
working to have fun. Meanwhile the street children living under
the Brooklyn Bridge are haunted by a ghost they call the Radiant
Boy. |
|
 Out
of the Dust
by Karen Hesse
Newbery Medal 1998
Ages 11–up
Billie Jo (14) records the grim realities
of living in the Oklahoma dust bowl during the Depression. In
her free verse journal, she reveals her mother’s death and her
own burns in a fire and her father’s grief. Billie Jo’s hope
for a better future shines through all the pain and struggle
to survive. |
|
 The
Black Book of Secrets
by F.E. Higgins
Ages 10–14
Young Ludlow Fitch, fleeing a
terrible past, arrives in a peaceful village. Ludlow
becomes the assistant to the mysterious pawnbroker who
trades cash for people’s deepest, darkest secrets. It’s
Ludlow’s job to record the secrets in the leather bound Black
Book of Secrets. The vaguely Dickensian late 1800s
atmosphere is the perfect backdrop for this historical
fantasy. |
|
 The
Bone Magician
by F.E. Higgins
Ages 10–14
Young Pin Carpue is left to survive
on his own in the crime-ridden city of Urbs Umida when
his father, a suspected murderer, disappears. Pin gets
a job as a corpse watcher, standing guard in the morgue
for three days to ensure that the deceased really are
dead and not just sleeping. There he meets the Bone Magician
who claims to be able to reanimate the dead to answer
last questions from the living. This dark and funny fantasy
is a companion volume to The
Black Book of Secrets. |
|
 Turtle
in Paradise
by Jennifer L. Holm
Ages 8–12
Turtle (11) knows that life isn’t
like the happy Hollywood movies her mother adores. It’s
1935 and jobs are scarce, so when her mother gets a job
as a live-in housekeeper with a woman who doesn’t like
children, Turtle heads off without complaint to stay
with relatives she’s never met in Key West, Florida.
Turtle’s dreamy mother insists that Turtle is going to
live in paradise, but down-to-earth Turtle doesn’t expect
much. Eventually Turtle warms to her eccentric relatives
and begins to see the natural beauty hidden under the
trash. Turtle’s amusing first-person narration brings
the Depression era to vivid life. |
|
 The
Water Seeker
by Kimberly Willis Holt
Ages 10–14
Jake Kincaid is a skilled dowser,
a finder of water, but leaves that calling behind to
become a trapper in 1833. He returns a year later to
find that his wife has died, leaving him a baby named
Amos. Jake leaves Amos to be raised by his relatives
in Nebraska, returning each summer to visit. In 1841,
Jake brings his new Shoshone wife with him and they take
Amos with them to Missouri. When Amos is 13, the family
joins a wagon train headed west on the Oregon Trail.
The hardships of the journey are beautifully portrayed
in this historical coming-of-age novel. |
|
 Mao
and Me
by Chen Jiang Hong
Ages 8–12
Chen’s direct and honest picture
book memoir of growing up during the Cultural Revolution
is an excellent representation of political upheaval
seen through the eyes of a child. Ink and wash paintings
document both beautiful moments and unpleasant events. |
|
 Kira-Kira
by Cynthia Kadohata
Newbery Medal 2005
Ages 11–14
In the 1950s, when Katie is five, her
family moves from Iowa to Georgia, where there are few Japanese-Americans.
Katie’s older sister Lynn takes care of her while their parents
work long hours in the chicken-processing plant. Their roles
reverse when Lynn develops lymphoma. Through the illness and
Lynn’s death, Katie struggles to remember her sister as kira-kira,
glittering and shining. Narrated by Katie, this beautifully written
book tells a poignant story of love and loss. |
|
 The
Evolution of Calpurnia Tate
by Jacqueline Kelly
Ages 10–up
Eleven-year old Calpurnia (Callie)
Tate is a middle child with six brothers in isolated
1899 Fentress, Texas. To her family’s distress, Callie
isn’t interested in normal girl occupations and would
rather learn about the natural world with her grandfather.
As Callie grows through the year of this book, she
gradually defines for herself what it means to be a
girl. (2010 Newbery Honor Book) |
|
 City
of Spies
by Susan Kim, Laurence Klavan,
Pascal Dizin
Ages 12–up
Evelyn’s mother is gone and her
father is too busy to take car of her, so she is sent
to live with her aunt in New York City. It’s 1942 and
Evelyn spends most of her time reading superhero comics
and dreaming of catching a Nazi spy. Tony, the son of
the building superintendent, catches Evelyn’s spy fever
and the two stumble over a real-life Nazi plot. This
graphic novel features art reminiscent of Hergé’s Tintin
and explores themes of friendship, social class, and
abandonment while never losing touch with the scary adventure. |
|
 The
Green Glass Sea
by Ellen Klages
Ages 10–14
It’s 1943 and 10-year-old budding inventor
Dewey Kerrigan sets off with her father to do secret war work
in New Mexico. As the adults work on “the gadget,” the
kids at Los Alamos are often left to their own devices. When
the atomic bomb tests are finally successful, both children
and adults grapple with the ethical implications as they realize
how “the gadget” will be used. The unique atmosphere
of the secretive scientific community is clearly presented
in this excellent historical novel, but the true nature of “the
gadget” may not be understood by kids who don’t know
it already. |
|
 White
Sands, Red Menace
by Ellen Klages
Ages 10–14
It’s 1946, and Suze and Dewey are living
near Los Alamos with Suze’s parents who helped build the atom
bomb with Dewey’s late father. Suze’s father is working on
rockets to maintain the US edge over the Soviets while her
mother organizes scientists against the war. This excellent
historical fiction helps middle graders grapple with moral
dilemmas while creating strong characters with realistic emotional
issues. (sequel to The
Green Glass Sea) |
| |
|
 The
Best Bad Luck I Ever Had
by Kristin Levine
Ages 10–up
It’s 1917 in a small town in
Alabama and 12-year-old Dit has been looking forward
to the arrival of the new postmaster who is said to have
a son his age. But when the new family arrives, the son
turns out to be a girl called Emma. And everyone is surprised
that the new family is “colored.” But Dit
is impressed with Emma’s intelligence and determination
and he begins to reconsider his views about race and
justice. |
|
 Crow Call
by Lois Lowry
Ages 6–12
Lizzie’s father has been away in WWII
for longer than she can remember, so the fall hunting trip
the two take together after his return is awkward. But her
father respects her wishes, even when they are fanciful, and
gives her the crow call to summon the birds. To Lizzie’s relief,
her father never fires his gun on the magical day. Based on
Lowry’s own childhood, this picture book is a loving look at
the relationship between parent and child. Though set in the
past, it is fully relevant to today’s military families. |
|
 Number
the Stars
by Lois Lowry
Newbery Medal 1990
Ages 10–up
It’s 1943 in Nazi-occupied Denmark, and
the Jews are about to be rounded up and sent to the death camps.
Annemarie Johannesen’s best friend Ellen Rosen is Jewish. The
Johannesen family helps Ellen’s parents go into hiding and take
Ellen into their own home, pretending she is part of their family.
Narrated by 10-year-old Annemarie, this book vividly portrays
the Nazi threat and the courage it takes to help friends while
possibly endangering your own family. This moving and suspenseful
book is based on true events. |
|
 Sarah,
Plain and Tall
by Patricia Maclachlan
Newbery Medal 1986
Ages 8–12
In the late 19th century, a widowed
midwestern farmer with two children, Anna and Caleb, advertises
for a wife. Sarah responds, saying that she is plain and tall.
When Sarah arrives she is homesick for Maine, and especially
for her beloved ocean. The children fear she will not stay. Narrated
by Anna, this short book gently explores abandonment, loss, and
love. |
|
 The
Death-Defying Pepper Roux
by Geraldine McCaughrean
Ages 10–up
Pepper Roux’s death by age 14
was foretold in a dream, and his aunt Mireille has prayed
over him everyday. When Pepper wakes up on the morning
of his 14th birthday, he is amazed to find himself still
alive, and runs off to sea hoping to escape death a bit
longer. Pepper then flees across the French countryside
from one disastrous job to another until the totally
satisfying climax. |
|
 Mirette
on the High Wire
by Emily Arnold McCully
Caldecott Medal 1993
Ages 4–8
Mirette helps “The Great Bellini” regain
his confidence while he stays at her mother’s boarding house
and eventually the two are walking the high wire above the rooftops
of the city. Rich illustrations capture 19th-century Paris. |
|
 The
Devil’s Paintbox
by Victoria McKernan
Ages 12–up
It’s 1865 and Aiden (16) and
his younger sister Maddie are nearly starving on their
late parent’s farm in Kansas. The guide of a wagon
train heading west offers free passage to Aiden and
Maddie in return for their labor at a logging camp
at journey’s end. While traveling across the country,
Aiden works through his despair and begins to hope
again. The strong characters and honest look at our
sometimes brutal history will keep teen readers glued
to the pages. |
|
 Ruined
by Paula Morris
Ages 12–up
Rebecca Brown (15) is sent from New
York City to live with her aunt in New Orleans while her father
travels overseas for a year. Rebecca feels out of place at
the snooty prep school. In fact, to the rich girls she is nearly
invisible. Rebecca befriends Lisette, a ghost who has haunted
the cemetery since her mysterious death 155 years earlier.
This atmospheric ghost story captures the rich history of New
Orleans, and doesn't shy away from issues of race, ethnicity,
class, and culture. |
|
 The
Wager
by Donna Jo Napoli
Ages 12–up
Set in 1169, this novel tells
the story of Don Giovanni, a wealthy 19-year-old orphan
who suddenly loses his riches and his castle in a tidal
wave and is reduced to begging for food to survive.
The devil appears to offer a wager—if Don Giovanni
agrees not to bathe or change his clothes for three
years, three months, and three days, he will receive
a purse that magically refills. Giovanni’s descent
into foul decay and eventual redemption is colorfully
portrayed in this retelling of a traditional Italian
fairy tale. |
|
 Our
White House: Looking In, Looking Out
by National Children’s Book and
Literary Alliance
Ages 10–up
An all-star roster of 108 children’s
authors and illustrators plus scholars and former White
House employees and residents combine to make up this multifaceted
view of the White House from the inside as well as the
outside, a personal and ongoing history from 1792 to the
present. |
|
 A
Single Shard
by Linda Sue Park
Newbery Medal 2002
Ages 10–14
In a potter’s village in 12th century
Korea, the orphan Tree Ear is raised by a lame straw weaver.
One day Tree Ear breaks a piece of Min’s pottery and pays his
debt by working for the potter and dreaming of making beautiful
pots himself. Tree Ear is sent by Min to the king’s court, carrying
an example of Min’s new celadon ware. After robbers shatter the
pot, Tree Ear continues the dangerous journey, now carrying only
one precious single shard. |
|
 Jacob
Have I Loved
by Katherine Paterson
Newbery Medal 1981
Ages 12–up
Growing up on Chesapeake Bay island in
the early 1940s, Louise knows that like Esau from the Bible she
is hated while her twin sister Caroline, like Jacob, is the one
everyone loves. While the family pampers the beautiful and gifted
Caroline, lonely and miserable Louise learns the way of the watermen
from old Captain Wallace. Eventually Louise learns that she has
her own strengths. |
|
 Woods
Runner
by Gary Paulsen
Ages 12–up
Sam (13) is a skilled hunter,
a “woods runner” with an instinctive knowledge
of the western Pennsylvania forest. When word of the
fighting between the British and the American colonists
reaches the family, they worry that their safe world
is endangered. One day Sam returns from hunting to find
the houses in their settlement burned to the ground and
the scalped bodies of neighbors. Sam sets off on a harrowing
quest to find and rescue his parents, taken prisoner
by British soldiers aided by Iroquois. Interspersed historical
sections help place Sam’s struggle in context. |
|
 A
Year Down Yonder
by Richard Peck
Newbery Medal 2001
Ages 10–up
It’s 1937 and Mary Alice (15) is banished
from Chicago to spend a year with Grandma Dowdel in rural Illinois
while her parents struggle to make ends meet and her brother
Joey heads west with the Civilian Conservation Corps. Mary Alice
knows it won’t be easy being the new city kid in a country school,
especially with an outrageous relative like Grandma. This hilarious
and touching book is the sequel to A
Long Way to Chicago. |
|
 The
Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg
by Rodman Philbrick
Ages 9–12
When Uncle Squinton sells off
Homer P. Figg’s older brother Harold to take the place
of a rich man’s son in the Union army, Homer sets off
to rescue him. Told in the form of a rip-roaring yarn,
Homer’s adventures are exciting and funny, but the
horror of war and injustice of slavery aren’t ignored.
(2010 Newbery Honor Book) |
|
 January’s
Sparrow
by Patricia Polacco
Ages 8–12
The Crosswhite family witness
the brutal whipping of January, a slave caught while
trying to escape, and flee the Kentucky plantation
in the middle of the night. Young Sadie is heartbroken
when she realizes she has left the wooden sparrow January
carved for her, her only memento of her dead friend.
The Crosswhites travel through the Underground Railroad
to Marshall, Michigan, where they finally live in freedom.
Then January’s sparrow appears on their doorstep. Based
on a true story, this book is both horrifying and empowering. |
|
 Sovay
by Celia Rees
Ages 12–up
Raised in the English countryside during
the French Revolution, 17-year-old Sovay sets out to find her
father and brother who have been condemned for supporting the
Revolution. Playing the roles of highway robber, spy, and socialite,
Sovay travels from London to Paris in this romantic and suspenseful
story of political intrigue and class struggle. |
|
 Back
of the Bus
by Aaron Reynolds, Floyd Cooper
Ages 6–8
One winter day in Montgomery
Alabama, a young boy and his mother are riding where
they are supposed to—in the back of the bus.
The boy passes the time rolling his marble in the aisle,
and Rosa Parks, sitting up in the front of the bus
where she isn’t supposed to, rolls it back to him.
See through the eyes of a child, who begins to wonder
if maybe Rosa does belong up there after all, brings
Rosa Park’ s defiance to vivid life. Beautifully lifelike
oil paintings convey the emotional tension of that
famous bus ride. |
|
 The
Dreamer
by Pam Muñoz Ryan, Peter Sís
Ages 9–14
This fictionalized story of
Pablo Neruda’s early life in the small town of Temuco,
Chile presents a shy child curious about the wonders
of nature. Young Neftalí Reyes (Neruda’s real
name) admires his uncle who owns the local newspaper,
but the boy’s father has no patience for Neftalí’s
daydreaming and love of reading and writing. The poetic
text captures the spirit of an artist who savors the
sound of words and the importance of dreaming in the
development of a poet. |
|
 Good
Masters! Sweet Ladies!
Voices
from a Medieval Village
by Laura Amy Schlitz
Newbery Medal 2008
Ages 10–up
Written to be performed by a classroom
of students, these 23 short monologues in prose and verse bring
to life an English village in 1255. |
|
 Revolver
by Marcus Sedgwick
Ages 12–up
It’s 1910 in the Scandinavian town
of Giron, 100 miles north of the Arctic Circle. Fourteen-year-old
Sig has just seen his father die after a fall through the ice
when a stranger appears, demanding the gold he says Sig’s father
stole from him 10 years earlier during the Alaskan Gold Rush.
Sig’s only protection is is father’s Colt revolver hidden in
the storeroom of the isolated cabin. The truth is slowly revealed
as Sig struggles to decide if he will use the gun. |
|
 The
Invention of Hugo Cabret
by Brian Selznick
Caldecott Medal
2008
Ages 9–12
Hugo, a 12-year-old-orphan lives in the
walls of a Paris train station at the turn of the 20th century,
trying to finish an invention his father left. Black and white
pencil illustrations pay homage to flickering silent movies. |
|
 I’ll
Pass For Your Comrade:
Women
Soldiers in the Civil War
by Anita Silvey
Ages 10–14
This non-fiction book tells the
fascinating story of the women who risked their lives and
reputations to fight in the Civil War. Vintage photographs,
etchings, and memoirs illuminate the adventures and struggles
of the women who cut their hair and disguised themselves
as men to join the fight. Highly accessible language helps
to put these unconventional women in historic context. |
|
 Stitches
by David Small
Ages 12–up
In this memoir, David Small tells the
story of his boyhood in the 1950s. Believing that science can
fix everything, his radiologist father subjected David to numerous
x-rays for various childhood ailments, resulting in cancer
that was untreated for years. At age 14, unaware that he had
throat cancer and was expected to die, David awoke from an
operation left him nearly mute. Beautifully told from a child’s
perspective, this pen and ink graphic novel is both dark and
delightful. |
|
 Heroes
of the Valley
by Jonathan Stroud
Ages 10–up
Halli Sveinsson isn’t handsome
or tall or blonde like his siblings. He’s short and
dark and loves playing practical jokes. When one of
his jokes back-fires, Halli is forced to set out on
a quest where he encounters robbers and monsters and
a girl who may have as quick a mind as his own. This
coming-of-age-novel is a surprising look at what bravery
really is. |
|
 The
Brothers Story
by Katherine Sturtevant
Ages 14–up
Twins Kit and Christy grow up
in poverty in an Essex village. Christy is “simple” and
dependant upon his brother. The hardships of the Great
Frost of 1683–84 are too much for the teenaged Kit to
bear, and he abandons his brother and flees to London,
where he finds work as an apprentice to a struggling
artist. Kit struggles with issues of familial responsibility,
religion, class, and gender roles in this frank coming-of-age
novel. |
|
 Doom
Machine
by Mark Teague
Ages 9–12
It’s 1956 and young Jack Creedle
and his disreputable Uncle Bud are trying to fix a
dead car which stranded scientist Dr. Shumway and her
daughter, Isadora, in the small town of Vern Hollow.
When the aliens land, Bud knows they are there to steal
one of his inventions, but everyone else is amazed
when the aliens kidnap seven people and take them off
to the planet Skreepia. This lively illustrated interstellar
adventure will captivate middle school readers. |
|
 Highway
Robbery
by Kate Thompson, Robert Dress
Ages 10–up
A young beggar recalls the night
a stranger rode into town, promising the boy a gold coin
if he watched his horse. The boy’s loyalty is tested
by people passing by who offer riches in exchange for
the noble steed. Finally the king’s men arrive and declare
that the horse is Black Bess who belongs to the infamous
highwayman Dick Turpin. The boy now has a moral dilemma
since keeping his word and staying with the horse may
lead to Turpin’s arrest. |
|
 Countdown
by Deborah Wiles
Ages 9–12
Franny (11) and her family live in
Maryland in 1962. Her father is a pilot stationed at Andrews
Air Force Base, and it’s the middle of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
To Franny, it seems like everyone is afraid most of the time.
Air-raid sirens and duck-and-cover drills are routine, the
evening news contains scary thoughts about nuclear war, and
pamphlets about how to build a bomb shelter are readily available.
Franny’s first person narration is supplemented with period
photographs, newspaper clippings, song lyrics, etc. Franny’s
realization that managing to love your family through a crisis
can often be harder than facing the crisis itself will resonate
with those living through hard times today. |
|
 The
Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: Book I: The Mysterious
Howling
by Maryrose Wood
Ages 8–12
Penelope Lumley, a 15-year-old
educated at the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females,
has just accepted her first post as governess. The
three children in her charge were found running wild
in the woods, and are now living in a barn on the estate
of Lord Frederic Ashton. More animal than human, Alexander
keeps his younger siblings in line with gentle nips
while Beowulf chases squirrels and Cassiopeia barks.
First in a new series, this cleverly funny book will
have readers clamoring for the next. |
|
 Climbing
the Stairs
by Padma Venkatraman
Ages 12–up
Set in World War II India, 15-year-old
Vidya’s father joins the freedom fighters who follow
Gandhi’s nonviolent protest of British rule. During a
rally he is severely beaten and left too brain-damaged
to support his family, who must move in with relatives
and work as servants. This novel movingly presents a
unique time and place and shows how love and hope can
blossom in even the most dismal of circumstances. |
|
 The
Dragon’s Child:
A
Story of Angel Island
by Laurence Yep with Kathleen S. Yep
Ages 8–12
Based on transcripts of Laurence Yep’s
father’s 1922 immigration interview, this short novel relates
the harrowing experiences of ten-year-old Gim Lew, who is interned
on Angel Island in San Francisco Bay, where he must submit to
lengthy detailed interviews about his home, village and neighbors,
in order to prove he is who he claims to be. |
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