Peer pressure can be especially tricky in the lunch room. How best to feel better after your meal has been mocked? Sometimes confoming seems like the best way; it's easier. And then someone else, and someone else does the same. What was once an eclectic table that proudly represented a collection of cultures is covered in sandwiches. A relatable celebration of heritage and learning from others.

Sofia and Maddie's friendship is built on trust and encouragement. When Sofia discovers Maddi’s secret, she wants to help by doing the right thing, but it might mean breaking a promise. Refreshing earnestness blends hope and action for addressing childhood hunger.

Time travel enables an intergenerational friendship (and interesting family relationship) that will ultimately change both boys beyond their on-stage experiences. A beautiful story that celebrates family and grit! Note: “fart|farting” is used in describing a dog

Marisol is a sweet, shy girl who loves her friends and her time playing with them. Marisol, however, has many fears and a great fear. It is the marvelously climbable tree in her own back yard. Her bestie, Jada, can do it and often does, but she completely accepts Marisol’s fears. Her brother can climb the tree quite quickly and fearlessly, and this leaves Marisol to feel unworthy somehow. No one ...

Strong character and perspective lead readers to the heart of this story. A young boy follows his older sister obediently, but the reader understands his thoughts as they intersperse the text -- self-doubt and low confidence. Althought he walks in his sister's shadow, he challenges himself to overcome a few obstacles and act in ways usually reserved by those older and wiser. This is a unnique, mea ...

What happens when memories become a commodity that can be seen, stolen, transferred, or erased by others? This hierarchical society trades in secrets, manipulation, and memories motivated both by greed and hope. The contrasts are stunning and the skills, both physical and mental demand rigor, wisdom, and dexterity. An intriguing setting with much to discuss, especially in a middle through upper sc ...

Grant simply loves to run – around town, with his best bud, Jay, and as a winning member of the school track team. He pounds out the miles until one day he really does pound the pavement – he face-plants just before the finish line! Hurt and embarrassed Grant must rebuild his self-esteem, but his social-media-loving brother has the video and sends it viral across the internet. To regain his co ...

A tender rendering of how a grandchild learns to value the life and experiences her grandmothers share with her, though they differ widely. Cross-cultural expectations may vary in practice, but so many aspects of life they share in common and young Nina adapts quickly. A strong comparison book with a similarly strong theme of love woven throughout.

True events at the US border become the basis for this thoughtfully told narrative. Readers grow in understand with the young protagonist who doesn't fully comprehend the situation, yet the kindness of a stranger speaks clearer than all else. So much so that young Naomi learns the beauty of kindness and wears it herself. A poignant telling of a border crossing that is no longer open.

When a thunderstorm's loud booms frighten this young protagonist, her father cleverly helps her weather the storm. Loud sounds lessen with a blanket-tent shelter and a game of checkers. Father and daughter make their own big and small sounds, and as the young girl grows comfortable with newfound awareness, the storm outside abates and loud stomps in large puddles close the story in smiles. Illustr ...

In 1910 West Texas, the last camel of the US Army roams the desert. Zada has lived a long and adventurous life from Turkey to America. She’s made friends with fellow camel racers for the Pasha and with many more camels on a rocky sailing ship. She has lately befriended two kestrels and their hatchlings. But the real adventure begins with a huge sandstorm when the parent birds are blown away. Zad ...

Ellie is a tough and brave orphan living in the fantastical island City ruled by cruel Inquisitors. One day she rescues a boy from the belly of a dying whale, and he has no memory. But the Inquisitors believe he is the Evil Enemy who drowned the world and insist on burning him at the stake. Against all odds she rescues the boy again and manages to hide him while trying to discover his true identit ...

After eleven-year-old June Ball’s dad disappears without so much as a goodbye note, June’s mother sends him on the road with his adult cousins, mechanics Thomas and Cornell Ball. The Balls are “Ford Men”; their calling in life is to restore old Ford cars?and only Ford cars?that no longer run. And so begins a summer traveling the highways and byways of America, encountering busted-up Fairla ...

It’s time for little Maximillian to go to school! His wealthy parents have chosen the most perfect school for him where he will learn to be kind and no one will bully him, or call him names, or hurt him – ever! Why? All of the students except Max are really good robots! He never guesses they aren’t real and makes a best friend in Josie. She opens his eyes to all sorts of innocent fun things ...

On August 6 each year the people of Hiroshima, Japan, set paper lanterns afloat in the river as a remembrance to those killed by the bomb dropped there in 1945. Three school children, Kozo, Shun, and Nozomi are budding artists challenged by their teachers to create a display the children choose to call Hiroshima: Then and Now for their families and classmates. Over the summer they ask friends and ...

A unique story that appropriately chronicles a young girl's journey from Holocaust survivor to restorer of memories. After traveling the world, Yaffa Eliach was able to collect 1000 photographs of the Holocaust victims from her childhood village that now hang in the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. These photographs cover walls three stories high in a space called "Tower of Life." This is moving and ...

True North Vincent feels lost and uneasy after the fear of a virus closes the border, meaning her mom can't return home from Canada. With her father working long hours as a nurse helping people who are sick with the virus, she's left at home with her grandma, who doesn't have the energy to keep up with True's adventures, or her older sister, always focused on her phone, or Georgie, her younger bro ...

Talk about pre-teen girl angst! Nurah and her Muslim family choose to make a new life in Peachtree City, Georgia, a very long way their home in Karachi, Pakistan. They bring with them a love of family and a desire for American opportunities. While Owais, her older brother, fits in by making friends and winning swim meets, Nurah struggles with everything: lunchtime friendships, unfamiliar clothing, ...

As if typical adolescent angst was not enough, Cash, Bird and Fitch, three seventh-grade siblings, must deal with their parents’ disintegrating marriage too. Each struggles with a quirky personality, unique habits, and bumpy friendships. But reaching across to help each other through these trials brings them to a unique sense of family.

Young Derek faces multiple end-of-year stresses at once. First, there are annual tests and standardized tests at school with results enhanced by a dare from an ace student. Then there is the pending loss of one of his best friends who is moving to China. And, of course, his Yankees are in the playoffs against the other best team of the league. Dealing with all the stress Derek must remind himself ...