Published: 2018 Theme: Beavers (Natural History) Best for: 6 and up "This is a beaver. Just an ordinary beaver. But even ordinary beavers are extraordinary. In fact, even ordinary beavers are superheroes." A great way to present facts of natural history to young readers; enjoyable yet fact-filled.
Published: 2002 Theme: Nature Adventure and Adoption Best for: 9 to 12 "I felt unbound. I was free as the wind. And I wasn't in just any old canoe, but one I had made myself. She floated, she sped, she was unreal." A great book by a classic children's book author, about adoption, and self-sufficiency in nature.
Published: 2018 Best for: mature 12 and up Theme: Mixed-race Love "My mother, the pacifist, would kill me dead if she knew what I'd just done. I rescheduled my interview. For a girl. Not even a Korean girl, a black girl. A black girl I don't really know., ...who might not even like me." Get ready for a ride on the hormones of a couple of teens who fall in love...
Published: 2002 Theme: Storytelling Best for: 6 to 9 "The class stared at the new girl with admiration. They had never met anyone like Gooney Bird Greene...Her clothes were unusual. Her hairstyles were unusual. Even her lunches were very unusual." This fun first-chapter book explores how easy it is to tell a good story, with imagination.
Published: 2018 Theme: Thomas Edison Best for: 5 to 8 "Behind the shelves lay the University of Mice. Here any inquisitive mouse could learn everything there was to know about the history of mice: mice who had traveled the world, mice who had made great discoveries..." A beautifully illustrated, large-size children's book with a fanciful story about Edison's invention.
Published: 2007 Theme: Historical Fiction; French Revolution Best for: 11 and up "I know how to make needle lace and sew and hem and build a fire and tend it and clean the ashes out. I can make tea and toast and cook a chicken if I have to. I can empty chamber post and scrub floors..." This very well-written historical fiction about the French Revolution is based on a true incident...
Published: 2018 Theme: Historical Fiction, India's Partition Best for: 11 and up "We would go somewhere fresh and new where people were happy. All kinds of people practicing all kinds of religions..[where] nobody would mind that you were Muslim and Papa was Hindu...." This is a no-holds-barred experience of the tragedy that ensued from the Partition in 1947 into India and Pakistan. For 11 and up.
Published: 1982 Theme: Self-acceptance Best for: 8 to 11 "Milo wondered how in the world wearing a stalk of broccoli around his neck could possibly help make him perfect..." This children's book is perfect medicine for any young person thinking they need to be perfect! Silly but convincing...
Published: 2017 Theme: Light-weight Science Fiction Best for: 9 and up "I've got a doctorate in astrophysics and a black belt in karate," the woman replies, poking me hard in the chest with her telescope. "So sit down before I knock your block off." This book does a great job of making both space and science fiction, very readable and enjoyable.
Published: 2009 Theme: Community Best for: 4 to 7 "Night after night/Fox walked alone,/came home to a bed made of feathers and stone/" A very sweet and simple illustrated children's book, blending independence with sharing with others. Nicely told in rhyme.
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