Children’s books which are generally suitable for children age nine to twelve
Published: 2019 Theme: Holocaust and Family Memories Best for: 9 and up "When Charlie asked how many of the people in the photo album had survived the Holocaust, Mom simply looked away." A down-to-earth children's book about the importance of sharing and remembering the past.
Published: 2018 Theme: Fantasy; Courage Best for: Girls age 11 and up "I've been looking for a way to find out more about my powers, about my destiny. This is the sign I've been waiting for, I'm sure of it. This is where I need to go." She pointed at her rough drawing of the shrine..." A sequel to Sisters of Glass, and every bit as dramatic and compelling. Fantasy genre.
Published: 2000 Theme: Power of Love Best for: 9 to 12 "I put my hand beneath his should to steady him. I felt something there, something held in my his jacket. I reached across his back and felt something beneath his other shoulder as well. Like thin arms, folded up." Children have the ability to see the miraculous, and to hope... and this book brings it home in a well-told story.
Published: 2011 Theme: Children's Creativity Best for: 9 to 12 "My name is Mina and I love the night. Anything seems possible at night when the rest of the world has gone to sleep." The best thing to say about this children's book is ...read it. It will uplift your spirit and inspire creative teaching.
Published: 2019 Theme: Fathers and Sons Best for: 9 and up "I decided to revolt. I mean, wiping up dog vomit, nearly drowning in an Australian tropical thunderstorm, drinking tea with mild and sugar, and I haven't even told you about the forty-five minutes of Mr. Barkus's word problems." A great coming- of-age book, as well as dealing with family drama, with lots of humor.
Published: 2019 Theme: Father and Son reconciliation Best for: 9 to 12 "It's hard, sometimes, reconciling the difference between what you really feel about something and what you think you're supposed to feel." A slow-starter with a very unconventional ending worth staying with.
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: 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.
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