In this exceptional children's book, set in the Great Depression, we learn about intuitive skills for today as well...
Echo Mountain
The Lacemaker and the Princess
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...
The Night Diary
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.
Finding Langston
Published: 2018
Theme: Healing through books
Best for: 9 and up
"It's better to read in the library. Sitting at my favorite table... reading and listening to the sound of other folks turning pages makes me feel I'm in a house full of company I don't have to talk to." A beautiful and lyrical small book set in 1946, exploring the loneliness that comes from being uprooted from South to North.
Gandhi – My Life is My Message
Published: 2013
Theme: Biography
Best for: 10 and up
"We must melt the hearts of the Government with love... Remember, we can only win the opponent over by love, never by hate. Hate is the subtlest form of violence. Hatred injures the hater, never the hated." This very thorough biography of Gandhi in graphic novel form is a pleasure to read.
The Parker Inheritance
Published: 2018
Theme: Overcoming Discrimination
Best for: 9 and up
"It wasn't surprising that Siobhan Washington became a librarian. She grew up surrounded by books, spending just as much time in her school library as she did on the tennis courts. " This authentic peek back in time to the struggles of African-Americans to be accepted is well-done, written in the form of a puzzle-solving adventure.
The Orphan Band of Springdale
Published: 2018
Theme: Courage, Overcoming Differences
Best for: 11 and up
"Her father had a phrase for the way the sun catches things out against the darkness of a coming storm: the clear light of trouble, he called it." This excellent historical fiction is a timely addition to educating children about the dangers of xenophobism...
The Not-So-Boring Letters of Private Nobody
Published: 2018
Theme: Unglorious War
Best for: 11-13
"He wasn't sure why Ella had lied about texting her mom. All he knew was that she wasn't the girl he'd thought she was. She was the girl who did magic tricks and listened to Mozart." Great historical fiction children's book, featuring two very likeable 7th graders, who end up liking each other...
The Knight and the Squire
Published: 1997
Theme: Reality Check and Humor
Best for: Boys 9 to 11
"Now running away from home in the fourteenth century was by no means an easy thing to do. Everyone in the village would know exactly who you were... Nobody would be sitting inside watching television." A funny book with a serious message- maybe knights are not all they appear to be on the surface, and war is war, never nice.
Ahimsa
Published: 2017
Theme: India's Independence fight
Best for: 12 and up
"Ma handed Anjali one of the two prasad trays as they headed into the hall. Anjali gave a ladoo to her father and bowed to him in pranaam. He raised his hand over her head to bless her..." We journey to a village in India during the struggle for independence, and live with freedom fighters, including a young girl and her mother...
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