In this heart-warming picture book, Faizah relates how she feels on the first day her sister, sixth-grader Asiya, wears a hijab to school.
Recommended for Kindergarten - Grade 4, but excellent as a Read Aloud to all elementary grades.
When Kendra and Seth go to stay at their grandparents' estate, they discover that it is a sanctuary for magical creatures and that a battle between good and evil is looming.
Book 1, Fablehaven series
As a dark force engulfs the land, the fate of Erdas has fallen on the shoulders of four young strangers who each have forged a rare bond with their spirit beasts -- a bond that gives great powers to all of them.
Book 1, Spirit Animal series
Child picture book. When Saoussan immigrated with her family from war-torn Lebanon, she was only seven years old. This picture book tells the story of how she had to adjust to her new home in Canada. She describes the frustration of not understanding the teacher when she started school, not knowing how to ask to go to the bathroom, and being terrified of a prop skeleton. This is the perfect book to help kids empathize with immigrant children whose experiences are very similar to Saoussan's. Age: 4-8.
The Paper Bag Princess is a story about a princess who learns to be self-reliant when it comes to dealing with a dragon.
Hoping that the enemy pie which his father makes will help him get rid of his enemy, a little boy finds that instead it helps make a new friend. For ages 5-9
Keiko Furukura had always been considered a strange child, and her parents always worried how she would get on in the real world, so when she takes on a job in a convenience store while at university, they are delighted for her. For her part, in the convenience store she finds a predictable world mandated by the store manual, which dictates how the workers should act and what they should say, and she copies her coworkers' style of dress and speech patterns so that she can play the part of a normal person. However, eighteen years later, at age 36, she is still in the same job, has never had a boyfriend, and has only few friends. She feels comfortable in her life, but is aware that she is not living up to society's expectations and causing her family to worry about her. When a similarly alienated but cynical and bitter young man comes to work in the store, he will upset Keiko's contented stasis, but will it be for the better? Sayaka Murata brilliantly captures the atmosphere of the familiar convenience store that is so much a part of life in Japan. With some laugh-out-loud moments prompted by the disconnect between Keiko's thoughts and those of the people around her, she provides a sharp look at Japanese society and the pressure to conform, as well as penetrating insights into the female mind. Convenience Store Woman is a fresh, charming portrait of an unforgettable heroine that recalls Banana Yoshimoto, Han Kang, and Amélie.
Child Nonfiction: Age 10 and up
"Martin and Bobby follows the lives and final days of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert Kennedy, showing how and where their work intersected and how their initially wary relationship evolved from challenging and testing one another to finally "arriving in the same place" as allies fighting poverty and racism"-- publisher.
Millie Michalchuk has gone to fat camp every year since she was a little girl. Not this year. This year she has new plans to chase her secret dream-and to kiss the boy she's crushing on.
Callie Reyes is the pretty girl who is next in line for dance-team captain and has the popular boyfriend. But when it comes to other girls, she's more frenemy than friend.
When circumstances bring the girls together over the course of a semester, they surprise everyone (especially themselves) by realizing that they might have more in common than they ever imagined.
A story about unexpected friendship, romance, and Texas-size girl power-this is another winner from Julie Murphy.
Child picture book. “A young girl walks through the bustling city, while a pigeon flies above, both spotting hidden shapes at every turn."-- Provided by publisher. Age: 3-7.
Adult nonfiction book. Albert Murray (1916-2013) was one of the most provocative and original American thinkers of the twentieth century, writing with equal grace and power as an essayist and novelist."--Page 4 of cover. Age: Adult.
Adult comedy - PG13. Modern version of Dickens' A Christmas Carol, with Bill Murray portraying a nasty, uncaring, unforgiving TV network president. On Christmas Eve he is visited by three ghosts who show him the error of his ways. This version stars: Bill Murray, Karen Allen, John Forsythe, Bobcat Goldthwait, Carol Kane, Robert Mitchum, Michael J. Pollard, Alfre Woodard.
There is a legend that a Great Spotted Whale lives in the ocean, although a sighting fifty years ago was never corroborated. Now two young whale watchers each set out to find the whale, one armed with sound-recording equipment, the other with a camera. When their boats collide, they pool their resources to capture incontrovertible proof that the mythical whale exists.
Child nonfiction book. Explains some traditions and customs of 26 African tribes beginning with letters from A to Z. Age: 8-11.
E-book, and e-audiobook. A memoir of the African American who grew up listening to stories and who carries on the storytelling tradition in his numerous and award-winning books. Age: 12+
Adult nonfiction book, e-book, and e-audiobook. A memoir of the African American who grew up listening to stories and who carries on the storytelling tradition in his numerous and award-winning books. Age: 10+
Two best friends, a writer and a runner, deal with bullies, family issues, social pressures, and their quest for success coming out of Harlem.
YA fiction book, and e-book. "Two best friends, a writer and a runner, deal with bullies, family issues, social pressures, and their quest for success coming out of Harlem"-- Provided by publisher. Age: 13+
Child fiction book, and e-book. Seventeen-year-old Biddy Owens is part of the Birmingham Black Barons baseball team and dreams of becoming a major league baseball player. However, in 1948 most black players can only play for the Negro Leagues. As they travel around playing ball, Biddy realizes that not everyone is ready for blacks and whites to play on the same team. Can Biddy prove he's good enough to be part of the game his loves, no matter what color his skin is? Grade: 5+
Child picture book, and audiobook on cd with print book. Jeremy sets out to discover all of the different "people" that make him who he is, including brother, son, writer, and runner. Age: 5-9.
While on trial as an accomplice to a murder, sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon records his experiences in prison and in the courtroom in the form of a film script as he tries to come to terms with the course his life has taken.
Child nonfiction book. Examines the events and people that have shaped America, providing portraits of figures such as Chief Tecumseh, President Abraham Lincoln, and musician Jimi Hendrix, and featuring lyrical, free-verse poetic text. Age: 8-11.
YA fiction. When Young Ju's family leave Korea to live in America they think all their dreams will come true, but customs and language are so different that Young Ju must defy tradition in order to make a new life. Age: 13+
Child picture book, e-book, and audiobook on CD. Wonderfully spare, deceptively simple verses pair with richly evocative paintings to celebrate the iconic imagery of our nation, beginning with the American flag. Each spread, sumptuously illustrated by award-winning artist Kadir Nelson, depicts a stirring tableau, from the view of the Statue of Library at Ellis Island to civil rights marchers shoulder to shoulder, to a spacecraft at Cape Canaveral blasting off. Age: 4-7.
Child fiction book. When Soviet troops invade Japanese-occupied Manchuria during the last days of World War II, twelve-year-old Natsu Kimura must care for her younger sister as they struggle to survive and return to Japan. Grade: 5+
"Seventeen-year-old Lila Reyes, furious when her parents send her to the English countryside to recover from grief and heartbreak, unexpectedly falls in love with a teashop clerk--and England, itself."
Meet Ari, a young person who doesn't like to be called by their birth name Edward: "When I think of the name Edward, I imagine old kings who snore a lot." Throughout this beautiful and engaging picture book, we watch Ari grow up before our very eyes as they navigate the ins and outs of their gender identity. Age: 5-9.
Child fiction book. In 1911, when orphaned ten-year-old Inge comes to live with her stern grandmother in a remote island village in Bornholm, Denmark, she ends up changing the climate of the town, bringing joy and laughter to her grandmother's life and finding a new family for herself to help assuage her grief over losing her mother. Grade: 3+
In Be Amazing, drag kid Desmond is Amazing walks you through the history of the LGBTQ community, all while encouraging you to embrace your own uniqueness and ignore the haters. Age: 5-8.
Child fiction book. In the autumn of 1846 in Ireland, twelve-year-old Lorraine and her family struggle to survive during the Irish potato famine, but when Lorraine meets Miss Susannah, the daughter of the wealthy English landowner who owns Lorraine's family's farm, they form an unlikely friendship that they must keep secret due to the deep cultural divide between their two families. Grade: 4+
Child fiction book. After being taken by German soldiers from a local movie theater along with other Italian boys including his Jewish friend, Roberto is forced to work in Germany, escapes into the Ukrainian winter, before desperately trying to make his way back home to Venice. Grade: 5+
Child Picture Book:
"As the seasons turn, Maisie rides her bull in and out of Dada's tall tales. Her Mama wears linen and plays the viola. Her Dada wears kente cloth and plays the marimba. They come from different places, but they hug her in the same way. And most of all, they love her just the same. A joyful celebration of a mixed-race family and the love that binds us all together."--publisher.
Child picture book. Born in Russia, where left-handers are frowned upon, Anya learns to use her right hand, except when she draws with her imagined secret society of famous artists--then when she moves to America, everything is different. Age: 3-8.
Teen fiction book, e-book, and e-audiobook. At the front of a middle school classroom in Oklahoma, a boy named Khosrou (whom everyone calls "Daniel") stands, trying to tell a story. His story. But no one believes a word he says. To them he is a dark-skinned, hairy-armed boy with a big butt whose lunch smells funny; who makes things up and talks about poop too much. But Khosrou's stories, stretching back years, and decades, and centuries, are beautiful, and terrifying, from the moment his family fled Iran in the middle of the night with the secret police moments behind them, back to the sad, cement refugee camps of Italy. and further back to the fields near the river Aras, where rain-soaked flowers bled red like the yolk of sunset burst over everything, and further back still to the Jasmine-scented city of Isfahan. Like Scheherazade in a hostile classroom, Daniel weaves a tale to save his own life: to stake his claim to the truth. And it is (a true story).
"It's 1989 in New York City, and for three teens, the world is changing. Reza is an Iranian boy who has just moved to the city with his mother to live with his stepfather and stepbrother. He's terrified that someone will guess the truth he can barely acknowledge about himself. Reza knows he's gay, but all he knows of gay life are the media's images of men dying of AIDS. Judy is an aspiring fashion designer who worships her uncle Stephen, a gay man with AIDS who devotes his time to activism as a member of ACT UP. Judy has never imagined finding romance... until she falls for Reza and they start dating. Art is Judy's best friend, their school's only out and proud teen. He'll never be who his conservative parents want him to be, so he rebels by documenting the AIDS crisis through his photographs. As Reza and Art grow closer, Reza struggles to find a way out of his deception that won't break Judy's heart -- and destroy the most meaningful friendship he's ever known. This is a bighearted, sprawling epic about friendship and love and the revolutionary act of living life to the fullest in the face of impossible odds."
Child fiction book. A dedicated mom puts love into action as she creates the perfect rainbow-colored wig for her transgender daughter, based on the real-life experience of mother-daughter advocate duo Trinity and DeShanna Neal. Age: 4-8.
Unearth clues to your past. Not all research can be done from home - sometimes you have to head into the field. Cemeteries are crucial for any genealogist's search, and this book will show you how to search for and analyze your ancestors' graves. Discover tools for locating tombstones, tips for traipsing through cemeteries, an at-a-glance guide to frequently used gravestone icons, and practical strategies for on-the-ground research. And once you've returned home, learn how to incorporate gravestone information into your research, as well as how to upload grave locations to BillionGraves and record your findings in memorial pages on Find A Grave. The Family Tree Cemetery Field Guide features: Detailed step-by-step guides to finding ancestor's cemeteries using websites like Find A Grave, plus how to record and preserve death and burial information ; Tips and strategies for navigating cemeteries and finding individual tombstones in the field, plus an at-a-glance guide to tombstone symbols and iconography ; Resources and techniques for discovering other death records and incorporating information from cemeteries into genealogical research.
Child nonfiction book. This biography profiles the life of Bass Reeves, a former slave who was recruited as a deputy United States Marshal in the area that was to become Oklahoma. Age: 8-12.
Child nonfiction book. A simple biography of Lakota-Oglala medicine man Black Elk, from his childhood vision which shaped his life through his battles with the whites and his travels with Buffalo Bill's Wild West show.
Child nonfiction book. Traces the childhood, friendships and dangers experienced by Buffalo Bird Woman, a Hidatsa Indian born in 1839, whose community along the Missouri River in the Dakotas transitioned from hunting to agriculture. Age: 8-11.
Child picture book. Pickup trucks and eagles, yellow school buses and painted horses, Mother Earth and Sister Meadowlark all join together to greet the dawn. They marvel at the colors and sounds, smells, and memories that come with the opening of the day. Animals and humans alike turn their faces upwards and gaze as the sun makes its daily journey from horizon to horizon. Dawn is a time to celebrate with a smiling heart, to start a new day in the right way, excited for what might come. Age: 8-12.
Child nonfiction book, and e-audiobook. A simple introduction to African-American history, from Revolutionary-era slavery up to the election of President Obama. Includes a timeline. Age: 9-12.
Child fiction e-book, and audiobook on CD. Twelve-year-old Cole's behavior causes his mother to drive him from Detroit to Philadelphia to live with a father he has never known, but who soon has Cole involved with a group of African-American "cowboys" who rescue horses and use them to steer youths away from drugs and gangs. Age: 10+
Child fiction book. It is 1941, and tensions are rising in the United States as the Second World War rages in Europe. Eleven-year-old Gusta's life, like the world around her, is about to change. Her father, a foreign-born labor organizer, has had to flee the country, and Gusta has been sent to live in an orphanage run by her grandmother. Nearsighted, snaggletoothed Gusta arrives in Springdale, Maine, lugging her one precious possession: a beloved old French horn, her sole memento of her father. But in a family that's long on troubles and short on money, how can a girl hang on to something so valuable and yet so useless? Gusta's mill-worker uncle needs surgery to fix his mangled hand, with no union to help him pay. Inspired by her mother's fanciful stories, Gusta secretly hopes to find the coin-like Wish that her sea-captain grandfather supposedly left hidden somewhere. Meanwhile, even as Gusta gets to know the rambunctious orphans at the home, she feels like an outsider at her new school and finds herself facing patriotism turned to prejudice, alien registration drives, and a family secret likely to turn the small town upside down. Grade: 5+
Child fiction book, e-book, and e-audiobook. When their father is sent away to prison, three London children move to the country where they keep busy preventing accidents on the nearby railway, making many new friends, and generally learning a good deal about themselves. Grade: 5+
Teen fiction book, e-book, and e-audiobook. On a cold Sunday evening in early 1957, Sarah Dewhurst waited with her father in the parking lot of the Chevron gas station for the dragon he'd hired to help on the farm. Sarah Dewhurst and her father, outcasts in their little town of Frome, Washington, are forced to hire a dragon to work their farm, something only the poorest of the poor ever have to resort to. The dragon, Kazimir, has more to him than meets the eye, though. Sarah can't help but be curious about him, an animal who supposedly doesn't have a soul but who is seemingly intent on keeping her safe. Because the dragon knows something she doesn't. He has arrived at the farm with a prophecy on his mind. A prophecy that involves a deadly assassin, a cult of dragon worshippers, two FBI agents in hot pursuit -- and somehow, Sarah Dewhurst herself.
As Bow-Wow naps, his neighbors creep in and steal his cozy green bed. When the expressive pup tries to get it back, colorful chaos ensues as the house next door might not be exactly what he thought.
When Heather goes to playgroup, at first she feels bad because she has two mothers and no father, but then she learns that there are lots of different kinds of families and the most important thing is that all the people love each other. Recommended for ages 3-5.
From the moment Donovan wakes in the morning, he painstakingly prepares for his special role in the wedding ceremony of his two mothers. Ages 4-7