A ladybug invites the reader to play a game of "let's pretend."
Adult TV show - PG. Set on a Depression Christmas Eve in 1933, this heart-tugging story centers around the Waltons, a rural family, as they prepare to celebrate Christmas together.
Child fiction book. In fifteenth-century Africa, Kai and her beautiful but lazy older sister Jamila undertake a perilous four-day journey to another Yoruba village, seeking help for their starving tribe after the blight of the yam crop. Grade: 2+
Creative nonfiction picture book explains natural selection with newly-emerged peppered moths versus speckled-winged moths in varying states of pollution so that birds can eat the more visible moths.
Recommended for K - Grade 3
YA fiction, e-book, audiobook on cd, and e-audiobook. Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least win her first battle. As the daughter of an underground hip-hop legend who died right before he hit big, Bri's got massive shoes to fill. But it's hard to get your come up when you're labeled a hoodlum at school and your fridge at home is empty after your mom loses her job. So Bri pours her anger and frustration into her first song, which goes viral—for all the wrong reasons. Bri soon finds herself at the center of a controversy, portrayed by the media as more menace than MC. But with an eviction notice staring her family down, Bri doesn't just want to make it—she has to. Even if it means becoming the very thing the public made her out to be. Age: 14+
On the Come Up tells the story of talented Bri, daughter of a deceased underground rapper, who’s pursuing her own rap career. Bri is more than her dreams of making it out of the hood and reaching rap stardom; she is a girl who loves her family and friends fiercely. Bri’s chance at fame comes after a rap battle in which the song she pens garners massive attention. When Bri’s mother loses her job, Bri’s rap ambitions become more crucial than ever. They could be her and her family’s ticket to a better life unthreatened by poverty. Bri is a refreshingly realistic character with trials and triumphs, strengths and flaws. She’s also a teen with a traumatic past who is still going through things in the present. She still, however, manages to find the beauty and joy in life despite her tribulations. In this splendid novel, showing many facets of the Black identity and the Black experience, including both the highs and the lows of middle-class and poor Black families, Thomas gives readers another dynamic protagonist to root for. -- Enishia Davenport (Reviewed 2/1/2019) (Booklist, vol 115, number 11, p72)
|
As three dust bunnies, Ed, Ned, and Ted, are demonstrating how much they love to rhyme, a fourth, Bob, is trying to warn them of approaching danger.
|
Young Adult Fiction:
After witnessing her friend's death at the hands of a police officer, Starr Carter's life is complicated when the police and a local drug lord try to intimidate her in an effort to learn what happened the night Kahlil died.
YA fiction book, e-book, audiobook on cd, e-audiobook, and large print. After witnessing her friend's death at the hands of a police officer, Starr Carter's life is complicated when the police and a local drug lord try to intimidate her in an effort to learn what happened the night Kahlil died. Age: 14+
Child picture book. A young Muslim girl puts on a head scarf and not only feels closer to her mother, she also imagines herself as a queen, the sun, a superhero, and more. Age: 4-8.
Child picture book. A young Muslim girl puts on a head scarf and not only feels closer to her mother, she also imagines herself as a queen, the sun, a superhero, and more. Age: 3-8.
Adult Comedy. Having her dog taken away by an uptight landlord was heartbreaking for Laura. Willing to try anything to transform her life, and get her dog back, Laura follows her friend's suggestion. The life coach's unusual character makes Laura skeptical, especially when the coach tells Laura to make twelve wishes for a positive change in her life. She realizes that her wishes are sparking unforeseen circumstances, and must act quickly to get her life, and her dog, back before Christmas. Includes bonus features.
Adult comedy - PG13. A young woman, who has been continuously unlucky, accepts a job as a department store elf at a year-round holiday shop. When Kate meets Tom on the job, her life takes a turn.
Child fiction book. In first century Rome, in the turmoil after a rumor circulates that mad Emperor "Littleboots" is dead, young Marcus brings home a horse that the emperor had proclaimed a consul and his family decides they must treat it as an honored guest! Grade: 3+
An engaging wordless picture book about three children who go to a park on a rainy day, find some chalk, and draw pictures that come to life.
Second-grader Keena Ford loves writing in her journal. One day, Keena accidentally leaves her journal in the apartment of her mean classmate Tiffany Harris. The next day, Tiffany informs Keena that she's read the journal and is going to tell all of Keena's secrets! Well, unless Keena does everything Tiffany says, of course.
Keena Ford series
Picture book. Numbers in English and Spanish. Includes Spanish words throughout. In rhyming text, Hispanic children count the things, like pinatas and maracas, that can be seen in their neighborhood. Age: 3-6.
Child e-book. As a little girl discovers things round, square, and rectangular in her urban neighborhood, she is reminded of her Chinese American culture. Age: 2-7.
This sweet, straightforward exploration of gender identity will give children a fuller understanding of themselves and others. Written by the mother of a transgender child and illustrated by a non-binary transgender artist, this picture book provides young readers and parents alike with the vocabulary to discuss this important topic with sensitivity. Age: 3-7.
Adult comedy - R. Ill-mannered store Santa Willie Stokes is really a safecracker with a holiday tradition of making one big score every Christmas Eve with his clever elf--partner-in-crime Marcus. But this year's heist-fest could be completely foiled by a snoopy store manager, savvy mall detective, sexy Santa fan, and an innocent 8-year old misfit who thinks the intoxicated and felonious Willie is the real Santa he seeks.
Maggie Thrash has spent basically every summer of her fifteen-year-old life at the one-hundred-year-old Camp Bellflower for Girls, set deep in the heart of Appalachia. She's from Atlanta, she's never kissed a guy, she's into Backstreet Boys in a really deep way, and her long summer days are full of a pleasant, peaceful nothing . . . until one confounding moment. A split-second of innocent physical contact pulls Maggie into a gut-twisting love for an older, wiser, and most surprising of all (at least to Maggie), female counselor named Erin. But Camp Bellflower is an impossible place for a girl to fall in love with another girl, and Maggie's savant-like proficiency at the camp's rifle range is the only thing keeping her heart from exploding. When it seems as if Erin maybe feels the same way about Maggie, it's too much for both Maggie and Camp Bellflower to handle, let alone to understand.
Adult fiction e-book. Thurman's debut novel broke new ground as an exploration of issues of "colorism," intra-racial prejudice, and internalized racism in African American life. Its protagonist, the young Emma Lou Morgan, is simply "too dark" for a world in which every kind of advancement seems to require a light complexion. Seeking acceptance and opportunity, she moves from Idaho to California to New York. Harlem, the "city of surprises," is in many ways the novel's true subject, its low-down, licentious streets, glittering cabarets, and variegated cast of characters offering a rich backdrop for Emma Lou's ambivalent, picaresque progress. Age: Adult.
This biography for elementary students "is the incredible true story of the woman who inspired the beloved movie The Sound of Music. See how she became stepmother to the von Trapp children, and how the family escaped the Nazi's and became a revered singing group." --Amazon
Grades 4 - 6
Child fiction book, e-book, and e-audiobook. In 1871 Wisconsin, thirteen-year-old Georgia sets out to find her sister Agatha, presumed dead when remains are found wearing the dress she was last seen in, and before the end of the year gains fame as a sharpshooter and foiler of counterfeiters. Grade: 5+
"As the basketball playoffs draw near, Chocktaw teen Bobby Byington shares the legend of No Name with his teammates, who are dealing with family problems all too familiar to him."
As the basketball playoffs draw near, Chocktaw teen Bobby Byington shares the legend of No Name with his teammates, who are dealing with family problems all too familiar to him.
A Choctaw tale of tragedy, white and Indians, good and evil, revenge and forgiveness, even humor and magic realism.
"The hour has come to speak of troubled times. It is time we spoke of Skullyville." Thus begins Rose Goode's story of her growing up in Indian Territory in pre-statehood Oklahoma. Skullyville, a once-thriving Choctaw community, was destroyed by land-grabbers, culminating in the arson on New Year's Eve, 1896, of New Hope Academy for Girls. Twenty Choctaw girls died, but Rose escaped. She is blessed by the presence of her grandmother Pokoni and her grandfather Amafo, both respected elders who understand the old ways. Soon after the fire, the white sheriff beats Amafo in front of the town's people, humiliating him. Instead of asking the Choctaw community to avenge the beating, her grandfather decides to follow the path of forgiveness. And so unwinds this tale of mystery, Indian-style magical realism, and deep wisdom. It's a world where backwoods spiritualism and Bible-thumping Christianity mix with bad guys; a one-legged woman shop-keeper, her oaf of a husband, herbal potions, and shape-shifting panthers rendering justice. Tim Tingle--a scholar of his nation's language, culture, and spirituality--tells Rose's story of good and evil with understanding and even laugh-out-loud Choctaw humor.
Child fiction book. A Choctaw boy tells the story of his tribe's removal from the only land its people had ever known, and how their journey to Oklahoma led him to become a ghost--one with the ability to help those he left behind. Grade: 5+
Child fiction. A Choctaw boy tells the story of his tribe's removal from the only land its people had ever known, and how their journey to Oklahoma led him to become a ghost--one with the ability to help those he left behind. Age: 9-12.
"A Choctaw boy tells the story of his tribe's removal from the only land its people had ever known, and how their journey to Oklahoma led him to become a ghost--one with the ability to help those he left behind."
Life is better for Choctaw teenager Bobby Byington as he returns to the basketball team, helps teammate Lloyd and neighbor Faye through some difficulties, and sees his family drawing close again.
Child nonfiction book. Stories of the author's Choctaw Indian family, centering particularly on his blind grandmother. Age: 8-11.
Child fiction book. Martha Tom knows better than to cross the Bok Chitto River to pick blackberries. The Bok Chitto is the only border between her town in the Choctaw Nation and the slave-owning plantation in Mississippi territory. The slave owners could catch her, too. What was she thinking? But crossing the river brings a surprise friendship with Lil Mo, a boy who is enslaved on the other side. When Lil Mo discovers that his mother is about to be sold and the rest of his family left behind, Martha Tom has the answer: cross the Bok Chitto and become free. Crossing to freedom with his family seems impossible with slave catchers roaming, but then there is a miracle -- a magical night where things become unseen and souls walk on water. By morning, Lil Mo discovers he has entered a completely new world of tradition, community, and... a little magic. But as Lil Mo's family adjusts to their new life, danger waits just around the corner. Grade: 3+
When the Choctaw Nation sponsors an all-Indian high school basketball team to compete in a summer tournament, the team includes Choctaw Bobby Byington and other Indian high school players from Eastern Oklahoma.
Child fiction book. "Ten-year-old Isaac, now a ghost, continues with his people as they walk the Choctaw Trail of Tears headed to Indian Territory in what will one day become Oklahoma. There have been surprises aplenty on their trek, but now Isaac and his three Choctaw comrades learn they can time travel--making for an unexpected adventure. The foursome heads back in time to Washington, D.C., to bear witness for Choctaw Chief Pushmataha who has come to the nation's capital at the invitation of Andrew Jackson."-- Provided by publisher. Age: 9+
"A high-stakes sci-fi adventure about a teen girl who will do anything to escape her troubled home--even if that means joining a dangerous monster-fighting squad."
"On these pages, the Navajo Code Talkers speak, in English and Navajo, about past and present. Laura Tohe, daughter of a Code Talker, interviewed many of the remaining Code Talkers, some of whom have since passed on. The Navajo language helped win World War II, and it lives on in this book, as the veterans truly share from their hearts, providing not only more battlefield details, but also revealing how their war experiences affected themselves and the following generations. Their children and grandchildren also speak about what it means to them today. Beautiful portraits accompany their words."
Presents a dramatization of Tolkien's epic story concerning Bilbo Baggins, a respectable, well-to-do hobbit. Baggins lives comfortably in his hobbit-hole until the day the wandering wizard Gandalf chooses him to take part in an adventure from which he may never return.
Child fiction book, e-book, audiobook on CD, and e-audiobook. The adventures of the well-to-do hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, who lived happily in his comfortable home until a wandering wizard granted his wish.
Child picture book, and e-book. Text in English with some Spanish. Two cousins, one in Mexico and one in New York City, write to each other and learn that even though their daily lives differ, at heart the boys are very similar. Age: 4-8.
|
Two cousins, one in Mexico and one in New York City, write to each other and learn that even though their daily lives differ, at heart the boys are very similar.
|
Child Nonfiction:
"Years before the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling Brown v. Board of Education, Sylvia Mendez, an eight-year-old girl of Mexican and Puerto Rican heritage, played an instrumental role in Mendez v. Westminster, the landmark desegregation case of 1946 in California"-- publisher.
Child nonfiction book, e-book, video on DVD, e-video, and e-audiobook. Years before the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling Brown v. Board of Education, Sylvia Mendez, an eight-year-old girl of Mexican and Puerto Rican heritage, played an instrumental role in Mendez v. Westminster, the landmark desegregation case of 1946 in California. Age: 6-9.
Child nonfiction picture book, e-book, e-audiobook, and e-video. The story of a Mexican-American war hero brought to life. Age: 6-8.
Child nonfiction book, e-book, video on DVD, e-video, and e-audiobook. In one of Mexico's cherished legends, Princess Izta had many wealthy suitors, but dismissed them all. When a mere warrior, Popoca, promised to be true to her and stay always by her side, Izta fell in love. The emperor promised Popoca if he could defeat their enemy Jaguar Claw, then Popoca and Izta could wed. Age: 6-9.
Mexican-American Stef Soto is hoping to break free from her overprotective parents and embarrassing reputation from her family's taco truck business, but she soon learns that family, friendship, and the taco truck are important and wonderful parts of her life.
Three teenage immigrants risk the trip from Guatemala through Mexico to the United States southern border in search of a better life.
"A cursed child destined to die on her eleventh birthday is rescued and whisked away to a secret realm called Nevermoor and given the chance to compete for a place in a prestigious organization called the Wundrous Society"-- publisher. Also available in large print.
Book 1, Nevermoor series
Nonfiction child book. A Hmong tale that explains why turtles have shells. Age: 5-8.