The very best books for kids from 1922 to the present.
2020
New Kid
Call Number: 740.9999 C885
Middle schooler Jordan Banks had hoped to attend art school, but mom sends him to a private prep school where he is one of a handful of black kids. No one at Riverdale Academy Day School is openly hostile towards him for his race, but he deals with a series of microaggressions, like being called the name of another black student, or everyone looking at him when the teacher is discussing students on financial aid. Craft mixes humor with heart in this hilarious yet thoughtful graphic novel.
2019
Merci Suárez Changes Gears
Call Number: x
Winner of the 2019 Newbery Medal, this is the coming of age story of Merci Suarez, sixth grader. Things are complicated at school because she's a scholarship kid, and she's now the target of a school mate's jealousy. At home, her beloved grandfather Lolo has begun to forget things and isn't acting like himself. Merci navigates these significant events in her life with humor and spirit.
2018
Hello, Universe
Call Number: x
Grades 4 - 7
Virgilio is small and shy and dealing with a bully named Chet, plus a major crush on a girl named Valencia, who is smart but lonely, because her former friends can’t handle the fact that she’s deaf. Katori is convinced that she’s a psychic, and wants to use her powers for good; her little sister Gen also likes to excel at things, and assists Katori in her fledgling fortune-telling business. Chet tosses Virgilio’s backpack down a dry well and Virgilio goes after it to save his guinea pig Gulliver. Will Valencia, Katori and Gen be able to find him? A diverse cast, a tense situation, and a little magic add up to an irresistible read.
2015
The Crossover
Call Number: x
(Gr. 4-6) Fourteen-year-old twin basketball stars Josh and Jordan wrestle with highs and lows on and off the court as their father ignores his declining health.
2009
The Graveyard Book
Call Number:
Nobody Owens is a normal boy, except that he has been raised by ghosts and other denizens of the graveyard.
2007
The higher power of Lucky
Call Number: x
Fearing that her legal guardian plans to abandon her to return to France, ten-year-old aspiring scientist Lucky Trimble determines to run away while also continuing to seek the Higher Power that will bring stability to her life.
2000
Bud, Not Buddy
Call Number: x
Gr. 4 and up. 10-year-old Bud escapes a bad foster home and sets out in search of a man he believes is his father, renowned bandleader, H.E. Calloway. Winner of the 2000 Newbery Medal.
1984
Dear Mr. Henshaw
Call Number: x
In his letters to his favorite author, ten-year-old Leigh reveals his problems in coping with his parents' divorce, being the new boy in school, and generally finding his own place in the world.
1982
A Visit to William Blake's Inn: Poems for Innocent and Experienced Travelers
Call Number: x 811 W694
1961
Island of the Blue Dolphins
Call Number: x Ed.c
Left alone on a beautiful but isolated island off the coast of California, a young Indian girl spends eighteen years, not only merely surviving through her enormous courage and self-reliance, but also finding a measure of happiness in her solitary life.
