Kids

My life as an ice cream sandwich book cover

My life as an ice cream sandwich

Ibi Aanu Zoboi

jFICTION Zoboi Ibi
Fiction, Historical Fiction, Science Fiction, Kids

Twelve-year-old Ebony-Grace Norfleet has lived with her beloved grandfather Jeremiah in Huntsville, Alabama ever since she was little. As one of the first black engineers to integrate NASA, Jeremiah has nurtured Ebony-Grace's love for all things outer space and science fiction--especially Star Wars and Star Trek. But in the summer of 1984, when trouble arises with Jeremiah, it's decided she'll spend a few weeks with her father in Harlem. Harlem is an exciting and terrifying place for a sheltered girl from Hunstville, and Ebony-Grace's first instinct is to retreat into her imagination. But soon 126th Street begins to reveal that it has more in common with her beloved sci-fi adventures than she ever thought possible, and by summer's end, Ebony-Grace discovers that Harlem has a place for a girl whose eyes are always on the stars.

Anne W's picture

This book is sad and funny, with issues of race and class and growing up navigated via Old New York and Star Trek fandom. The best! -Anne W

Other words for home book cover

Other words for home

Jasmine Warga

jFICTION Warga Jasmine
Fiction, Kids

Sent with her mother to the safety of a relative's home in Cincinnati when her Syrian hometown is overshadowed by violence, Jude worries for the family members who were left behind as she adjusts to a new life with unexpected surprises.

Anne W's picture

A beautiful, timely book in verse that will help you understand the Syrian refugee crisis. -Anne W

Who wet my pants? book cover

Who wet my pants?

Bob Shea

jE Shea
Kids, Picture Books

When Reuben the bear brings doughnuts to his forest friends, they discover that his pants are wet and he angrily accuses them of the dirty deed.

Angie's picture

Try not to wet your pants as you make your way through this hilarious take on a common childhood mishap. Reuben the bear has a problem. His pants are wet. In, you know, the front and center zone. Reuben is seemingly dumbfounded. Who wet his pants? Let the wild accusations begin. Reuben throws everyone under the bus before coming to terms with the true identity of the culprit. Who Wet My Pants? is a book for us all. It’s sure to be one of the funniest of 2019. -Angie

Freedom fire book cover

Freedom fire

Daniel José Older

jFICTION Older Daniel
Kids, Fiction, Fantasy, Early Chapter Books

Magdalys Roca and her friends from the Colored Orphan Asylum are heading southwest on the back of Stella, the giant pteranodon, to find Montez, her brother, wounded during the siege of Vicksburg; now they are heading into the heart of the fighting, depending on Magdalys' ability to communicate telepathically with dinosaurs--but one of the companions is not quite what she seems, and Magdalys's talent could make her a target for both sides.

Angie's picture

Fans of the acclaimed first Dactyl Hill chapter book will rejoice for the thrilling second book in the series! Background notes elaborate on the story’s elements. Intelligent, rousing, and abundantly diverse, this is every bit as satisfying as the first installment. Ages 8–12. -Angie

Ramona and her father book cover

Ramona and her father

Beverly Cleary

jFICTION Cleary, Beverly
Kids, Fiction

The family routine is upset during Ramona's year in second grade when her father unexpectedly loses his job.

Anne W's picture

This whole series is my favorite, but this one edges just slightly above the others in enjoyment. No one captures the spirit and feeling of childhood like Beverly Cleary, and Ramona is a funny, spunky, heroine dealing with school and family stuff. -Anne W

The miscalculations of Lightning Girl book cover

The miscalculations of Lightning Girl

Stacy McAnulty

jFICTION Mcanulty Stacy
Fiction, Kids

A lightning strike made Lucy, twelve, a math genius but, after years of homeschooling, her grandmother enrolls her in middle school and she learns that life is more than numbers.

Anne W's picture

A lightning strike makes 12-year-old Lucy a math genius but when she is forced to go to public middle school after years of home schooling, she learns life is more than numbers. Socially awkward adolescent unwittingly bonds with other misfits and helps dogs at an animal shelter! -Anne W

A case in any case book cover

A case in any case

Ulf Nilsson

jFICTION Nilsson Ulf
Kids, Early Chapter Books, Mystery, Fiction

When Detective Gordon retires and Buffy is left alone at the police station, she hears strange noises and decides to call on Gordon to help her with the mystery.

Anne W's picture

Sweet, gentle, yet hilariously funny Swedish frog detective and his deputy mouse solve sweet, gentle mysteries in the forest. -Anne W

The Westing game book cover

The Westing game

Ellen Raskin

jFICTION Raskin, Ellen
Mystery, Fiction, Kids

The mysterious death of an eccentric millionaire brings together an unlikely assortment of heirs who must uncover the circumstances of his death before they can claim their inheritance.

Anne W's picture

Mystery classic that centers on the death of an eccentric millionaire and the unlikely assortment of wacky characters all competing to solve the puzzle of his death to claim their inheritance. Funny, offbeat, weird, creepy! -Anne W

The Watsons go to Birmingham-- 1963 book cover

The Watsons go to Birmingham-- 1963

Christopher Paul Curtis

jFICTION Curtis, Christopher Paul
Fiction, Historical Fiction, Humor, Kids

The ordinary interactions and everyday routines of the Watsons, an African American family living in Flint, Michigan, are drastically changed after they go to visit Grandma in Alabama in the summer of 1963.

Anne W's picture

You will laugh out loud again and again until the end, when you'll cry. A family from Michigan goes to visit relatives down South in Birmingham for the summer. Ten year old Kenny, the protagonist, has a wonderful voice and spirit. -Anne W

Midnight without a moon book cover

Midnight without a moon

Linda Williams Jackson

jFICTION Jackson Linda
Fiction, Historical Fiction, Kids

Rose Lee Carter, a thirteen-year-old African-American girl, dreams of life beyond the Mississippi cotton fields during the summer of 1955, but when Emmett Till is murdered and his killers are unjustly acquitted, Rose is torn between seeking her destiny outside of Mississippi or staying and being a part of an important movement.

Anne W's picture

It's summer in Mississippi in 1955 and one town over from where Rose Lee Carter lives with her grandparents, a boy named Emmett Till is murdered. Unrest begins to build, and Rose Lee is forced to question everything she's ever known and decide whether to join a dangerous movement for change in the South. Complex, multilayered characters dealing with wider social change as well as family events. -Anne W