On Shelves Now: DARNELL ROCK REPORTING by Walter Dean Myers

144 p.
Publisher: Yearling
Ages: 8 to 12


Darnell Rock is not the kind of kid who volunteers to write for the newspaper—it sounds too much like homework. But this is Darnell’s last chance to pull himself together and make a positive contribution to his school. At first, Darnell would rather be hanging out with his sister and his friends. But soon he gets interested in the Oakdale Gazette. Much to his surprise, Darnell discovers that people pay attention to the words he writes. Before he knows it, Darnell changes from a kid who can’t do anything right to a person who can make a difference.

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On Shelves Now: BLUISH by Virginia Hamilton

128 p.
Publisher: Blue Sky Press
Ages: 8 to 12

Friendship isn't always easy. Natalie is different from the other girls in Dreenie's fifth-grade class. She comes to school in a wheelchair, always wearing a knitted hat. The kids call her "Bluish" because her skin is tinted blue from chemotherapy. Dreenie is fascinated by Bluish -- and a little scared of her, too. She watches Bluish and writes her observations in her journal. Slowly, the two girls become good friends. But Dreenie still struggles with with Bluish's illness. Bluish is weak and frail, but she also wants to be independent and respected. How do you act around a girl like that?

In this powerful novel researched in NYC schools, Newbery Medalist Virginia Hamilton documents the struggle young people face as they simultaneously assert their independence and yearn for guidance.

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On Shelves Now: JAZZ DAY: The Making of a Famous Photograph by Roxane Orgill

66 p.
Publisher: Candlewick
Ages: 8 to 12

When Esquire magazine planned an issue to salute the American jazz scene in 1958, graphic designer Art Kane pitched a crazy idea: how about gathering a group of beloved jazz musicians and photographing them? He didn’t own a good camera, didn’t know if any musicians would show up, and insisted on setting up the shoot in front of a Harlem brownstone. Could he pull it off? In a captivating collection of poems, Roxane Orgill steps into the frame of Harlem 1958, bringing to life the musicians’ mischief and quirks, their memorable style, and the vivacious atmosphere of a Harlem block full of kids on a hot summer’s day. Francis Vallejo’s vibrant, detailed, and wonderfully expressive paintings do loving justice to the larger-than-life quality of jazz musicians of the era. Includes bios of several of the fifty-seven musicians, an author’s note, sources, a bibliography, and a foldout of Art Kane’s famous photograph.

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On Shelves Now: SILVER PEOPLE: Voices from the Panama Canal by Margarita Engle

242 p.
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Ages: 12 and up

In 1914, the world celebrated the opening of the Panama Canal, which connected the world’s two largest oceans and signaled America’s emergence as a global superpower. It was a miracle, this path of water where a mountain had stood—and creating a miracle is no easy thing. Thousands lost their lives, and those who survived worked under the harshest conditions for only a few silver coins a day.

From the young "silver people" whose back-breaking labor built the Canal to the denizens of the endangered rainforest itself, this is the story of one of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, as only Newbery Honor-winning author Margarita Engle could tell it.

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On Shelves Now: CHILD OF SPRING by Farhana Zia

192 p.
Publisher: Peachtree
Ages: 8 to 12

Basanta longs for the beautiful ring worn by her young mistress, but when it comes into her possession, she realizes that it's not the wonderful possession she expected. Increasingly aware of the struggles of her less privileged friends, Lali and Bala, she finds a way to improve their lives and entertain their community - and the beautiful ring takes on new meaning.

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On Shelves Now: FARMER WILL ALLEN AND THE GROWING TABLE by Jacqueline Briggs Martin

32 p.
Publisher: Readers to Eaters
Ages: 6 and up

Will Allen is no ordinary farmer. A former basketball star, he's as tall as his truck, and he can hold a cabbage--or a basketball--in one hand. But what is most special about Farmer Will is that he can see what others can't see. When he looked at an abandoned city lot in Milwaukee he saw a huge table, big enough to feed the whole world.

No space, no problem. Poor soil, there's a solution. Need help, found it. Farmer Will is a genius in solving problems. In 2008, the MacArthur Foundation named him one for his innovative urban farming methods, which include aquaponics and hydroponics.

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On Shelves Now: DOWN TO THE LAST OUT, The Journal of Biddy Owens, The Negro Leagues by Walter Dean Myers

192 p.
Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks
Ages: 8 to 12

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. Jackie Robinson has just recently integrated and is playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers, but the white owners are reluctant to add too many blacks to their rosters. The Birmingham Black Barons are some of the best players in the league. But 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 he loves, no matter what color his skin is?

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On Shelves Now: THE LIGHTNING DREAMER: Cuba's Greatest Abolitionist by Margarita Engle

192 p.
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Ages: 12 and up

“I find it so easy to forget / that I’m just a girl who is expected / to live / without thoughts.”

Opposing slavery in Cuba in the nineteenth century was dangerous. The most daring abolitionists were poets who veiled their work in metaphor. Of these, the boldest was Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda, nicknamed Tula. In passionate, accessible verses of her own, Engle evokes the voice of this book-loving feminist and abolitionist who bravely resisted an arranged marriage at the age of fourteen, and was ultimately courageous enough to fight against injustice. Historical notes, excerpts, and source notes round out this exceptional tribute.

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On Shelves Now: MALAIKA'S COSTUME by Nadia L. Hohn

32 p.
Publisher: Groundwood
Ages: 3 to 7

It’s Carnival time. The first Carnival since Malaika’s mother moved away to find a good job and provide for Malaika and her grandmother. Her mother promised she would send money for a costume, but when the money doesn’t arrive, will Malaika still be able to dance in the parade?

Disappointed and upset at her grandmother’s hand-me-down costume, Malaika leaves the house, running into Ms. Chin, the tailor, who offers Malaika a bag of scrap fabric. With her grandmother’s help, Malaika creates a patchwork rainbow peacock costume, and dances proudly in the parade.

A heartwarming story about family, community and the celebration of Carnival, Nadia Hohn’s warm and colloquial language and Irene Luxbacher’s vibrant collage-style illustrations make this a strikingly original picture book.

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On Shelves Now: GIFT HORSE: A Lakota Story by S.D. Nelson

40 p.
Publisher: Abram Books for Young Readers
Ages: 6 to 9

Gift Horse is an evocative introduction to 19th-century Native American life on the Great Plains. When his father gives him a gift horse, marking the beginning of his journey to manhood, Flying Cloud and the horse, Storm, spend their days hunting and roughhousing with other boys and their horses. But when an enemy raiding party steals his beloved Storm, Flying Cloud faces the ultimate rite of passage: he must join the rescue party and earn the right to wear the shirt of a warrior. Bold, colorful artwork inspired by the style of the early Plains Indians tells the story of a boy facing the challenges of manhood.

Included is an author’s note about the Lakota people and their culture. The author is a member of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe.

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On Shelves Now: THE STEEP AND THORNY WAY by Cat Winters

352 p.
Publisher: Amulet Books
Ages: 13 and up

1920s Oregon is not a welcoming place for Hanalee Denney, the daughter of a white woman and an African-American man. She has almost no rights by law, and the Ku Klux Klan breeds fear and hatred in even Hanalee’s oldest friendships. Plus, her father, Hank Denney, died a year ago, hit by a drunk-driving teenager. Now her father’s killer is out of jail and back in town, and he claims that Hanalee’s father wasn’t killed by the accident at all but, instead, was poisoned by the doctor who looked after him—who happens to be Hanalee’s new stepfather.

The only way for Hanalee to get the answers she needs is to ask Hank himself, a “haint” wandering the roads at night.

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On Shelves Now: BURN, BABY, BURN by Meg Medina

320 p.
Publisher: Candlewick
Ages: 14 and up

Nora Lopez is seventeen during the infamous New York summer of 1977, when the city is besieged by arson, a massive blackout, and a serial killer named Son of Sam who shoots young women on the streets. Nora’s family life isn’t going so well either: her bullying brother, Hector, is growing more threatening by the day, her mother is helpless and falling behind on the rent, and her father calls only on holidays. All Nora wants is to turn eighteen and be on her own. And while there is a cute new guy who started working with her at the deli, is dating even worth the risk when the killer likes picking off couples who stay out too late? Award-winning author Meg Medina transports us to a time when New York seemed balanced on a knife-edge, with tempers and temperatures running high, to share the story of a young woman who discovers that the greatest dangers are often closer than we like to admit — and the hardest to accept.

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On Shelves Now: THE YEAR OF THE THREE SISTERS by Andrea Cheng

32 p.
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Ages: 6 to 9

It's summer time and twelve-year old Anna Wang is writing letters and exchanging English for Chinese lessons with her pen pal Fan in China. When Anna and her friend Andee decide to invite Fan to stay as an exchange student in Cincinnati, Fan responds in an unexpected way. Through this experience, Anna learns more about family values in today's Chinese culture.

In the fourth chapter book sequel to The Year of the Book, The Year of the Baby, and The Year of the Fortune Cookie, Anna grows her understanding of how to overcome conflict with communication in order to build enduring friendships. With lively and warm illustrations by Patrice Barton throughout.

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On Shelves Now: MABROOK! A WORLD OF MUSLIM WEDDINGS by Na'ima B. Robert

32 p.
Publisher: Frances Lincoln's Childrens Books
Ages: 4 to 8

A colorful and exotic picture book showing the different ways Muslims in different countries celebrate the sacred ceremony, while also describing the vows and promises common to all Muslim marriages.

Lyrical description of Muslim wedding ceremonies across the world, including Pakistan, Morocco, Somalia and UK. This will be a colorful and exotic picture book showing the different ways Muslims in different countries celebrate the sacred ceremony, while also describing the vows and promises common to all Muslim marriages. This book is in series with Ramadan Moon and Going to Mecca, with a decorative and painterly style of illustration that can also show lively characters.

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On Shelves Now: MAROONED IN THE ARTIC: The True Story of Ada Blackjack, the "Female Robinson Crusoe" by Peggy Caravantes

208 p.
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Ages: 12 and up

In 1921, four men ventured into the Arctic for a top-secret expedition: an attempt to claim uninhabited Wrangel Island in northern Siberia for Great Britain. With the men was a young Inuit woman named Ada Blackjack, who had signed on as cook and seamstress to earn money to care for her sick son. Conditions soon turned dire for the team when they were unable to kill enough game to survive. Three of the men tried to cross the frozen Chukchi Sea for help but were never seen again, leaving Ada with one remaining team member who soon died of scurvy.

Determined to be reunited with her son, Ada learned to survive alone in the icy world by trapping foxes, catching seals, and avoiding polar bears. After she was finally rescued in August 1923, after two years total on the island, Ada became a celebrity, with newspapers calling her a real “female Robinson Crusoe.”

The first young adult book about Blackjack’s remarkable story, Marooned in the Arctic includes sidebars on relevant topics of interest to teens, including the use cats on ships, the phenomenon known as Arctic hysteria, and aspects of Inuit culture and beliefs. With excerpts from diaries, letters, and telegrams; historic photos; a map; source notes; and a bibliography, this is an indispensible resource for any young adventure lover, classroom, or library.

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On Shelves Now: YES! WE ARE LATINOS: Poems and Prose About the Latino Experience by Alma Flor Ada & F. Isabel Campoy

96 p.
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Ages: 10 and up

Juanita lives in New York and is Mexican. Felipe lives in Chicago and is Panamanian, Venezuelan, and black. Michiko lives in Los Angeles and is Peruvian and Japanese. Each of them is also Latino.

Thirteen young Latinos and Latinas living in America are introduced in this book celebrating the rich diversity of the Latino and Latina experience in the United States. Free-verse fictional narratives from the perspective of each youth provide specific stories and circumstances for the reader to better understand the Latino people’s quest for identity. Each profile is followed by nonfiction prose that further clarifies the character’s background and history, touching upon important events in the history of the Latino American people, such as the Spanish Civil War, immigration to the US, and the internment of Latinos with Japanese ancestry during World War II.

Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy’s informational yet heartwarming text provides a resource for young Latino readers to see themselves, while also encouraging non-Latino children to understand the breadth and depth of the contributions made by Latinos in the US. Caldecott Medalist David Diaz’s hand-cut illustrations are bold and striking, perfectly complementing the vibrant stories in the book.

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On Shelves Now: THE GARDEN OF MY IMAAN by Farhana Zia

192 p.
Publisher: Peachtree
Ages: 8 to 12

Aliya already struggles with trying to fit in, feeling confident enough to talk to the cute boy or stand up to mean kidsâ-the fact that sheâ's Muslim is just another thing to deal with. When Marwa, a Moroccan girl who shares her faith if not her culture, comes to Aliyaâ's school, Aliya wonders even more about who she is, what she believes, and where she fits in. Should she fast for Ramadan? Should she wear the hijab? Sheâ's old enough for both, but does she really want to call attention to herself?

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On Shelves Now: THE MIDNIGHT WAR OF MATEO MARTINEZ by Robin Yardi

184 p.
Publisher: Carolrhoda
Ages: 8 to 12

Life is confusing for Mateo Martinez. He and Johnny Ramirez don't hang out anymore, even though they used to be best friends. He and his new friend Ashwin try to act like brave, old-time knights, but it only gets them in trouble. His parents keep telling him to hold his sister's hand when crossing busy streets, even though she's the one who always runs ahead. And last night, two skunks stole Mateo's old trike.

Wait-two skunks stole his trike?

Mateo is too big for that rusty kid toy. He has a cool, shiny new bike anyway. But Mateo also has a neighborhood to protect. And he's about to begin a big, stinky quest to catch the thieves. A quest that starts in the middle of the night!

As Mateo protects his neighborhood, he also learns a few things about growing up and letting go.

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On Shelves Now: PLEASE, LOUISE by Toni Morrison & Slade Morrison

32 p.
Publisher: Simon Schuster
Ages: 4 to 8

On one gray afternoon, Louise makes a trip to the library. With the help of a new library card and through the transformative power of books, what started out as a dull day turns into one of surprises, ideas, and imagination!

Inspired by Pulitzer Prize–winning author Toni Morrison’s experience working in a library as a young girl, this engaging picture book celebrates the wonders of reading, the enchanting capacity of the imagination, and, of course, the splendor of libraries.

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On Shelves Now: THE LAND OF FORGOTTEN GIRLS by Erin Entrada Kelly

304 p.
Publisher: Greenwillow
Ages: 8 to 12

Soledad has always been able to escape into the stories she creates. Just like her mother always could. And Soledad has needed that escape more than ever in the five years since her mother and sister died and her father moved Sol and her youngest sister from the Philippines to Louisiana. Then he left, and all Sol and Ming have now is their evil stepmother, Vea. Sol has protected Ming all this time, but then Ming begins to believe that Auntie Jove—their mythical, world-traveling aunt—is really going to come rescue them. Have Sol’s stories done more harm than good? Can she protect Ming from this impossible hope? Erin Entrada Kelly writes with grace, imagination, and deepest heart about the meaning of family and about finding hope in the hardest circumstances.

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