On Shelves Now: LUCKY BEANS by Becky Birtha

32 p.
Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company
Ages: 7 to 11

Like so many people during the Great Depression of the 1930s, Marshall Loman's dad has lost his job. There's little money, but there are plenty of beans-in fact, Ma cooks them for supper every single night! Beans start looking better when Marshall sees the contest posted in the furniture store window. HOW MANY BEANS ARE IN THE JAR? WIN THIS BRAND NEW SEWING MACHINE! Ma needs that sewing machine-but how can the Lomans possibly guess right? Then Marshall remembers something he learned in arithmetic class.

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On Shelves Now: DREAMING IN INDIAN: Contemporary Native American Voices edited by Lisa Charleyboy

128 p.
Publisher: Annick Press
Ages: 12 and up

This dynamic, creative work is an interactive portal that introduces readers to the lives of 64 indigenous Native American young people. The writers include an award-winning throat singer, a fashion model, a hip-hop dancer, a tribal leader, an activist, a graphic designer, a comic book creator, a chef, a dancer, a musician, a makeup artist, and a rapper, and the contributors communicate powerfully who they are in their own words and images.

The visuals are a blend of bold, contemporary digital graffiti and indigenous art at its best, and the end result is a collage of profound, sometimes gritty photos and digital images. The text is a combination of awe-inspiring poetry, prose, and poignant captions.

No topic is left untouched—identity, racism, gender, bullying, abuse at boarding schools, adoption, mixed heritage, runaways, suicide, drug, poverty, coming of age, death, and sex, though the tone is positive and success stories are emphasized. This slim book effectively presents honest portrayals of strong, hopeful, and courageous indigenous youth living non-stereotypical lives.

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On Shelves Now: SAME SUN HERE by Silas House & Neela Vaswani

288 p.
Publisher: Candlewick
Ages: 10 and up

Meena and River have a lot in common: fathers forced to work away from home to make ends meet, grandmothers who mean the world to them, and faithful dogs. But Meena is an Indian immigrant girl living in New York City’s Chinatown, while River is a Kentucky coal miner’s son. As Meena’s family studies for citizenship exams and River’s town faces devastating mountaintop removal, this unlikely pair become pen pals, sharing thoughts and, as their camaraderie deepens, discovering common ground in their disparate experiences. With honesty and humor, Meena and River bridge the miles between them, creating a friendship that inspires bravery and defeats cultural misconceptions.

Narrated in two voices, each voice distinctly articulated by a separate gifted author, this chronicle of two lives powerfully conveys the great value of being and having a friend and the joys of opening our lives to others who live beneath the same sun.

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On Shelves Now: THE COSMOBIOGRAPHY OF SUN RA by Chris Raschka

40 p.
Publisher: Candlewick
Ages: 6 to 9

Jazz musician Sun Ra (1914–1993) always said that he came from Saturn. Being from another planet, he was naturally intrigued by everything earthly — especially music, because music is the one thing on Earth most like the stars. Earthlings themselves confused Sun Ra, the way they sorted themselves by color and fought wars against one another. So he made music. And he traveled with other musicians and singers, calling themselves the Sun Ra Arkestra, playing, singing, and dancing for people all over the planet. Because music, he said, is what holds us all together. Join acclaimed author-illustrator Chris Raschka in celebrating a legend of the jazz world who was truly one of a kind.

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On Shelves Now: THE BUDDHA'S DIAMONDS by Carolyn Marsden & Thây Phâp Niêm

112 p.
Publisher: Candlewick
Ages: 8 to 12

Every day, Tinh heads out to sea with his father to catch fish for their family and the market. While he may miss his simple life, flying kites with other children on the beach, Tinh is proud to work alongside Ba. Then a fierce storm strikes, and Ba entrusts Tinh to secure the family vessel, but the boy panics and runs away. It will take courage and faith to salvage the bamboo boat, win back Ba’s confidence, and return to sea. This graceful tale lyrically narrates a young Vietnamese boy’s literal and spiritual coming-of-age.

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On Shelves Now: BELLE, THE LAST MULE AT GEE'S BEND by Calvin Alexander Ramsey & Bettye Stroud

Publisher: Candlewick
Ages: 5 to 8

Sitting on a bench waiting for his mother, Alex spies a mule chomping on greens in someone’s garden, and he can’t help but ask about it.""Ol Belle?" says Miz Pettway next to him. "She can have all the collards she wants. She’s earned it." And so begins the tale of a simple mule in Gee’s Bend, Alabama, who played a singular part in the civil rights movement of the 1960s. When African-Americans in a poor community—inspired by a visit from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.—defied local authorities who were trying to stop them from registering to vote, many got around a long detour on mule-drawn wagons. Later, after Dr. King’s assassination, two mules from Gee’s Bend pulled the farm wagon bearing his casket through the streets of Atlanta. As Alex looks into the eyes of gentle Belle, he begins to understand a powerful time in history in a very personal way.

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On Shelves Now: SKIT-SCAT RAGGEDY CAT: ELLA FITZGERALD by Roxane Orgill

48 p.
Publisher: Candlewick
Ages: 8 to 12

When Ella Fitzgerald danced the Lindy Hop on the streets of 1930s Yonkers, passersby said good-bye to their loose change. But for a girl who was orphaned and hungry, with raggedy clothes and often no place to spend the night, small change was not enough. One amateur night at Harlem’s Apollo Theater, Ella made a discovery: the dancing beat in her feet could travel up and out of her mouth in a powerful song —and the feeling of being listened to was like a salve to her heart.

With lively prose, Roxane Orgill follows the gutsy Ella from school-girl days to a featured spot with Chick Webb’s band and all the way to her number-one radio hit "A-Tisket, A-Tasket." Jazzy mixed-media art by illustrator Sean Qualls brings the singer’s indomitable spirit to life.

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On Shelves Now: THE GIRL WHO COULD SILENCE THE WIND by Meg Medina

237 p.
Publisher: Candlewick
Ages: 14 and up

Sixteen-year-old Sonia Ocampo was born on the night of the worst storm Tres Montes had ever seen. And when the winds mercifully stopped, an unshakable belief in the girl’s protective powers began. All her life, Sonia has been asked to pray for sick mothers or missing sons, as worried parents and friends press silver milagros in her hands.

Sonia knows she has no special powers, but how can she disappoint those who look to her for solace? Still, her conscience is heavy, so when she gets a chance to travel to the city and work in the home of a wealthy woman, she seizes it. At first, Sonia feels freedom in being treated like all the other girls. But when news arrives that her beloved brother has disappeared while looking for work, she learns to her sorrow that she can never truly leave the past or her family behind.

With deeply realized characters, a keen sense of place, a hint of magical realism, and a flush of young romance, Meg Medina tells the tale of a strongwilled, warmhearted girl who dares to face life’s harsh truths as she finds her real power.

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On Shelves Now: EXPLORE THE COSMOS LIKE NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON by Cap Saucier

177 p.
Publisher: Prometheus Books
Ages: 8 to 12

Catch the thrill of the cosmos and space science through the life of Neil deGrasse Tyson—the popular astrophysicist, science communicator, and host of FOX-TV’s Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. In language neither too simple nor overly technical, author CAP Saucier interweaves up-to-date information about the universe and the science of astrophysics with a biographical portrait of the famous astrophysicist. Quotes from Tyson appear throughout each chapter, personalizing the science.

Illustrated with striking images from the Hubble Space Telescope, the story of one man’s successful life in space science may inspire kids to follow a similar path. As Tyson makes clear, there is still much to do for future space scientists: diverting asteroids, unraveling the mystery of dark matter, finding life elsewhere in the universe, and more!

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On Shelves Now: NIGHT ON FIRE by Ronald Kidd

288 p.
Publisher: Albert Whitman
Ages: 9 to 13

Thirteen-year-old Billie Simms doesn't think her hometown of Anniston, Alabama, should be segregated, but few of the town's residents share her opinion. As equality spreads across the country and the Civil Rights Movement gathers momentum, Billie can't help but feel stuck--and helpless--in a stubborn town too set in its ways to realize that the world is passing it by. So when Billie learns that the Freedom Riders, a group of peace activists riding interstate buses to protest segregation, will be traveling through Anniston on their way to Montgomery, she thinks that maybe change is finally coming and her quiet little town will shed itself of its antiquated views. But what starts as a series of angry grumbles soon turns to brutality as Anniston residents show just how deep their racism runs.

The Freedom Riders will resume their ride to Montgomery, and Billie is now faced with a choice: stand idly by in silence or take a stand for what she believes in. Through her own decisions and actions and a few unlikely friendships, Billie is about to come to grips with the deep-seated prejudice of those she once thought she knew, and with her own inherent racism that she didn't even know she had.

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On Shelves Now: A PIECE OF HOME by Jeri Watts

32 p.
Publisher: Candlewick
Ages: 5 to 8

When Hee Jun’s family moves from Korea to West Virginia, he struggles to adjust to his new home. His eyes are not big and round like his classmates’, and he can’t understand anything the teacher says, even when she speaks s-l-o-w-l-y and loudly at him. As he lies in bed at night, the sky seems smaller and darker. But little by little Hee Jun begins to learn English words and make friends on the playground. And one day he is invited to a classmate’s house, where he sees a flower he knows from his garden in Korea — mugunghwa, or rose of Sharon, as his friend tells him — and Hee Jun is happy to bring a shoot to his grandmother to plant a “piece of home” in their new garden. Lyrical prose and lovely illustrations combine in a gentle, realistic story about finding connections in an unfamiliar world.

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On Shelves Now: A MILLION FISH...MORE OR LESS by Patricia McKissack

32 p.
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Ages: 3 to 7

Hugh Thomas knows that the Bayou Clapateaux is a mighty peculiar place. Why, back in 1903, Papa-Daddy and Elder Abbajon caught a turkey that weighed 500 pounds…more or less. 500 pounds?! Hugh Thomas isn’t so sure about that, until he’s left alone on the bayou with only his fishing pole for company. Soon he catches three fish, and then…a million more! But after meeting up with raccoon bandits, thieving crows, and a hungry cat named Chantilly, Hugh Thomas returns home with just enough fish for breakfast…and a fantastic story, of course!

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On Shelves Now: MUHAMMAD ALI: THE PEOPLE'S CHAMPION by Walter Dean Myers

40 p.
Publisher: Amistad
Ages: 4 to 8

“When Cassius Clay emerged in the early sixties, he touched two vital areas of black life: he was the absolute personification of “black is beautiful!” and he brought a new meaning to the idea of Black Power, not only in his ring victories but in his amazing personal courage. He was beautiful and powerful without making that beauty and power antiwhite. Clay, and later Ali, was not only a black hero but, with his humor and antiwar stance, a hero for young white Americans as well.”—Walter Dean Myers

In this celebrated picture-book biography, now in paperback, acclaimed author Walter Dean Myers recounts Muhammad Ali’s most famous fights and examines the depth and complexity of the larger-than-life legend and heavyweight champion of the world. The bold, vibrant art of Alix Delinois reflects the beauty and power of the man who could “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.”

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On Shelves Now: JUSTIN by LJ Alonge

144 p.
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Ages: 12 and up

Justin has a list of goals stashed under his mattress. Number 1 is “figure out life plans.” Number 5 is “Earn Zen Master rating in WoW.” Nowhere on that list is “Play the crew from Ghosttown,” but that’s the type of trouble that always seems to find him.

The debut title from LJ Alonge’s new basketball series pulses with action on and off the court. With wit, humor, and honesty, Justin unfolds over one hot summer in Oakland, California.

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On Shelves Now: GANESHA: RAVANA AND THE MAGIC STONE by Sourav Dutta

24 p.
Publisher: Campfire Junior
Ages: 3 to 7

The adventures of Ganesha and his amazing friends continue in the third book of a series of legends for younger readers, in which Ganesha stops Ravana from getting the magic stone of power.

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On Shelves Now: FAERIE by Eisha Marjara

256 p.
Publisher: Arsenal Pulp Press
Ages: 14 and up

Just days before her eighteenth birthday, Lila has resolved to end her life. The horror of becoming an adult, and leaving her childhood behind, has broken her heart.

Faerie, a novel for young people, is the fierce yet gently unfolding story of a hyper- imaginative girl who is on a collision course to womanhood. She likens herself to a half-human fairy creature who does not belong in the earthly world; but in the cold light of day she is a psychiatric patient at a hospital, where she is being treated for anorexia - her sickness driven by the irrational need to undo nature and thwart the passage of time.

Lila tells the story of how she ended up on the Four East wing: we flash back to her childhood in the eighties, growing up in a small town as the overweight brown kid of Punjabi immigrant parents: her father, a literary scholar whom she idolizes, and her mother, a housewife - "the most female of all females who found comfort in cooking." Faerie weaves these passages with Lila's downward spiral into life-threatening illness, her budding sexuality, and her complicated recovery in hospital that comes with a price. Written with candor and heartbreaking lyricism, Faerie is a plaintive yet ultimately life-affirming love letter to the bold, flawed splendor that is childhood.

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On Shelves Now: DIAMOND BOY by Michael Williams

400 p.
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Ages: 12 and up

My father says that a journey should always change your life in some way. Well, when you have nothing, I suppose a journey promises everything.

"Diamonds for everyone." That's what fifteen-year-old Patson Moyo hears when his family arrives in the Marange diamond fields. Soon Patson is working in the mines along with four friends, pooling their profits for a chance at a better life. Each of them hopes to find a girazi, a priceless stone that could change their circumstances forever. But when the government's soldiers come to Marange, Patson's world is shattered.

Set against the backdrop of Zimbabwe's brutal recent history, Diamond Boy is the story of a young man who succumbs to greed but finds his way out through a transformative journey to South Africa in search of his missing sister, in search of freedom, and in search of himself.

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On Shelves Now: SAND SISTER by Amanda White

32 p.
Publisher: Life Lessons
Ages: 5 to 8

A little girl misses having anyone to play with on the beach - until she realizes she can create a companion of her own. But what will she do when her sand sister must return to the sea? This touching story is all about the power of the imagination.

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