Grades 6, 7, and 8

 

Birthday Gift Books

Fiction Selections:

 

 All He Knew written by Helen Frost (Farrar Straus Giroux, $17.99) In 1939 six-year-old Henry, who is deaf, is taken from his family and placed in a home for the feeble-minded where, years later, his friends include a conscientious objector who is part of a Civilian Public Service program offered as an alternative to the draft during World War II. The book, told in verse, is inspired by true events and includes an author's note describing the history of the story. All He Knew provides sharp insights into the many different ways we are capable of learning about one another and ourselves.

 

Black Boy Joy edited by Kwame Mbalia (Delacorte Press, $16.99) From seventeen acclaimed Black male and nonbinary authors comes a vibrant collection of stories, comics, and poems about the power of joy and the wonders of Black boyhood.

 

Cleo Porter and the Body Electric written by Jake Burt (Feiwel and Friends, $16.99) Like everyone else, twelve-year-old Cleo and her parents are sealed in an apartment without windows or doors. They never leave. They never get visitors. Their food is dropped off by drones. So they're safe. Safe from the disease that nearly wiped humans from the earth. Safe from everything. The trade-off? They're alone. Thus, when they receive a package clearly meant for someone else--a package containing a substance critical for a stranger's survival--Cleo is stuck. As a surgeon-in-training, she knows the clock is ticking. But people don't leave their units. Not ever. Until now.A woman is dying. Cleo Porter has her medicine. And no way to deliver it.

 

Hazel Bly and the Deep Blue Sea written by Ashley Herring Blake (Little, Brown and Company, $16.99) For two years, twelve-year-old Hazel has coped with her Mum's accidental death by overprotecting her sister and Mama, but when Mama reconnects with her first love, roles begin to shift.

 

The Last Cuentista written by Donna Barba Higuera (Levine Querido, $17.99) A girl named Petra Pena, who wanted nothing more than to be a storyteller, like her abuelita. But Petra's world is ending. Earth has been destroyed by a comet, and only a few hundred scientists and their children - among them Petra and her family - have been chosen to journey to a new planet. They are the ones who must carry on the human race. Hundreds of years later, Petra wakes to this new planet - and the discovery that she is the only person who remembers Earth. A sinister Collective has taken over the ship during its journey, bent on erasing the sins of humanity's past. They have systematically purged the memories of all aboard - or purged them altogether. Petra alone now carries the stories of our past, and with them, any hope for our future. Can she make them live again?

 

The Mighty Heart of Sunny St. James written by Ashley Herring Blake (Little, Brown and Company, $16.99) Twelve-year-old Sunny St. James must navigate heart surgery, reconnections with a lost mother, the betrayal of a former best friend, first kisses, and emerging feelings for another girl. When Sunny St. James receives a new heart, she decides to set off on a "New Life Plan": 1) do awesome amazing things she could never do before; 2) find a new best friend; and 3) kiss a boy for the first time. Her "New Life Plan" seems to be racing forward, but when she meets her new best friend Quinn, Sunny questions whether she really wants to kiss a boy at all. With the reemergence of her mother, Sunny begins a journey to becoming the new Sunny St. James. This sweet, tender novel dares readers to find the might in their own hearts.

 

Out Of Left Field written by Ellen Klages (Viking, $16.99) In 1957, inspired by what she is learning about civil rights and armed with knowledge of female ball players, ten-year-old Katy Gordon fights to be allowed to play Little League baseball. The book includes brief, illustrated biographies of female baseball players, historical note, glossary, and recommended reading.

 

Out Of My Heart written by Sharon Draper (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, $18.99) Melody, the huge-hearted heroine of Out Of My MInd, is a year older and a year braver. She now has her Medi-talker and she feels nothing's out of her reach. Because she loves horses but is scared of them, Melody wants to conquer her fears, so she hopes a summer camp will be the place to welcome someone with cerebral palsy who wants to learn to ride. A place where maybe she can make her own decisions, do things herself, and maybe maybe maybe finally make a true friend.

 

Pony written by R.J. Palacio (Alfred A. Knopf, $17.99) Twelve-year-old Silas is awoken in the dead of night by three menacing horsemen who take his father away. Silas is left shaken, scared, and alone, except for the presence of his companion, Mittenwool...who happens to be a ghost. When a pony shows up at his door, Silas makes the courageous decision to leave his home and embark on a perilous journey to find his father. Along the way, he will face his fears to unlock the secrets of his past and explore the unfathomable mysteries of the world around him. R. J. Palacio spins a harrowing yet distinctly beautiful coming-of-age story about the power of love and the ties that bind us across distance and time. With the poignant depth of War Horse and the singular voice of True Grit, this is one of those rare books poised to become an instant classic for readers of all ages.

 

Red, White, and Whole written by Rajani LaRocca (Quill Tree Books, $16.99) Reha feels torn between two worlds: school, where she's the only Indian American student, and home, with her family's traditions and holidays. But Reha's parents don't understand why she's conflicted--they only notice when Reha doesn't meet their strict expectations. Reha feels disconnected from her mother, or Amma, although their names are linked--Reha means "star" and Punam means "moon"--but they are a universe apart. Then Reha finds out that her Amma is sick. Really sick. Reha, who dreams of becoming a doctor even though she can't stomach the sight of blood, is determined to make her Amma well again. She'll be the perfect daughter, if it means saving her Amma's life.

 

The Rose Legacy written by Jessica Day George (Bloomsbury Books, $16.99) Orphaned Anthea Cross hopes to finally find a home with her long-lost uncle, but she soon learns that not only does he secretly breed forbidden horses, but that she can communicate with them.

 

Samira Surfs written by Rukhsanna Guidroz, illustrations by Fahmida Azim (Kokila, $17.99) After months of rebuilding a new life in Bangladesh with her family, Samira decides to become a Bengali surfer girl of Cox's Bazar, in this novel in verse about a young Rohingya girl's journey from isolation and persecution to sisterhood, and from fear to power.

 

Starfish written by Lisa Fipps (Nancy Paulsen Books, $17.99) Bullied and shamed her whole life for being fat, twelve-year-old Ellie finally gains the confidence to stand up for herself, with the help of some wonderful new allies.

 

What Lives in the Woods written by Lindsay Currie (Sourcebooks, $16.99) Something's watching in the dark... Ginny is unhappy when her family moves from Chicago to upstate Michigan for the summer; her father has a job restoring a 1930s mansion, but there are rumors about Woodmoor and the forest next to it: rumors about strange mutant creatures; Ginny, an aspiring mystery writer, is soon half convinced that the rumors are true, because something or someone is haunting the house--and she plans to investigate, with the help of Will, the older boy who lives nearby.

 

Wild Blues written by Beth Kephart (Atheneum Books, $17.99) Thirteen-year-old Lizzie relates, through a victim statement, her harrowing journey through the Adirondacks seeking her disabled friend, Matias, who was kidnapped by escaped convicts.

 

 

Non-Fiction Selections:

 

Almost American Girl written and illustrated by Robin Ha (Balzer + Bray, $22.99) A powerful and moving teen graphic novel memoir about immigration, belonging, and how arts can save a life--perfect for fans of American Born Chinese and Hey, Kiddo. For as long as she can remember, it's been Robin and her mom against the world. Growing up as the only child of a single mother in Seoul, Korea, wasn't always easy, but it has bonded them fiercely together. So when a vacation to visit friends in Huntsville, Alabama, unexpectedly becomes a permanent relocation--following her mother's announcement that she's getting married--Robin is devastated. Overnight, her life changes. She is dropped into a new school where she doesn't understand the language and struggles to keep up. She is completely cut off from her friends in Seoul and has no access to her beloved comics. At home, she doesn't fit in with her new stepfamily, and worst of all, she is furious with the one person she is closest to--her mother. Then one day Robin's mother enrolls her in a local comic drawing class, which opens the window to a future Robin could never have imagined.

 

Becoming Kareem : Growing Up On and Off the Court written by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Raymond Obstfeld (Little, Browm and Company, $18.99) An autobiography about Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and his life growing up in New York, becoming the basketball star he's known to be, and getting involved in the world around him as an activist for social change.

 

Chance: Escape From The Holocaust written and illustrated by Uri Shulevitz (Farrar Straus Giroux, $19.99)  From a picture book master this is the telling of a harrowing, heartrending, illustrated account of the author's childhood escape from the terrors of war. It starts in September 1939, as German bombs started falling on Warsaw. The author recounts the lucky breaks and setbacks that happened to him and his parents along the way.

 

Legacy: Women Poets of the Harlem Renaissance written by Nikki Grimes, illustrated by a variety of artists (Bloomsbury Children's Books, $18.99) From Children's Literature Legacy Award-winning author Nikki Grimes comes a feminist-forward new collection of poetry celebrating the little-known women poets of the Harlem Renaissance-- paired with full-color, original art from today's most talented female African-American illustrators. Taking inspiration from the unsung women poets of the era, Grimes uses the "Golden Shovel" poetry method to create original poems drawn from the words of ... groundbreaking women writers. Set alongside the original works, Grimes's all-new poetry pays tribute to the unique heritage of these women and their spiritual connection to nature, illuminating female self-expression in the early twentieth century, reinvented with contemporary relevance and context. Featuring artwork by some of today's most exciting Black women: Vanessa Brantley-Newton, Cozbi A. Cabrera, Nina Crews, Pat Cummings, Laura Freeman, Jan Spivey Gilchrist, Ebony Glenn, Xia Gordon, April Harrison, Vashti Harrison, Ekua Holmes, Cathy Ann Johnson, Keisha Morris, Daria Peoples-Riley, Andrea Pippins, Erin Robinson, Shadra Strickland, Nicole Tadgell, Elizabeth Zunon.

 

Lifting As We Climb written by Evette Dionne (Viking, $19.99) For African American women, the fight for the right to vote was only one battle. An eye-opening book that tells the important, overlooked story of black women as a force in the suffrage movement--when fellow suffragists did not accept them as equal partners in the struggle.

 

Living Ghosts & Mischievous Monsters: Chilling American Indian Stories written and selected by Dan Sasuweh Jones, illustrated by Weshoyot Alvitre (Scholastic Press, $24.50) Thirty-two short stories chosen from the tradition of ghost stories from American Indian cultures across North America, featuring witches, walking dolls, hungry skeletons, skinwalkers, and other supernatural beings.

 

 

Return From Extinction: The Triumph of the Elephant Seal written by Linda L. Richards (Orca Book Publishers, $24.95) The story of the Northern elephant seal, from being hunted to near extinction less than 100 years ago to their thriving population of more than 250,000 today. Illustrated with photos from the author.

 

Votes for Women! American Suffragists and the Battle for the Ballot written by Winifred Conkling (Algonquin, $19.95) On August 18, 1920 American women won the right to vote when the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified.