AdLit.org is a national multimedia project offering information and resources to the parents and educators of struggling adolescent readers and writers. AdLit.org is an educational initiative of WETA, the flagship public television and radio station in the nation's capital, and is funded by Carnegie Corporation of New York and by the Ann B. and Thomas L. Friedman Family Foundation.
Why Leopard has Spots: Dan Stories from Liberia
Illustrated by: Ashley Bryan
Age Level: 9-12
Have you ever wondered why the leopard has spots or why a spider has a big butt? This collection of six stories uses African folklore and storytelling techniques to explain natural phenomena.
Troll Fell
Age Level: 9-12
This book, first in the Toll Trilogy, features Peer, a young orphan boy forced to live with his evil uncles. Just as Peer begins to adjust to his new life, he discovers that his uncles plan to sell him to a troll king! His new friend Hilde is there to help, but then Peer's uncles decide to kidnap Hilde’s twin siblings instead and sell them! Now, Peer and Hilde must rescue the twins and get rid of the evil uncles!
Summerland
Age Level: 9-12
In a story that combines baseball and folklore, 11-year-old Ethan, an aspiring baseball player, is recruited by a mysterious elderly scout to help preserve a fairy population from destruction by all manner of predators. Ethan and his friends battle goblins, shape-shifters and sea monsters in a series of high-stakes challenges.
Quicksilver
Age Level: 12-14
Hermes, the winged messenger of the Greek gods, is known for his playfulness and thievery. In this tale, he narrates his own humorous escapades and encounters with many other characters in Greek mythology.
The Orphan Girl and Other Stories: West African Folk Tales
Age Level: 12-14
This collection includes a variety of myths and lore from regions in West Africa. The title story features Chika and her evil stepmother, who forces Chika to get water from the river on the most ghostly day of the year.
Oh My Gods! A Look-it-Up Guide to the Gods of Mythology
Age Level: 12-14
Do you know who Poseidon is, or what he would look like? Maybe you want to know what a Greek god would say if he could get online and blog. If so, check out this teen-friendly guide to all of the gods and goddesses of Greek mythology.
Native American Stories (Myths and Legends)
Age Level: 12-14
This book is a collection of Native American myths and legends that span cultures and geographic regions.
Mythology for Teens: Classic Myths for Today's World
Age Level: 14-16
Teachers, have you ever wondered how mythology can relate to your student's life or how to make mythology relevant in the classroom? This book combines reader's theater, activities, and discussion questions to invigorate the teaching of ancient myths.
The Monkey King's Daughter
Age Level: 9-12
Fourteen-year-old Meilin is just trying to get through high school with all the problems that go along with it: boys, boring teachers, and too much homework. As if that wasn't enough, Meilin finds out that she is the daughter of Sun Wukong, the Monkey King from Asian mythology. Now how's she going to survive high school?
The Magical Adventures of Pretty Pearl
Age Level: 12-14
Craving knowledge about mankind, Pretty Pearl, a god-child who lives on a mountain-top in Africa, transforms herself into a human and stows away on a slave ship bound for America. What will she discover about the true nature of people?
Aphrodite's Blessings: Love Stories from the Greek Myths
Age Level: 14-16
Greek goddesses experience the highs and lows of romance and heartbreak in dramatic ways that teens can relate to. This book relates the stories from the goddesses’ points of view.
Muhammad Ali: The People's Champion
Illustrated by: Alix Delinois
Age Level: 6-9
Cassius Clay learned to box when he was twelve, trained by Joe Martin in his native Louisville, Kentucky. He would go on to win the Golden Gloves championship and to box in the Olympics. Clay stunned not only the sports world but the world as a whole by winning the world boxing championship and changing his name to Muhammad Ali when he embraced Islam. His portrait is painted in a chronological account, highlighting Ali's words in text and dramatic full-color paintings.
March On! The Day My Brother Martin Changed the World
Illustrated by: London Ladd
Age Level: 6-9
Martin Luther King, Jr. prepared diligently for his now famous "I have a dream" speech given on August 28, 1963 during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. It was King's unshakable belief in nonviolence and the power of words that galvanized the country. This informal account is both personal and satisfying as revealed by Martin's older sister who watched it on television with their parents in Atlanta. Full-color illustrations and expressive typography highlight words and enhance the tone.
Henry Aaron's Dream
Age Level: 6-9
In spite of growing up in the 1940s before the United States was integrated, in a segregated Mobile, Alabama, Henry Aaron dreamed of playing baseball. His perseverance and courage paid off; he was to become one of the most talented and revered players, whose major league career spanned from 1954 through 1976. He was also a vocal spokesperson for equality between white and black players. Aaron's early life, his career, and his impact on the game are revealed in an honest, sometimes difficult text and richly colored paintings.
Child of the Civil Rights Movement
Illustrated by: Raul Colón
Age Level: 6-9
The youngest daughter of civil rights leader Andrew Young shares a time when she and her two older sisters moved from New York to Atlanta to protest and ultimately change unfair laws. The narration is innocent and child-like — effectively describing what Jim Crow was and giving glimpse of the leaders of the period (including Martin Luther King, Jr.). Soft lined, textured illustrations evoke the time and its tenor while portraying people in a recognizable way. An end note provides additional information about the people depicted.
Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down
Illustrated by: Brian Pinkney
Age Level: 6-9
The words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., inspired four students to protest in a way that ultimately changed the United States. Their peaceful dissent at the segregated lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, would "combine black with white to make sweet justice." The "Greensboro Four" began their sit-in on February 1, 1960 and contributed to the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The text suggests storytelling and is accompanied by light-lined but evocative illustrations; back matter completes this compelling portrait.
You Think It's Easy Being the Tooth Fairy?
Illustrated by: David Slonim
Age Level: 3-6
This is not the Tooth Fairy of old; this tooth fairy defies old conceptions of the work, and how this spunky character gets around (actually by way of turbo-charged surfboard). Fast and funny, the Tooth Fairy here will knock down any spritely misconceptions as she tickles the funny bone.
The Tooth Book
Illustrated by: Joe Mathieu
Age Level: 0-3
Who has teeth? Everyone from people to the zebra! And so opens this book of questions and answers designed to engage and provide readers with information revealed in lively rhythm and rhyme with Seussian humor. (LeSieg is Geisel spelled backwards, Dr. Seuss' real name.) Cartoon-like illustrations complement the lightheartedness of the book.
Open Wide: Tooth School Inside
Age Level: 6-9
Dr. Flossman welcomes his class of incisors, canines, etc (appropriately for each of the typical mouth's 32 teeth), providing actual information in a wacky, slightly abstract combination of art and story.
Junie B.: Toothless Wonder
Age Level: 6-9
Junie B. worries about her loose tooth. If she's the first in her class to loose a tooth, will she appear different, weird? It's inevitable that Junie B.'s tooth comes out and when it does, she sets out to learn what the Tooth Fairy does with all of those teeth. The answer is, of course, addressed in Junie B.'s signature, amusing style!
