Book Finder

The ghost of George Washington introduces Sara to other presidential ghosts.

Laced with real events and leaders such as Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry, Give Me Liberty explores the Revolutionary ideas and risks colonists faced in their quest for liberty. Thirteen-year-old Nathaniel Dunn is an indentured servant laboring on a tobacco plantation in colonial Virginia. Life is hard, and it’s about to get harder when Nathaniel is sold at an auction.

Fed up with his parents’ boring old religion, agnostic-going-on-atheist Jason Bock invents a new god — the town’s water tower. When the Chutengodians hold their first ceremony high atop the dome of the water tower, things quickly go from merely dangerous to terrifying and deadly. 

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.

Sixteen-year-old Florrie turns political activist when she takes notice of the changing landscape of her beloved San Antonio hometown. Upset by the loss of small independent businesses to money-hungry corporations, she first begins her grassroots campaign with her family, who own their restaurant, encouraging them to support other local businesses and to avoid the chain stores. (School Library Journal)

Many students know of John Wilkes Booth as Abraham Lincoln’s assassin, but few know that before he committed this infamous crime, he was a member of a family of accomplished actors, including his well-known brother, Edwin.

Black twelve-year-old Shayla is a rule follower. But in junior high, it’s like all the rules have changed. Now she’s questioning who her best friends are and questioning where she fits in in the Black Lives Matter movement.

When a boy from an abusive home is placed in foster care with an old woman, he brings with him his troubles — an invitation to the Sinisteeds, nighttime visitors to humans who gather memories good or not so good. Tough, timely topics are handled in a straightforward telling in this compelling and credible fantasy.

Short ditties introduce math problems and critical thinking — and entertain as the rhymes are read. Colorful illustrations that are computer-generated add to the fun and understanding of how to approach word problems.

What keeps objects from floating out of your hand?
What if your feet drifted away from the ground?
What stops everything from floating into space?
Gravity.

As in his previous books, Redwoods, Coral Reefs, and Island, Jason Chin has taken a complex subject and made it brilliantly accessible to young readers in this unusual, innovative, and very beautiful book.

Theater mice perform in a space just out of human sight in a venerable old New York theater. Alas! The leading rodent taken to Brooklyn before she performs in the final play before the theater is destroyed. Humor abounds in this satisfying tale.

In comic-book format, biographical and statistical information is presented about some of today’s hottest basketball stars, including Allen Iverson, Kevin Garnett, and Tim Duncan. The comic format conveys the action, while also making this series highly appealing to reluctant readers.

In time for the twentieth anniversary of 9/11, master storyteller Alan Gratz (Refugee) delivers a pulse-pounding and unforgettable take on history and hope, revenge and fear — and the stunning links between the past and present. Two kids. One devastating day. Nothing will ever be the same.

Dangerous work and long hours were the norm for some poor children-many of them young immigrants — who worked in Pennsylvania coal mines prior to child labor laws.

Two very different high school students discover a mutual appreciation for writing songs for the guitar. Tripp Broody has lost a lot; his father died and his best friend moved away and he doesn’t really connect with people. In contrast, Lyla Marks is perfect. She gets good grades, her teachers love her, and she plays the cello beautifully. Forced to share a music practice room on alternating days at school, they start a pen-pal-like exchange daily that leads to a musical collaboration that promises to change both of their lives forever. Many chapters are structured as Tripp’s and Lyla’s notes, giving readers a unique vantage point into their burgeoning friendship.

A body on the tracks. A teenage terrorist. A mysterious wish-granting machine. The world’s worst private detective. The second volume in the Guys Read Library of Great Reading is chock-full of mystery, intrigue, and nefarious activity.

The day after Liyana got her first real kiss, her life changed forever. Not because of the kiss, but because it was the day her father announced that the family was moving from St. Louis all the way to Palestine. Though her father grew up there, Liyana knows very little about her family’s Arab heritage. Her grandmother and the rest of her relatives who live in the West Bank are strangers, and speak a language she can’t understand. It isn’t until she meets Omer that her homesickness fades. But Omer is Jewish, and their friendship is silently forbidden in this land.

Two friends — one black and wealthy, the other poor and white — are united by their lack of mothers, but divided by the racism and classicism in their small Ohio town.

Hand in Hand presents the stories of ten men from different eras in American history, organized chronologically to provide a scope from slavery to the modern day. The stories are punctuated with dynamic full color portraits and spot illustrations by two-time Caldecott Honor winner and multiple Coretta Scott King Book Award recipient Brian Pinkney. Backmatter includes a civil rights timeline, sources, and further reading. 

The compelling memoir of Irene Gut Opdyke, a Polish girl who risked her life to save her Jewish friends during World War II.

It all starts when six kids have to meet for a weekly chat. There, in the room they soon dub the “ARTT Room” they discover it’s safe to talk about what’s bothering them—everything from Esteban’s father’s deportation and Haley’s father’s incarceration to Amari’s fears of racial profiling and Ashton’s adjustment to his changing family fortunes. Together, they can grow braver and more ready for the rest of their lives.

A middle-school boy begins to question his sexual orientation, while dealing with the crush his female friend, 13-year old Hispanic Xio, has on him. Sanchez is sensitive and insightful when talking about both gay and Hispanic culture, and he’s created a delightful heroine in Xio.

Eleven-year-old Harriet follows her spy route every day, recording her findings (findings for her eyes only) in her notebook. When her classmates find the notebook, Harriet has to deal with the consequences. A few years ago, the movie gave this classic book new life, but it is still a timeless and charming read for older elementary readers.

Harriet Tubman did something exceptionally courageous: She escaped slavery. Then she did something impossible: She went back. She underwent some thirteen missions to rescue around seventy enslaved people, using and expanding a network of abolitionists that became known as the Underground Railroad. She spent her life as an activist, speaking out for Black people and women’s suffrage. This graphic novel of story is detailed and authentic. Illustrated with care for the historical record, it offers insight into the life and mind of Tubman, displaying her as a woman with an unshakable desire to break the chains of an unjust society. Introduction by Carole Boston Weatherford.