Book Finder

When Wycca, a dragon living in the 13th century, stumbles through a gateway to the future, she lands in present day Boston, followed shortly thereafter by the wizards looking for her. What can 11-year old Theodora do and how did she get mixed up in this anyway?

For years, sixteen-year-old Hattie’s been shuttled between relatives. Tired of being Hattie Here-and-There, she courageously leaves Iowa to prove up on her late uncle’s homestead claim in Montana. Despite many hardships, Hattie forges ahead, sharing her adventures with her friends through letters and articles for her hometown paper.

“You’re always drawing in that notebook of yours,” Dino’s friend teases. To the small boy, 1950s Havana is alive with color, music, and glamour, and he itches to capture it on paper. When Fidel Castro and the Communist Party take over the Cuban government, Dino’s family must move to New York, where the lonely boy pours his heart into making a model of Havana’s archways and balconies, buildings and streets. Rosemary Wells composes a tender ode to an immigrant boy who grew up to be a U.S. architect, while Peter Ferguson’s atmospheric paintings evoke two vibrant cities as they were half a century ago.

Livia Bitton-Jackson a.ka. Elli Friedmann, was only 13 years old when the Nazis invaded Hungary. She recounts her struggle to survive with her mother, first in the ghetto, then in the Plaszow Concentration Camp (the one shown in Stephen Spielberg movie, Schindler’s List), and then while working in a factory in Augsburg.

Jack’s life is a crazy roller-coaster ride. At his fifth school in six years, he has a crackpot teacher who wont give him a break about his lousy handwriting and a secret crush who wants to be a policewoman. At home, he has a pesky little brother with a knack for breaking an arm whenever Jack’s supposed to be looking after him, a terror for an older sister, all sorts of weird neighbors, and, last but not least, ferocious alligators in the canal behind his house.

To avoid spending time with his father and his new girlfriend, eleven-year-old Nathan goes to stay with his grandma, Nali, on the Navajo reservation where Nathan meets a Holy Being from the Navajo Creation Story—a Water Monster in need of his help.

This survey of transformative events in American and African American history is presented in an informal text and striking illustrations in an oversized format.

Can a painting speak? This collection of lyrical responses to famous American works of art provides answers.

Though war is not the focus of this story, it does drive the plot. When young Brother’s father is shipped off to Iraq, he must assume more responsibility on the family farm. This is a unique, spiritual book that will appeal to those looking for gentle reads.

Michael Arroyo has a pitching arm that throws serious heat along with aspirations of leading his team all the way to the Little League World Series. But his firepower is nothing compared to the heat Michael faces in his day-to-day life. Newly orphaned after his father led the family’s escape from Cuba, Michael’s only family is his seventeen-year-old brother Carlos. If Social Services hears of their situation, they will be separated in the foster-care system—or worse, sent back to Cuba.

Having withstood the horrors of Auschwitz and made it out alive, eighteen-year-old Elli is more than ready to leave behind the painful memories and start fresh in America. What she is not fully prepared for, though, are all the challenges of creating a new life in a completely new place — especially one as hectic as New York City! 

Four lives are intertwined and changed when a bully’s prank lands shy Virgil at the bottom of a well and Valencia, Kaori, and Gen band together in an epic quest to find and rescue him. 

Knox was a Boston bookseller in Colonial America who would go on to join the Continental Army and later become the young country’s first Secretary of War. Silvey presents the “dramatic story of his achievements [which is a…] little-known episode in the history of the American Revolution. 

Three outrageous tales told by Josh McBroom, the farmer of an amazing one-acre farm, are compiled here, just right for reading and laughing out loud: “McBroom Makes Rain,” “McBroom’s Ghost,” and “McBroom’s Zoo.”

Yolen wrote all of these varied entries about the delightful dragon, and relates the poems, and short stories from a variety of genres, complete with a background as to their inspiration.

The powerful graphic memoir from Jarrett Krosoczka about growing up with a drug-addicted mother, a missing father, and two opinionated grandparents. Hey, Kiddo is a profoundly important story about a family grappling with addiction and finding the art that helps you survive. National Book Award finalist.

You can see related interviews with Jarrett about Hey, Kiddo on Jarrett's website, as well as his TED talk in which he shares his personal story.

This book brings to life the stories of Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden, who lived through the Civil Rights era, the Space Race, the Cold War, and the movement for gender equality, and whose work forever changed the face of NASA and the country.

Every time Martin opens his mouth, he gets in trouble. He’s just been dumped at the last place that will take him; a school filled with freaks and psychotic bullies. His roommate starts fires, his new friends are cheats, and his teachers hate him. Then things really get weird.

This attractive book presents a brief but comprehensive look at the 35th U.S. President and the issues he confronted during his brief time in office including the Cuban missile crisis and more. Additional resources are included in this useful and attractive book.

Ten-year old Lucky lives in a small California desert town with her guardian Brigitte, her father’s ex. Lucky’s “family” also includes the adults at the 12-Step meetings she eavesdrops on. When Lucky begins to worry that Brigitte will return to her native France, she searches for her own “higher power.” This title is a Newbery Award winner.

Pulitzer Prize winner John Hersey interviewed survivors of Hiroshima’s bomb while the ashes were still warm. Hersey describes the lives of six people — a clerk, a widowed seamstress, a physician, a Methodist minister, a surgeon, and a German Catholic priest — shortly before and for about a year after the bombing. While describing the ordeals of these individuals, Hersey manages to convey the devastation and the suffering experienced by the people of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. A final chapter was added in 1985 that continues with the lives of these six people.

In 1920, Susan B. Anthony passed a law that gave voting rights to women in the United States. RIGHT? WRONG! Susan B. Anthony wasn’t even alive when the 19th Amendment was ratified. Did you know that when women’s rights activists picketed President Wilson to get his support for voting rights, some men beat them up, tore down their banners, and stole from them?

Through illustrations, graphic panels, photographs, sidebars, and more, author Kate Messner smashes history by exploring the little-known details behind the fight for women’s suffrage.

Brit’s parents go on vacation, leaving her with her 85-year old grandmother. But Nannie has vacation plans of her own — she is going to her 65th college reunion, and she’s taking her classmates with her. As the “girls” head up Interstate 95, the plot expands to include everything from kidnapping to the rights of the elderly. This is a fast-paced and fun intergenerational adventure.

How were otherwise kind, intelligent teenagers drawn into an organization like the Hitler Youth? This well-researched and well-documented book examines the rise of the Nazi party and its sway over teens. Using primary sources, including interviews, the author features the stories of several teens who came of age during Hitler’s years of power.