Book Finder

Sixteen-year-old Amal is convicted of a crime he didn’t commit and is sent to prison where despair and rage almost sink him as he tries to maintain his humanity and fight for the truth in a system designed to strip him of both.

Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea is a black-and-white graphic novel by the Canadian Québécois author Guy Delisle. The novel details the months Delisle spent in Pyongyang while working for a French animation company.

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.

In October 1919, a group of Black sharecroppers met at a church in an Arkansas village to organize a union. Bullets rained down on the meeting from outside. Many were killed by a white mob, and others were rounded up and arrested. Twelve of the sharecroppers were hastily tried and sentenced to death. Up stepped Scipio Africanus Jones, a self-taught lawyer who’d been born enslaved. Could he save the men’s lives and set them free? Through their in-depth research and consultation with legal experts, award-winning nonfiction authors Sandra and Rich Wallace examine the complex proceedings and an unsung African American early civil rights hero.

In Rad American History A-Z, each letter of the alphabet tells the story of a significant moment in America’s progressive history — one that isn’t always covered in history classes. In addition to the twenty-six core stories, short sidebars expand the discussion, and dictionary-style lists refer readers to additional key moments. 

The shocking cruelty of legal animal abuse is exposed through the story of Baby, a poodle who lost a leg after years of mistreatment at a puppy mill. Rescued by Jana Kohl, they now work together with celebrity friends and politicians to raise awareness about animal rights.

Raised in isolation, Tarisai yearns for the closeness she could have as one of the Crown Prince’s Council of 11, but her mother, The Lady, has magically compelled Tarisai to kill the Crown Prince.

A collection of poems from an array of seasoned poets and young Latino authors describing their experiences in the United States. These poems depict the reality and hardships some young Latinos have experienced in their search for identity, as well as the joy of family gatherings surrounded by food, customs, and culture. Introduction by Oscar Hijuelos.

As the Civil War breaks out, India, a young Southern girl, summons her sharp intelligence and the courage she didn’t know she had to survive the war that threatens to destroy her family, her Virginia home, and the only life she has ever known.

Revolution in Our Time puts the Panthers in the proper context of Black American history, from the first arrival of enslaved people to the Black Lives Matter movement of today. Kekla Magoon’s eye-opening work invites a new generation of readers grappling with injustices in the United States to learn from the Panthers’ history and courage, inspiring them to take their own place in the ongoing fight for justice.

Corinne LaMer defeated the wicked jumbie Severine months ago, but things haven’t exactly gone back to normal in her Caribbean island home. Everyone knows Corinne is half-jumbie, and many of her neighbors treat her with mistrust. When local children begin to go missing, snatched from the beach and vanishing into wells, suspicious eyes turn to Corinne. To rescue the missing children and clear her own name, Corinne goes deep into the ocean to find Mama D’Leau, the dangerous jumbie who rules the sea. But Mama D’Leau’s help comes with a price. The only thing more perilous than Corinne’s adventures across the sea is the jumbie that waits for her back home.
 
Rise of the Jumbies features inventive twists on Caribbean and West African mythology and fairy tales while grappling with the legacy of the African diaspora and the history of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

Do you know the story of the slave who sailed himself to freedom? For the third book in the bestselling Tales of the Talented Tenth series, Joel Christian Gill brings Robert Smalls to life by telling the true story of the enslaved African who pulled off one of the most daring and largest heists of the Civil War. Come along for the adventure as Robert earns a job working for the C.S.S. Planter, escapes to freedom, goes on to become a first-generation Black politician, and makes history by writing and leading the passage of legislation that led to the United States’ first free and compulsory public school system. Tales of the Talented Tenth is a historical comic series that focuses on the adventures of amazing African Americans in action. 

Pete plays bass in his high school band and lives a fairly uneventful life until he gets a chance to join the local garage band that’s just getting ready to hit the big time. As Pete explores rock stardom, he finds that he still pines for the girl back home despite the temptations of life on the road.

Have you ever been in love with someone your parents hated? Have you ever sneaked out to go on a date? How far would you be willing to go to be with your soul mate? Romeo and Juliet face these very questions. After they meet and fall in love, they discover that their families hate each other. But Romeo and Juliet have to be together, even if everyone wants them to be apart. Looking for a companion text? Try Romiette and Julio by Sharon Draper, a contemporary version of the classic featuring a biracial couple fighting against their families’ prejudice to prove their love for each other.

African-American Romiette begins dating Hispanic Julio when he moves to her Cincinnati high school from Texas in this retelling of Romeo and Juliet.

Cousins Clay and Addison were like brothers, growing up together in the projects, until they were ripped apart by a family argument. When they are reunited in a drug-treatment program, they try to work out their issues like a family. But one night, one wrong decision, leaves Clay shaken and Addison dead. And in the rash of events that follow, the truth of what actually happened on the rooftop of the apartment building is caught up in a clash of politics and racial issues. Will Clay be able to rise above the lies and face the truth?

After German forces occupy Denmark during World War II, fifteen-year-old Julie Weinstein and fifteen-year-old Niels Nelson and their friends and families try to cope with their daily lives, finding various ways to resist the Nazis and, ultimately, to survive.

Emily Grierson is in love with Homer Barron, but is very upset that he has not proposed to her. Distraught, Emily buys arsenic, which some believe she will use to commit suicide. However, Homer and Emily disappear; only the servant goes to and from the home. What horrifying surprise will the townspeople find when they finally go into Emily’s house?

The fabulously inventive tale of Hamlet as told from the worm’s-eye view of the bewildered Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two minor characters in Shakespeare’s play. Echoes of Waiting for Godot resound, reality and illusion mix, and where fate leads heroes to a tragic but inevitable end.

“Rotten English” spans the globe to offer an overview of the best non-standard English writing of the past two centuries, with a focus on the most recent decades. The book collects the poetry, essays, short stories, and novels of the best in global vernacular writing from Mark Twain to Junot Diaz.

At some point in their lives, all young people believe their parents are evil … but what if they really are? Six teenage friends discover their parents are all secretly super-powered villains, and they find strength in one another. Together, they run away from home and straight into the adventure of their lives - vowing to turn the tables on their evil legacy.

A journalistic comic book about the Bosnian War, it describes the author’s experiences during four months spent in Bosnia in 1995–96, and is based on conversations with Bosniaks trapped within the enclave of Goražde.

Sparks will fly in this hip-hop-hot teen novel that mixes social protest and star-crossed romance, from Newbery Medal winner Kwame Alexander (The Crossing). Two high school seniors are thrown together when they unexpectedly end up leading the biggest social protest this side of the Mississippi — with a lot of help from social media.

The “Hollywood” where Sammy Santos and Juliana Ríos live is not the West Coast one, the one with all the glitz and glitter. This Hollywood is a tough barrio at the edge of a small town in southern New Mexico. Sammy and this friends—members of the 1969 high school graduating class—face a world of racism, dress codes, war in Vietnam and barrio violence. In the summer before his senior year begins, Sammy falls in love with Juliana, a girl whose tough veneer disguises a world of hurt.