Book Finder

Josie, Nicolette, and Aviva are three very different girls who all meet the same bad boy with an irresistible knack for getting into their blood and under their skin. Will the choices they make and the paths they take lead them where they want to go?

Through slightly fictionalized poetry, readers learn about a girl born in Baltimore who grows up to become jazz singer Billie Holiday. Her life is in not white-washed, there’s sex and drugs along with the music, but ultimately the music shines through. Floyd Cooper’s illustrations are gorgeous and perfectly suited.

Wong presents a series of poems centered around a popular theme with teens: driving. Readers will find much more depth to each poem, with the theme of driving often serving as a metaphor for life.

Beowulf is a famous warrior who arrives in Denmark to kill the terrible monster, Grendel. Grendel is a formidable foe who emerges out of the swamp at night in order to kill the Danish people. Will Beowulf be successful in his battle or will Grendel slay him instead? This epic poem is more than 1,000 years old, but its story of a hero overcoming villains still engages students.

Teenage Jessie shares the ups and downs of her life in these clever, and cleverly constructed, poems. This is a sequel to Technically It’s Not My Fault, which was told in the voice of her younger brother.

Rich paintings in limited colors convey the power of a people and a piece of their history. Done in the cadence of the Blues, this unique and powerful picture book inspired by the uniquely African American music and related experience is for older readers.

A collection of poetry for young people, edited by Alexander, including a wide variety of forms: tanka, haiku, long titles that lead into short first lines, verbal formulas that lead to sung discoveries, French phrases, prose poems, and poems written in Spanglish. The book is divided into three sections with various speakers, and a fourth section that includes poems by Sherman Alexie, Pablo Neruda, Nikki Giovanni, and the title poem, “Crush,” by Naomi Shihab Nye.

Silverstein aficionados will delight in these never-before-published poems on a range of familiar topics.

What makes a boy into a man?

Courage.
Confidence.
Patience.
Integrity…

For more than one hundred years, this classic poem by Rudyard Kipling has inspired readers to reach for the best in themselves.

In pictures and words, here’s what every boy needs to know most.

In twenty-six original, free-verse poems the author depicts the thoughts, feelings, and life events of Mexican self-portraitist Frida Kahlo. The poems are accompanied by twenty-four full-color reproductions of Kahlo’s paintings. Substantial background materials include a biographical sketch, chronology, and glossary.

An essential and accessible anthology of some of the best contemporary and classic poetry.

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.

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

“Young Quebrado’s name means ‘the broken one,’ a child ‘of two shattered worlds.’ The son of a Taíno Indian mother and a Spanish father, he is taken in 1510 from his village on the island that is present-day Cuba and enslaved on a pirate’s ship, where a brutal conquistador, responsible for thousands of deaths throughout the Americas, is held captive for ransom. When a hurricane destroys the boat, Quebrado is pulled from the water by a fisherman, Naridó, whose village welcomes him, but escape from the past proves nearly impossible.” — Gillian Engberg, Booklist

Experience the explosion of color and movement of jazz as you pulsate with its beat in a vibrant series of poems and paintings. This father-and-son team explores a variety of jazz forms in an unforgettable book.

In 2008, the first Odyssey Award for distinguished children’s/young adult audiobook was presented to this read-along title. This package brings together the illustrations of the book with the featured Jazz music.

A range of poetic styles, some rooted in the authors’ family, are shared in this handsome, easily accessible collection. Attractive illustrations are sprinkled throughout, building the joy when the poems are shared, even when listening to the beautifully read CD.

At-risk teenagers congregate at a safe house, and we gradually learn what brought each of them there—an unplanned pregnancy, harassment about sexual orientation, and an unloving foster parent. A complicated poetic format (sestinas) doesn’t make for a complicated read — the plot is equal to the poetry.

Readers can count or they group things to solve the engaging math riddles. Digital illustrations make a complete and appealing way to solve math problems while gaining an understanding of underlying concepts.

Rhyming riddles pose problems that require critical thinking, grouping, and problem solving skills. These intriguing problems are enhanced by computer generated illustrations and conclude with a logical presentation of the answers.

A class takes a field trip to a museum that houses facsimiles of monsters like Count Dracula, Bigfoot, poltergeists, Medusa, mummies, zombies, werewolves, and The Blob. As their tour continues, one does wonder if the creatures are really replicas or are in fact quite real. Black-lined illustrations add detail, a bit of monster background and comedy.

In this collection, Wong records many of her own dreams as free verse poems. She also finds inspiration in her friends and family — even her dog!

Poems of the Harlem Renaissance and new poems inspired by Harlem Renaissance poets and poetry combine to give voice to the experiences of Black life. 

Summertime is filled with joy for a Black child―skateboarding and playing basketball―until his community is deeply wounded by a police shooting. As fall turns to winter and then spring, fear grows into anger, then pride and peace.

Elliott engages poets from the past two centuries to create a chorus of voices celebrating the creativity, resilience, and courage of Black women and girls and pays tribute to victims of police brutality as well as the activists insisting that Black Lives Matter.