Book Finder

Vivian Carter is tired…tired of disrespect, bump and grabs, and a principal who turns a blind eye to football players who treat girls inappropriately. When Vivvy finds an old shoebox full of evidence from her mom’s feminist exploits as a teen, she is inspired to start her own Moxie girl rebellion.

With a bit of a nod to J.R.R. Tolkein’s The Lord of the Rings, Muddle Earth follows the quest of Joe, an ordinary boy from Earth who has been summoned to Muddle Earth by the wizard Randalf to fight evil in this realm where things are quite muddled and anything can happen — from stampeding silverware to exploding gas frogs.

Bret is a high school junior who has problems with his father and the “jockarchy” at his school. When girl problems are added to the mix, Bret’s anger rages, until he learns something important from an unexpected source. Teens will recognize Bret’s struggles with the pressure to fit in and his frustrations with the world around him.

This intriguing and approachable introduction to the field of economics is for all readers who have rejected the topic as tedious, boring and incomprehensible.

“Luke’s Iñupiaq experience of leaving his home near the Arctic Circle in 1960 to journey with his two younger brothers to the Catholic sponsored Sacred Heart School is based in large part on Edwardson’s husband’s memories of boarding school…Nothing is familiar to Luke and his fellow students; the terrain, the food, the language are strange, and their struggle with feelings of homesickness and alienation is heart-wrenching. Edwardson’s skillful use of dialogue and her descriptions of rural Alaska as well as boarding-school life invoke a strong sense of empathy and compassion in readers as they experience Luke’s emotions along with him.” — School Library Journal

A collection of Native American myths and legends that span cultures and geographic regions.

Native Son tells the story of this young black man caught in a downward spiral after he kills a young white woman in a brief moment of panic.

Set in Chicago in the 1930s, Wright’s powerful novel is an unsparing reflection on the poverty and feelings of hopelessness experienced by people in inner cities across the country and of what it means to be black in America.

A collection of nine magical tales about strange lands inhabited by princesses and kelpies. Stories about everyday places where magical and mysterious things happen to ordinary children, include an oak tree falling in love with a girl and a boy’s dream being stolen by the tooth fairy. 

This brief, often poetic, and informative introduction to the Negro Leagues uses period photographs to enhance the information. The period in American history is one of segregation and sadness but also of great joy and achievement.

Set in West Africa, this a lyrical story-in-verse is about a young black boy who is kidnapped and sold into slavery, and his father who is left behind to mourn the loss of his son. Here’s a beautiful, powerful, truly unforgettable story about family, memory, and freedom.

Only special students are chosen to attend Hailsham, an exclusive boarding school tucked away in the English countryside. The chilling truth of their special nature slowly unfolds as we follow the stories of three former students.

Afro-Latinx teen Eury comes to the Bronx haunted by losing everything in Hurricane Maria—and by an evil spirit, Ato. Pheus, a golden-voiced, bachata-singing charmer, wants is to put a smile on Eury’s face and fight off her demons. But some dangers are too powerful for even the strongest love.

This is a collection of drawings and poems that were done by children who grew up in the Terezin Concentration Camp in Czechoslovakia between 1942 and 1944. The terror, the pleas for rescue, and the reflections of beliefs and values of these children who lived during World War II are vividly captured.

n February 14, 2018, seventeen-year-old David Hogg and his fourteen-year-old sister, Lauren, went to school at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, like any normal Wednesday. That day, of course, the world changed. By the next morning, with seventeen classmates and faculty dead, they had joined the leadership of a movement to save their own lives, and the lives of all other young people in America. It’s a leadership position they did not seek, and did not want—but events gave them no choice.

This book is a manifesto for the movement begun that day, one that has already changed America—with voices of a new generation that are speaking truth to power, and are determined to succeed where their elders have failed. With moral force and clarity, a new generation has made it clear that problems previously deemed unsolvable due to powerful lobbies and political cowardice will be theirs to solve. Born just after Columbine and raised amid seemingly endless war and routine active shooter drills, this generation now says, Enough. This book is their statement of purpose, and the story of their lives. It is the essential guide to the #NeverAgain movement.

Morrigan Crow is a cursed child. Born on eventide, the unluckiest birthday possible, she is constantly blamed for every large and small misfortune that befalls her corner of the Wintersea Republic. Oh, and did I mention that she’s doomed to die at midnight on her 11^th birthday…! With her birthday upon her, Morrigan is resigned to her fate until she’s whisked away by the mysterious Jupiter North to Nevermoor—a magical city in the secret and heavily guarded Free State—and a chance to win a spot in the city’s most prestigious institution: the Wundrous Society. Four trials and hundreds of other children stand between Morrigan and the deadly Hunt of Smoke and Shadow awaiting her in the Wintersea Republic. Step boldly into this fresh new take on magic and magical schools that will leave readers begging for the next books! There are currently 3 books out in this series (Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow, Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow, and Hollowpox: The Hunt for Morrigan Crow) with a fourth book expect in the fall of 2022.

The letters and thoughts of Thomas Jefferson, members of the Corps of Discovery, their guide Sacagawea, and Captain Lewis’s Newfoundland dog, all tell of the historic exploratory expedition to seek a water route to the Pacific Ocean.

Black seventh grader Jordan Banks learns to navigate the upscale Riverdale Academy Day School while keeping his neighborhood friends and working to staying true to himself.

One night, in a noisy punk rock club, Nick asks Norah to be his girlfriend, so that he can avoid his old girlfriend. Thus begins a night-long adventure that’s part New York mini-road trip, part foul-mouthed romance. Though the movie adaptation was PG-13, the original novel is closer to R-rated for its frank language.

In December 1938, a young Englishman canceled a ski vacation and went instead to Prague to help the hundreds of thousands of refugees from the Nazis who were crowded into the city. He raised money, found foster families in England, arranged travel and visas, and, when necessary, bribed officials and forged documents. In the frantic spring and summer of 1939, as the Nazi shadow fell over Europe, he organized the transportation of almost 700 children to safety.

Then, when the war began and no more children could be rescued, he put away his records and told no one. It was only fifty years later that a chance discovery and a famous television appearance brought Winton’s actions to light.

Peter Sís weaves Winton’s experiences and the story of one of the children he saved, Vera Gissing. This is a tale of decency, action, and courage told in luminous, poetic images by an internationally renowned artist.

This short autobiographical novel is Wiesel’s rendering of his terrifying experiences as a teenager at Auschwitz and Buchenwald, Nazi death camps. A winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, Wiesel graphically describes his witnessing the death of his father, his innocence, and his God.

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!