Book Finder

When Louise Wolfe’s first real boyfriend mocks and disrespects Native people in front of her, she breaks things off and dumps him over e-mail. It’s her senior year, anyway, and she’d rather spend her time working on the school newspaper. The editors pair her up with Joey Kairouz, the ambitious new photojournalist, and in no time the paper’s staff find themselves with a major story to cover: the school musical director’s inclusive approach to casting The Wizard of Oz has been provoking backlash in their mostly white, middle-class Kansas town. As tensions mount at school, so does a romance between Lou and Joey — but as she’s learned, “dating while Native” can be difficult. In trying to protect her own heart, will Lou break Joey’s?

Sam is a metal-head. Sure, he bangs his head, drinks, and smokes, but none of that has ever kept him from getting great grades at his prep school. Then he starts dating Melissa. Real raw language and a fast pace make this a good choice for reluctant readers too.

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.

This biography dives into Lennon’s life from the night he was born in 1940 during a World War II air raid on Liverpool, deftly taking us through his turbulent childhood and his rebellious rock’n’roll teens to his celebrated life writing, recording, and performing music with the Beatles. She sheds light on the years after the Beatles, with Yoko Ono, as he struggled to make sense of his own artistic life.

Short, fresh and fun essays present a broad array of musicians and their music - from Bach to Guthrie to Joplin with lots in between. Unexpected information can be found in each informal entry along with caricatured portraits.

When Nala Robertson reluctantly agrees to attend an open mic night for her cousin-sister-friend Imani’s birthday, she finds herself falling in instant love with Tye Brown, the MC. He’s perfect, except…Tye is an activist and is spending the summer putting on events for the community when Nala would rather watch movies and try out the new seasonal flavors at the local creamery. In order to impress Tye, Nala tells a few tiny lies to have enough in common with him. As they spend more time together, sharing more of themselves, some of those lies get harder to keep up. In Love Is a Revolution, plus size girls are beautiful, the popular girl clique has strong convictions and substance, and the ultimate love story is not only about romance but about how to show radical love to the people in your life, including to yourself.

This classic is filled with witches, ghosts, murder, betrayal, and revenge? Macbeth, a successful Scottish general, encounters three witches who prophesize his future. Eager to make their predictions come true and egged on by the power-hungry Lady Macbeth, he sets out on a murderous path to become King, deceiving and destroying anyone in his way. Looking for a parallel text? Read Enter Three Witches by Caroline Cooney, a story about Lady Mary, the teenaged charge of the Macbeths. How will she be able to cope with Macbeth’s deadly behavior?

Twelve-year-old Mikey Pruitt is a budding entrepreneur. Inspired by his grandfather Pap Pruitt, who successfully ran all sorts of businesses, Mikey is still looking for his million-dollar idea. Unfortunately, most of his ideas — from a roadside general store to croquet lessons — haven’t taken off. It isn’t until kid drag queen Coco Caliente, Mistress of Madness and Mayhem (aka eighth grader Julian Vasquez) walks into his office (aka his family’s storage/laundry room) looking for a talent agent that Mikey thinks he’s finally found a business that will put him on the map. As newly out Mikey prepares Julian for the gig of a lifetime, he realizes there’s no rulebook for being gay—and if Julian can be openly gay at school, maybe Mikey can, too, and tell his crush, the dreamy Colton Sanford, how he feels. Full of laughs, sass, and hijinks, this hilarious, heartfelt story shows that with a little effort and a lot of love, anything is possible. 

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.

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.

Eleven-year-old Simon Barnes dreams of becoming a world-famous rapper that everyone calls Notorious D.O.G. But for now, he’s just a Chicago fifth grader who’s small for his age and afraid to use his voice. But when his new teacher assigns the class an oral presentation on something that affects their community, Simon must face his fears. With some help from an unexpected ally and his neighborhood crew, will Simon gain the confidence to rap his way to an A and prove that one kid can make a difference in his ‘hood?

Betrayed by Raj, who she thought she was fated to marry, Princeton, New Jersey, high school senior Winnie Mehta teams with fellow film fan Dev Khanna to get her life back on track and find her true soul mate.

Born to a legendary and chronically addicted rock star father, Blade Morrison just wants to spend some time with his girlfriend and his guitar in a drama-free zone. When a family secret is exposed, Blade’s life changes completely and sends him on a new journey.

On the outside, Yumi Chung suffers from #shygirlproblems, a perm-gone-wrong, and kids calling her Yu-MEAT because she smells like her family’s Korean barbecue restaurant. On the inside, Yumi is ready for her Netflix stand-up special. Her notebook is filled with mortifying memories that she’s reworked into comedy gold. All she needs is a stage and courage. Instead of spending the summer studying her favorite YouTube comedians, Yumi is enrolled in test-prep tutoring to qualify for a private school scholarship, which will help in a time of hardship at the restaurant. One day after class, Yumi stumbles on an opportunity that will change her life: a comedy camp for kids taught by one of her favorite YouTube stars. The only problem is that the instructor and all the students think she’s a girl named Kay Nakamura—and Yumi doesn’t correct them. As this case of mistaken identity unravels, Yumi must decide to stand up and reveal the truth or risk losing her dreams and disappointing everyone she cares about. 

The extraordinary memoir of an orphan who danced her way from war-torn Sierra Leone to ballet stardom, most recently appearing in Beyonce’s Lemonade and as a principal in a major American dance company.

Set in Salem, Massachusetts during the late 1600s, Miller uses the story of the infamous witch trials as an allegory for the anti-Communist feelings and the McCarthy hearings in America during the 1950’s. As the fervor over identifying witches gains traction, innocent people fall victim to unwarranted accusations, with devastating results. What happens when intolerance reigns in a society? Looking for a cross-curricular connection? Students can study the historical events and people involved in the Salem witch trials while reading this play. Teachers can help students uncover similarities and differences between the history and the text.

This collection of more than 100 poems that honestly and artfully confront topics ranging from poverty and motherhood to Van Gogh and Mandela is presented in Tupac Shakur’s own handwriting on one side of the page, with a typed version on the opposite side. 

Two years ago, a misunderstanding between the leaders of Earth and the invading Ilori resulted in the deaths of one-third of the world's population. Today, seventeen-year-old Ellie Baker survives in an Ilori-controlled center in New York City. With humans deemed dangerously volatile because of their initial reaction to the invasion, emotional expression can be grounds for execution. Music, art and books are illegal, but Ellie still keeps a secret library. When young Ilori commander M0Rr1S finds Ellie's library, he's duty-bound to deliver her for execution. The trouble is, he finds himself drawn to human music and in desperate need of more. Humanity's fate rests in the hands of an alien Ellie should fear, but M0Rr1S has a potential solution — thousands of miles away. The two embark on a wild and dangerous journey with a bag of books and their favorite albums, all the while creating a story and a song of their own that just might save them both.

Set during the Sixties during the Vietnam War, this story is about 12-year-old Nakri when the Khmer Rouge takes over Cambodia. She and her siblings are forced to work in a labor camp until the Vietnamese army liberates the camp, and two surviving family members go to a refugee camp on Thailand’s border. Eventually they immigrate to the U.S. and it is Nakri’s prowess in dancing that helps her survive the trauma.

In India, Veda, who excels at Bharatanatyam dance, refuses to give up after losing her leg in an accident. With help from Govinda, a young man who approaches dance as a spiritual pursuit, she begins to discover who she is and what dance truly means to her.

Five girls. Three generations. One great American love story. You Bring the Distant Near explores sisterhood, first loves, friendship, and the inheritance of culture — for better or worse. Ranee, worried that her children are losing their Indian culture; Sonia, wrapped up in a forbidden biracial love affair; Tara, seeking the limelight to hide her true self; Shanti, desperately trying to make peace in the family; Anna, fighting to preserve her Bengali identity. Award-winning author Mitali Perkins weaves together a sweeping story of five women at once intimately relatable and yet entirely new. Winner of the Walter Dean Myers Honor Award for Young Adult Literature.