Book Finder

Nine-year old Lowji Sanjana and his family move from a high-rise apartment in India to a garden-style apartment in suburban Illinois. Though lonely before school begins, Lowji befriends the landlady and a menagerie of animals as he adjusts to his new home.

When Reason’s mother goes insane, she is forced to live with her grandmother Esmerelda, who may be the source of her mother’s insanity. Reason does her best to avoid contact with Esmerelda, but when she decides to run away, she walks through Esmeralda’s back door in Sydney and finds herself on a New York City street. The book is full of action, a little violence, and is a good entry in the urban fantasy genre.

When a petty thief falls through a glass roof while fleeing from the police, it should have been the death of him. Instead, it marks the beginning of a whole new life. Soon he has become the most successful — and elusive — burglar in Victorian London, plotting daring raids and using London’s new sewer system to escape. He adopts a dual existence to fit his new lifestyle, taking on the roles of a respectable, wealthy gentleman named Montmorency and his corrupt servant, Scarper.

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.

What happens to a city kid who spends the summer in the country? Sheila Tubman (aka as Peter Hatcher’s nemesis) finds out as she confronts her fears ranging from dogs to swimming. Snappy dialog and recognizable characters come to life through Sheila’s narration.

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.

Zuri Benitez has pride. Brooklyn pride, family pride, and pride in her Afro-Latino roots. But pride might not be enough to save her rapidly gentrifying neighborhood from becoming unrecognizable. When the wealthy Darcy family moves in across the street, Zuri wants nothing to do with their two teenage sons, even as her older sister, Janae, starts to fall for the charming Ainsley. She especially can’t stand the judgmental and arrogant Darius. Yet as Zuri and Darius are forced to find common ground, their initial dislike shifts into an unexpected understanding. But with four wild sisters pulling her in different directions, cute boy Warren vying for her attention, and college applications hovering on the horizon, Zuri fights to find her place in Bushwick’s changing landscape, or lose it all.

In a timely update of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, National Book Award finalist Ibi Zoboi skillfully balances cultural identity, class, and gentrification against the heady magic of first love in her vibrant re-imagining of this beloved classic.

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?

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?

Miikwan and Dez are best friends. Miikwan is Anishinaabe; Dez is Inninew. Together, the teens navigate the challenges of growing up in an urban landscape - they’re so close, they even completed their Berry Fast together. However, when Dez’s grandmother becomes too sick, Dez is told she can’t stay with her anymore. With the threat of a group home looming, Dez can’t bring herself to go home and disappears. Miikwan is devastated, and the wound of her missing mother resurfaces. Will Dez’s community find her before it’s too late? Will Miikwan be able to cope if they don’t?

Wes Henderson has other things to think about than the protests his parents are always dragging him to. But when a real estate developer makes an offer to buy Kensington Oaks, the neighborhood Wes has lived his whole life, everything changes. Wes isn’t about to give up the only home he’s ever known. Can Wes find the missing piece that will solve this puzzle and save the Oaks?

Melissa Fuller, a New York City gossip columnist, lives a life filled with shopping, man troubles, and frivolity. But when her elderly neighbor is attacked, Melissa assumes responsibility for the woman’s pets, with help from the neighbor’s playboy nephew. Or so she thinks. This novel is written entirely in emails.

“Ghetto nerd,” outcast, and anime-loving Oscar Wao is the latest in a long line of doomed generations to suffer the dreaded fuku curse of his native Dominican Republic. With humor and talent as his weapons, he perseveres, knowing “you can never run away. Not ever. The only way out is in.”

Fifteen-year old DeAndre lives in the projects of West Baltimore, and his parents, Fran and Gary, battle severe drug addiction. This book asks difficult questions: What happens when parents don’t parent? What is the community’s role? Simon and Burns went on to create the TV series “The Wire,” continuing their examination of life in Baltimore.

A young woman discovers her mysterious powers could help catch a killer in the first book of The Diviners series—a stunning supernatural historical mystery set in 1920s New York City.

For Arturo, summertime in Miami means playing basketball until dark, sipping mango smoothies, and keeping cool under banyan trees. And maybe a few shifts as junior lunchtime dishwasher at Abuela’s restaurant. Maybe. But this summer also includes Carmen, a poetry enthusiast who moves into Arturo’s apartment complex and turns his stomach into a deep fryer. He almost doesn’t notice the smarmy land developer who rolls into town and threatens to change it. Arturo refuses to let his family and community go down without a fight, and as he schemes with Carmen, Arturo discovers the power of poetry and protest through untold family stories and the work of José Martí. Funny and poignant, The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora is the vibrant story of a family, a striking portrait of a town, and one boy’s quest to save both. Also availabe in Spanish.

There are two secrets Evelyn Serrano is keeping from her Mami and Papi: her true feelings about growing up in her Spanish Harlem neighborhood, and her attitude about Abuela, her sassy grandmother who’s come from Puerto Rico to live with them. Then, like an urgent ticking clock, events erupt that change everything. Through it all, Evelyn learns important truths about her heritage and the history makers who shaped a nation. Infused with actual news accounts from the time period, Sonia Manzano, best known as the beloved Maria from Sesame Street, has crafted a gripping work of fiction based on her own life growing up during a fiery, unforgettable time in America, when young Latinos took control of their destinies.

West Indian Lolly Rachpaul, twelve, still reeling from the shooting death of his older brother, begins to find his own way—without gang alliances—when his mother’s girlfriend’s gift of Legos allows him to build a fantastical city at a Harlem community center.

Lately Bryan’s been feeling it in all kinds of ways. He knows what’s tight for him in a good way — reading comics, drawing superheroes, and hanging out with no drama. But drama’s hard to escape where he’s from, and that gets him wound up tight. And now Bryan’s new friend Mike is challenging him to have fun in ways that are crazy risky. So which way will he go when he understands that drama is not his style? Fortunately his favorite comic heroes shed light on his dilemma, reminding him that he has power — the power to choose his friends and to stand up for what he believes is right. Torrey Maldonado delivers a fast-paced, insightful, dynamic story. Readers will connect with Bryan’s journey as he navigates a tough world with a heartfelt desire for a different life. Christopher Award for Young People.

Ever since she got pregnant freshman year, Emoni Santiago’s life has been about making the tough decisions — doing what has to be done for her daughter and her abuela. The one place she can let all that go is in the kitchen, where she adds a little something magical to everything she cooks, turning her food into straight-up goodness. Even though she dreams of working as a chef after she graduates, Emoni knows that it’s not worth her time to pursue the impossible. Yet despite the rules she thinks she has to play by, once Emoni starts cooking, her only choice is to let her talent break free. Golden Kite Award for Young Adult Fiction.

Two 15 year olds — one black one white — meet and fall in love at an exclusive New York prep school. Both deal with their family issues as well as with how their growing relationship is received. This difficult novel is told in the couple’s alternating voices — until the wrenching and tragic conclusion.