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Twelve-year-old Sora and her eight-year-old brother, Youngsoo, must try to escape North Korea’s oppressive Communist regime and survive three hundred miles of warzone in winter in 1950.

Fifteen-year-old Luther’s mother, The Sarge, rules an empire of halfway houses and slums. Luther himself is a much more ordinary guy, though he is caught between being a typical teen and being the Sarge’s son. Luther’s peculiar problems are resolved in a way that is sure to satisfy readers.

Young Bud runs away from the latest and worst foster home in search of his father. Though he doesn’t find his father, Bud (not Buddy) does find family, music, and more on his long trek across Michigan during the Depression. In this Newbery-winning novel, both humor and Bud’s naive voice make difficult issues accessible to younger readers.

Meg Medina transports readers to a time when New York seemed balanced on a knife-edge, with tempers and temperatures running high: the infamous summer of 1977, when the city is besieged by arson, a massive blackout, and a serial killer named Son of Sam who shoots young women on the streets. Seventeen-year-old Nora Lopez’s family life isn’t going so well, either. Before she turns eighteen and can strike out on her own, Nora will discover that the greatest dangers are often closer than we like to admit — and the hardest to accept.

In the final days of the Việt Nam War, Hằng takes her little brother, Linh, to the airport, determined to find a way to safety in America. In a split second, Linh is ripped from her arms — and Hằng is left behind in the war-torn country. Six years later, Hằng has made the brutal journey from Việt Nam and is now in Texas as a refugee. She doesn’t know how she will find the little brother who was taken from her until she meets LeeRoy, a city boy with big rodeo dreams, who decides to help her. Hằng is overjoyed when she reunites with Linh. But when she realizes he doesn’t remember her, their family, or Việt Nam, her heart is crushed. Though the distance between them feels greater than ever, Hằng has come so far that she will do anything to bridge the gap. Rip Van Winkle Award and NPR Best Books of 2019.

When 12-year-old Edie wants to connect to her Native American heritage, she learns that her parents have kept much of her family history secret.

LaLa learns the stories of her Awful Grandmother and weaves them into a colorful family history. The “caramelo,” a striped shawl begun by her Great-Grandmother, symbolizes their traditions.

When Aunt Tiger Lil comes to Chinatown, she and Lily, her niece and namesake, prepare for the New Year’s celebration, solve the mystery of a stolen pearl necklace, and help a sweatshop worker. Humor is used in this lively mystery with likable characters in an authentic setting.

Darwin is presented in a fresh and engaging way in the context of his marriage. Known for list-making, this unique and riveting biography begins with Darwin’s list of the pros and cons of marriage and proceeds to explore his life with Emma, the highly religious woman he married, and the evolution of his “Origins of the Species”.

Set in the mid-1960s, 12-year-old Casey knows little about her Chinese background and only identifies herself as an American. When she moves to Chinatown in San Francisco to live with her maternal grandmother, she feels alienated and isolated, though she gradually comes to accept and understand her Chinese background. Written for young adolescents, this award-winning book is part of the Golden Mountain Chronicles.

Teen TV star Lindsay Scott has a nervous breakdown and disappears from the public eye. Is her Dad holding her captive, or is something ever weirder going on?

Camino Rios lives for the summers when her father visits her in the Dominican Republic. But this time, on the day when his plane is supposed to land, Camino arrives at the airport to see crowds of crying people.

In New York City, Yahaira Rios is called to the principal’s office, where her mother is waiting to tell her that her father, her hero, has died in a plane crash. Separated by distance — and Papi’s secrets — the two girls are forced to face a new reality in which their father is dead and their lives are forever altered. And then, when it seems like they’ve lost everything of their father, they learn of each other.

In a novel-in-verse that brims with grief and love, National Book Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Acevedo writes about the devastation of loss, the difficulty of forgiveness, and the bittersweet bonds that shape our lives.

Clayton Byrd adores his grandfather, loves the jazz Cool Papa plays with the other bluesmen in the park; Clayton wants to be a musician, too. But when Cool Papa Byrd dies suddenly, Clayton is overcome with grief. His mother who has never resolved her own childhood remains at arm’s length though his father attempts to reach the boy. Clayton tries to join the park bluesmen but instead finds a different kind of music with a gang of street kids in the New York subway. Likeable characters populate this fast-paced novel.

Set against the backdrop of the segregation history of the American South, William “Scoob” Lamar, an eleven-year-old Black boy, takes an unplanned trip with his grandmother and discovers that the world hasn’t always been a welcoming place for kids like him, and things aren’t always what they seem—his G’ma included.

Though it’s unusual for a girl in colonial India, 15-year-old Vidya’s father supports her dream of attending college. When her father — an advocate of nonviolence — is severely injured in a protest against British rule, Vidya not only loses her best advocate, but she’s forced to live with her very traditional grandfather. Vidya’s quest for independence mirrors that of her country.

Black seventeen-year-old Maverick Carter is taking care of his family the only way he knows how: dealing for the King Lords. But when when Maverick becomes a father, everything changes.

Hattie enjoys her family and the boarders in her parents’ rooming house. Her wealthy grandmother is tough sometimes, but Hattie doesn’t get discouraged. When her mentally challenged Uncle Adam comes to live with them, Hattie must determine who in her family is most important.

Willow Chance is a 12-year-old genius, obsessed with nature and diagnosing medical conditions, who finds it comforting to count by 7s. Willow is also an outsider, a girl possibly somewhere on the autism/Asperger’s spectrum (although that is never stated). Suddenly Willow’s world is tragically changed when her parents both die in a car crash, leaving her alone in a baffling world. This story is about her journey to find a fascinatingly diverse and fully believable surrogate family.

Hopkins has become the leading author of novels in verse, mainly due to her gritty, unflinching subject matter. Crank, her first novel, deals with Kristina/Bree and her addiction to crystal meth.

Mexican-American poet Herrera wrote one of the first novels in verse for the teen audience. Sixteen-year old Cesar is the son of migrant workers, and he shares his coming-of-age experiences.

Crispin is falsely accused of murder and must flee his medieval town to save his life. But, just as he’s leaving, he learns from the village priest that his parents’ origins – and fates – might be more mysterious than he ever imagined.

This very different take on music features 11-year old Zoe, who dreams of being a concert pianist, until her Dad brings home an organ. Zoe learns to play and even enters a competition.

Every girl wants to celebrate her quinceañera, or 15th birthday, right? Not necessarily, as half-Cuban, half-Polish Violet can barely speak Spanish. As the plans move forward, Violet comes to terms with her heritage in this warm and funny novel.

“IF SHE DIES, I’ll die,” are the words 15-year-old Mia Perlman writes in her journal the night her mother is diagnosed with cancer. Nine days later, Mia’s mother is dead, and Mia, her older sister, and her father must find a way to live on in the face of sudden, unfathomable loss. But even in grief, there is the chance for new beginnings in this poignant, funny, and hopeful novel.