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A Hispanic mother and child walk with clouds and flowers behind them

Picture Books for Teens

Picture books can help middle school and high school readers build background knowledge and visual literacy. The endless range of subject matter presented in picture books, in the hands of skilled storytellers and artists provides many opportunities to explore different paths for learning and getting excited about reading and information. 

Pieces of Georgia by Jen Bryant
Jen Bryant

Pieces of Georgia

Genre:
Fiction
Age Level:
Middle Grade, YA

A few days after her 13th birthday, Georgia receives an unexpected gift–a strange, formal letter, all typed up and signed anonymous–granting her free admission to the Brandywine River Museum for a whole year. And things begin to change.
An accessible novel in poems, Pieces of Georgia offers an endearing protagonist–an aspiring artist, a grieving daughter, a struggling student, a genuine friend–and the poignant story of a broken family coming together.

 

Piecing Me Together
Renée Watson

Piecing Me Together

Genre:
Fiction
Age Level:
Middle Grade, YA

Tired of being singled out at her mostly-white private school as someone who needs support, high school junior Jade would rather participate in the school’s amazing Study Abroad program than join Women to Women, a mentorship program for at-risk girls.

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
Ken Follett

Pillars of the Earth

Genre:
Historical Fiction
Age Level:
Adult

This is the magnificent tale of a twelfth-century monk driven to do the seemingly impossible: build the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has ever known.

P.K. Pinkerton and the Case of the Deadly Desperados
Caroline Lawrence

P.K. Pinkerton and the Case of the Deadly Desperados

Genre:
Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mystery / Crime
Age Level:
Middle Grade

The year is 1862, and 12-year-old P.K. “Pinky” Pinkerton is on the run from Whittlin’ Walt and his gang of ruthless desperados. P.K. is determined to hold on to Ma’s last priceless possession: the deed to a large amount of land and silver mines in the Nevada Mountains. P.K. will have to be both clever and cunning to evade the band of outlaws. All this is seen through the eyes of P.K., a half-Lakota kid with Asperger Syndrome, which makes him chronically unable to interpret the intentions of people around him.

Jack Prelutsky

Pizza, Pigs and Poetry: How to Write a Poem

Genre:
Poetry
Age Level:
Middle Grade

Have you ever tried to write a poem about a pizza? How about a pig? This book gives you the inside scoop on writing poetry and shows you how you can turn your own experiences and stories about your family, your pets, and your friends into poems,

a place to belong
Cynthia Kadohata

A Place to Belong

Genre:
Historical Fiction
Age Level:
Middle Grade

Twelve-year-old Hanako and her family, reeling from their confinement in an internment camp, renounce their American citizenship to move to Hiroshima, a city devastated by the atomic bomb dropped by Americans at the end of World War II.

 

A Place Inside of Me
Zetta Elliott

A Place Inside of Me: A Poem to Heal the Heart

Genre:
Poetry
Age Level:
Middle Grade, YA

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.