Skip to main content

Content Finder

Audience
Content Type
Grade Level
Topic
The Lightning Dreamer: Cuba's Greatest Abolitionist
Margarita Engle

The Lightning Dreamer: Cuba's Greatest Abolitionist

Opposing slavery in Cuba in the nineteenth century was dangerous. The most daring abolitionists were poets who veiled their work in metaphor. Of these, the boldest was Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda, nicknamed Tula. In passionate, accessible free verse, Engle evokes the voice of this book-loving feminist and abolitionist who bravely resisted an arranged marriage at the age of fourteen and was ultimately courageous enough to fight against injustice. Historical notes, excerpts, and source notes round out this exceptional tribute.

The Lightning Thief
Rick Riordan

The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians)

Genre:
Fairy Tales, Folktales and Myths, Fantasy
Age Level:
Middle Grade

Percy Jackson is a 21st century son of the ancient Greek god Poseidon on the biggest adventure of his young life — a quest to find out who stole Zeus’s lightening bolt! Together with his trusted friends, Percy travels through the United States, battling monsters and hunting the elusive title character.

The Lincolns
Candace Fleming

The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Mary and Abraham Lincoln

Genre:
Biography, Nonfiction
Age Level:
Middle Grade

The lives and times of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln are presented through written and pictorial information in a scrapbook-like format. A well developed, tragic portrait of Mary Lincoln emerges as her life is presented beyond the assassination of the President.

Two young girls holding hands
Kristin Levine

The Lions of Little Rock

Genre:
Historical Fiction
Age Level:
Middle Grade

As twelve-year-old Marlee starts middle school in 1958 Little Rock, it feels like her whole world is falling apart. Until she meets Liz, the new girl at school. Liz is everything Marlee wishes she could be: she’s brave, brash and always knows the right thing to say. But when Liz leaves school without even a good-bye, the rumor is that Liz was caught passing for white. Marlee decides that doesn’t matter. She just wants her friend back. And to stay friends, Marlee and Liz are even willing to take on segregation and the dangers their friendship could bring to both their families. Winner of the New-York Historical Society Children’s History Book Prize .

The London Eye Mystery
Siobhan Dowd

The London Eye Mystery

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

Ted and Kat watched their cousin Salim board the London Eye, but after half an hour it landed and everyone trooped off — except Salim. Ted and his older sister, Kat, become sleuthing partners and follow a trail of clues across London in a desperate bid to find their cousin. Ultimately it comes down to Ted, whose brain works in its own very unique way, to find the key to the mystery.

the lottery
Shirley Jackson

The Lottery

Genre:
Science fiction / Dystopian, Short Stories, Thriller / Horror
Age Level:
YA

It is time for the yearly lottery, but none of the townspeople seem to want to win the prize. In fact, some seem hesitant about attending the drawing but are afraid of the consequences of not attending. What prize could be so terrible to win?

The Love and Likes of Rukhsana Ali
Sabina Khan

The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali

Genre:
Fiction
Age Level:
YA

Seventeen-year-old Rukhsana Ali has always been fascinated by the universe around her and the laws of physics that keep everything in order. But her life at home isn’t so absolute. Unable to come out to her conservative Muslim parents, she keeps that part of her identity hidden. And that means keeping her girlfriend, Ariana, a secret from them too. Luckily, only a few more months stand between her carefully monitored life at home and a fresh start at Caltech in the fall. But when Rukhsana’s mom catches her and Ariana together, her future begins to collapse around her. Devastated and confused, Rukhsana’s parents whisk her off to stay with their extended family in Bangladesh where, along with the loving arms of her grandmother and cousins, she is met with a world of arranged marriages, religious tradition, and intolerance. Fortunately, Rukhsana finds allies along the way and, through reading her grandmother’s old diary, finds the courage to take control of her future and fight for her love. Oprah Magazine’s Best YA Books You’ll Love in 2019.

the-love-curse-of-the-rumbaughs
Jack Gantos

The Love Curse of the Rumbaughs

Genre:
Thriller / Horror

The discovery of a chilling secret reveals a disturbing side to the eccentric lives of family friends Abner and Adolph Rumbaugh, known throughout their small western Pennsylvania town simply as the Twins. Immediately, Ivy’s discovery provokes the revelation of a Rumbaugh family curse, a curse that, as Ivy will learn over the coming years, holds a strange power over herself and her own mother.

The Mad Potter:  George E. Ohr, Eccentric Genius
Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan, Sandra Jordan

The Mad Potter: George E. Ohr, Eccentric Genius

Genre:
Biography, Nonfiction

George Ohr was a talented potter whose patience paid off — quite literally — for his heirs. Now better known than when he lived, George Ohr’s work is now highly valued and prized for its unique glazes and shapes.