Junior Fiction
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
The Tuck family is confronted with an agonizing situation when they discover that a 10-year-old girl and a malicious stranger now share their secret about a spring whose water prevents one from ever growing any older.
The War that Saved my Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradly
A young disabled girl and her brother are evacuated from London to the English countryside during World War II, where they find life to be much sweeter away from their abusive mother.
Finding Langston by Lesa Cline-Ransome
Set during the Great Migration in the 1940s, this book tells the story of Langston, who moves from Alabama to Chicago. Once in Chicago, Langston discovers the library, which is open to everyone, and another Langston – the poet Langston Hughes.
Sylvia and Aki by Winifred Conkling
At the start of World War II, Japanese-American third-grader Aki and her family are sent to an internment camp in Poston, Arizona, while Mexican-American third-grader Sylvia's family leases their Orange County, California, farm and begins a fight to stop school segregation.
The Watsons Go to Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis
Set in Flint, Michigan in the winter of 1962 and the fall of 1963, this story follows the Watson family from Flint to Birmingham on a journey that brushes against the bombing of a church, much like that of the tragic attack on Birmingham, Alabama's 16th Street Baptist Church.
Journey of the Pale Bear by Susan Fletcher
Twelve-year-old Arthur forms a bond with a polar bear given by King Haakon IV of Norway to King Henry III of England in 1252 while traveling as her handler. This book includes historical notes.
Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer Holm
In 1935, when her mother gets a job housekeeping for a woman who does not like children, 11-year-old Turtle is sent to stay with relatives she has never met in faraway Key West, Florida.
A Ceiling Made of Eggshells by Gail Carson Levine
From age 7, Loma relishes traveling with her beloved grandfather across 15th century Spain, working to keep the Jews safe, but soon realizes she must also make sacrifices to help her people. This book includes historical notes, recipe, glossary, and a link to a bibliographic.
Winnie’s Great War by Lindsay Mattick
This is an imagining of the real journey undertaken by the extraordinary bear, from her early days in the Canadian forest to her travels with the Veterinary Corps across the country and overseas, all the way to the London Zoo where she met Christopher Robin Milne and inspired the creation of Winnie-the-Pooh.
Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park
A girl is determined to fit in and realize her dreams: getting an education, becoming a dressmaker in her father's shop, and making at least one friend.
Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan 196893
Esperanza and her mother are forced to leave their life of wealth and privilege in Mexico to go work in the labor camps of Southern California, where they must adapt to the harsh circumstances facing Mexican farm workers on the eve of the Great Depression.
The Case of the Missing Moonstone by Jordan Stratford
This book imagines an alternate 1826 London, where Ada Lovelace (the world's first computer programmer) and Mary Shelley (author of Frankenstein) meet as girls and form a secret detective agency. Their first case involves a stolen heirloom, a false confession, and an array of fishy suspects.
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
In the summer of 1968, after traveling from Brooklyn to Oakland, California, to spend a month with the mother they barely know, 11-year-old Delphine and her two younger sisters arrive to a cold welcome as they discover that their mother, a dedicated poet and printer, is resentful of the intrusion of their visit and wants them to attend a nearby Black Panther summer camp.
The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood
Fifteen-year-old Miss Penelope Lumley, a recent graduate of the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females, is hired as governess to three young children who have been raised by wolves and must teach them to behave in a civilized manner quickly, in preparation for a Christmas ball.
Breaking Stalin’s Nose by Eugene Yelchin
In the Stalinist era of the Soviet Union, 10-year-old Sasha idolizes his father, a devoted Communist, but when police take his father away and leave Sasha homeless, he is forced to examine his own perceptions, values and belief.
Teen Fiction
Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi
Falsely accused of theft and murder, an orphaned peasant boy in 14th century England flees his village and meets a larger-than-life juggler who holds a dangerous secret.
Sophia’s War by Avi
In 1776, after witnessing the execution of Nathan Hale in New York City, newly occupied by the British army, young Sophia Calderwood resolves to do all she can to help the American cause, including becoming a spy.
Stella by Starlight by Sharon Draper
When a burning cross set by the Klan causes panic and fear in 1932 Bumblebee, North Carolina, fifth-grader Stella must face prejudice and find the strength to demand change in her segregated town.
The Midnight Tunnel by Angie Frazier
In 1905, Suzanna is in training to be a well-mannered hostess at a Loch Harbor, New Brunswick, hotel, but her dream of being a detective gets a boost when a 7-year-old guest goes missing and Suzanna's uncle, a famous detective, comes to solve the case.
The Inquisitor's Tale by Adam Gidwitz
Crossing paths at an inn, 13th century travelers impart the tales of a monastery oblate, a Jewish refugee, and a psychic peasant girl with a loyal greyhound, the three of whom join forces on a chase through France to escape persecution.
Penny from Heaven by Jennifer Holm
As she turns 12 during the summer of 1953, Penny gains new insights into herself and her family while also learning a secret about her father's death.
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
In 1943, during the German occupation of Denmark, 10-year-old Annemarie learns how to be brave and courageous when she helps shelter her Jewish friend from the Nazis.
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
Anne, an 11-year-old orphan, is sent by mistake to live with a lonely, middle-aged brother and sister on a Prince Edward Island farm and proceeds to make an indelible impression on everyone around her.
Glory Be by Augusta Scattergood
In the summer of 1964 as she is about to turn twelve, Glory's town of Hanging Moss, Mississippi, is beset by racial tension when town leaders close her beloved public pool rather than desegregating it.
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gray Schmidt
In 1911, Turner Buckminster hates his new home of Phippsburg, Maine, but things improve when he meets Lizzie Bright Griffin, a girl from a poor, nearby island community founded by former slaves that the town fathers – and Turner's – want to change into a tourist spot.
Betty Before X by Ilyasah Shabazz
In Detroit, 1945, 11-year-old Betty's house doesn't quite feel like home. She believes her mother loves her, but she can't shake the feeling that her mother doesn't want her.
Moon over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool
Twelve-year-old Abilene Tucker is the daughter of a drifter who, in the summer of 1936, sends her to stay with an old friend in Manifest, Kansas, where he grew up, and where she hopes to find out some things about his past.
Paperboy by Vince Vawter
When an 11-year-old boy takes over a friend's newspaper route in July, 1959, in Memphis, his debilitating stutter makes for a memorable month.
Listening for Lions by Gloria Whelan
Left an orphan after the influenza epidemic in British East Africa in 1918, 13-year-old Rachel is tricked into assuming a deceased neighbor's identity to travel to England, where her only dream is to return to Africa and rebuild her parents' mission hospital.
