Written by Anne Blankman One morning, neighbors Valentina and Oksana wake up to an angry red sky. A reactor at the nuclear power plant where their fathers work–Chernobyl–has exploded. Before they know it, the two girls, who’ve always been enemies, find themselves on a train bound for Leningrad to stay with Valentina’s grandmother. In their …
Written by Jennifer Robin Barr Have you ever wanted something so bad, you would do anything to get it? Jimmy has. He lives in Philadelphia just across the street from Shibe Ballpark. From his roof, you can watch a baseball game of the Philadelphia A’s. His family supplements their income by charging for tickets to …
Written by Carolyn Mackler While Sensory Processing Disorder gives Willa something to cause her to feel out of place and “weird,” she has managed to make a best friend who doesn’t know anything about Willa’s condition. Compartmentalizing and therapy help Willa appear “normal” and allow her to feel like she is more like other people. …
Written by Carolyn Crimi, Illustrated by Corinna Luyken In the backyard of the house where Penny Rose recently moved is an old shed, where she tinkers and builds little robots out of lost treasures and broken items she finds around town. What she hasn’t found around her new town are friends. She tells herself it’s …
Written by Eliot Sappingfield This is hilarious, thrilling, mind-bending, and yet absolutely heartwarming at the same time. It is hard to find the right words to describe it. One moment I am laughing so hard and another I am thinking completely out of the box and getting everything that is mentioned. The imagination of the …
Written by Gail Shepherd Lyndon Baines Hawkins, Lyndie, is an 11-year-old girl whose life is changing in ways that she doesn’t like. She and her parents are moving in with her grandparents, her mother is not well and her father is dealing with his service in the Vietnam War. Lyndie wants her old life back, …
Written by Amy Wilson This book is about Bavar, a boy with magic in his blood. He fights monsters called Raksasas, men with bat wings. He meets a girl named Angel. Together they work to close the portal rift that lets the Raksasas into earth. Both of them are somehow connected through these monsters. I …
Written and Illustrated by Jen Wang This is a well told story with lots of emotions mixed in. It hits topics of friendship, expectations, figuring out who your are, acceptance, jealousy, guilt, and more. The art is great and helps the story read quickly. I think it will be read and loved by many. Reviewed …
Written and Illustrated by Kristen Gudsnuk Making Friends: Back to the Drawing Board is the sequel to Making Friends and follows Dany’s adventures as she navigates middle school. It is a brand-new year and Dany is hoping to fit in. After finding out that popular Cara finds her annoying and pays Cara to be her …
