By Jewell Parker Rhodes, Reviewed by Sonia Patel Banker
Published December 29, 2015
Sugar, by Jewell Parker Rhodes; Little, Brown Books for Young Readers: New York, 2013; $16.99 Ten-year-old Sugar lives on the River Road Plantation in Mississippi in the early 1800s. Sugar is a young African-American girl...
By Gennifer Choldenko, Reviewed by Jacob Zacks
Published December 28, 2015
Al Capone Shines My Shoes, by Gennifer Choldenko; Penguin Young Readers Group: New York, 2011; $6.99 Though I am fascinated with American history, including Alcatraz, I was drawn to the book Al Capone Shines My...
By Kristin Levine, Reviewed by Pamela Picerno
Published December 28, 2015
The Lions of Little Rock, by Kristin Levine; Penguin Young Readers Group: New York, 2013; $7.99 Have you ever read a book where you’re able to relate so much to the main character that it’s...
By Megan Frazer Blakemore, Reviewed by Adelle C. Macdowell
Published November 21, 2015
The Spy Catchers of Maple Hill, by Megan Frazer Blakemore; Bloomsbury Children’s Books: New York, 2015; $7.99 In 1953 Hazel Kaplansky is a fifth-grader who wants badly to be a detective. She has read all...
By Kate Messner, Reviewed by Abraham Lawrence
Published November 19, 2015
Wake Up Missing, by Kate Messner; Walker Children’s Books: New York, 2014; $7.99 "The most terrifying thing about hitting your head so hard is when you wake up missing pieces of yourself.” This is what...
By Sharon M. Draper, Reviewed by Lila Gaudrault
Published November 19, 2015
Out of My Mind, by Sharon M. Draper; Atheneum Books for Young Readers: New York, 2010; $17.99 Eleven-year-old Melody Brooks is a genius. She remembers everything that has ever happened to her, from the lullabies...
By Jamie Ayres, Reviewed by Kaylee Ayres
Published August 23, 2015
18 Things, by Jamie Ayres; Curiosity Quills Press: Reston, Virginia, 2012; $14.99 Jamie Ayres has written an inspiring story about overcoming grief. In 18 Things, teenager Olga Gay Worontzoff suffers through depression after her best...
By Ally Condie, Reviewed by Kira Householder
Published August 23, 2015
Matched, by Ally Condie; Speak (an imprint of Penguin Books): New York, 2011; $9.99 Part of leading your own, individual life is choosing whom you love and where you work. Imagine how drab and strict...
By Sonya Hartnett, Reviewed by Nicole Cooper
Published August 22, 2015
The Children of the King, by Sonya Hartnett; Candlewick Press: Somerville, Massachusetts, 2014; $16.99 It is too dangerous to stay in London. The threat of bombs falling overhead is constant, and now that France has...
By Holly Goldberg Sloan, Reviewed by Isabel Folger
Published August 22, 2015
Counting by 7s, by Holly Goldberg Sloan; Dial Books for Young Readers: New York, 2013; $16.99 Twelve-year-old Willow Chance, who is fascinated by and knowledgeable about plants and medical conditions, has enough to deal with...
