VIOLET & JOBIE IN THE WILD by Lynne Rae Perkins. A gentle family read-aloud about two house mice exiled to the wilderness, in the tradition of A Cricket in Time Square. Gr 2+
ALWAYS CLEMENTINE by Carlie Sorosiak. A genius sentient lab mouse escapes and recounts her adventures in letters back to her former lab mates. Combination of the One and Only Ivan and Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. Gr 3-7.
ODDER by Katherine Applegate. A story told in verse about a sea otter who spends time in the real Monterey Bay Aquarium recovering from a shark attack. Gr 3-6.
BERANI by Michelle Kadarusman. Another excellent story of animal rescue by the author of Music for Tigers. Set in Indonesia, student activist Malia enlists the help of conflicted Ari as they try to free a caged orangutan and keep their natural habitats from being destroyed. Kadarusman shows the different points of view towards these causes: things aren’t always black and white. Gr 3-7.
BLACK PANTHER: UPRISING by Ronald Smith. Finale in Marvel Comics trilogy about T’Challa as the young Black Panther in Wakanda, who fights foes in both his native country and Chicago. Gr 3-8.
THE MIDNIGHT CHILDREN by Dan Gemeinhart. One night, lonely Ravani looks out his window and sees a truck pull up to an abandoned house, unloading 7 children who steal into the house. Why are they there? Gr 4-6.
WE WERE THE FIRE: BIRMINGHAM 1963 by Shelia P. Moses. Deceptively simply told, powerful story of an adolescent Black boy determined to stand up for his rights, who's pulled into the action of the 1963 civil rights demonstrations in Birmingham, Alabama, even as he struggles to accept a new man as his stepfather. Gr 4-6.
GOBLIN MARKET by Diane Zahler. A folktale set in eastern Europe based on the Christina Rosetti poem of 2 sisters, one of whom is beguiled by zdusze into eating forbidden fruit. Gr 5-8.
THE BLUEST SKY by Christina Diaz Gonzalez. A boy and his family must decide whether to remain in Cuba under a repressive government or risk everything for the chance of a new beginning in this gripping story of perilous immigration in 1980. Gr 5-8.
THE LAND OF FORGOTTEN GIRLS by Erin Entrada Kelly. Two sisters from the Philippines, abandoned by their father and living in impoverished circumstances in Louisiana, fight to make their lives better. Gr 5-8.
FIRE ON HEADLESS MOUNTAIN by Iain Lawrence. A trip to a favorite camping spot to scatter the ashes of their mother turns deadly when a forest fire strands Joshua, Virgil and Kaitlyn. Will they remember enough of their mother’s teachings to survive? Gr 4-7.
WINDSWEPT by Margi Preus. For fantasy lovers, a world where children are disappearing. “Youngers” who venture Outside are windswept—vanishing in the swirling snow—Tag’s sisters among them. Many have tried to find the lost children; all have failed. Gr 5+.
GRAPHIC NOVELS
BATMAN’S MYSTERY CASEBOOK. Graphic adventures as the Caped Crusader solves mini mysteries along with Robin and Batgirl. Gr 3-5.
TRUBBLE TOWN by Stephan Pastis. The author of Timmy Failure books creates a zany cartoon world of mayhem. For fans of Dog Man and Captain Underpants. Gr 3-5.
INVISIBLE by Christina Diaz Gonzalez. A light middle-grade version of the Breakfast Club. Five very different students are forced together by their school to complete community service... and may just have more in common than they thought. Gr 4-7.