Dry by Neal and Jarrod Shusterman (Simon & Schuster for Young Readers, 2018) is futuristic dystopian young adult novel, but it portrays what could be real life in the Western United States. Water becomes a scarce commodity in California when neighboring states turn off access to their water reserves. When the “Tap-Out” begins, the whole

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Pran of Albania by Elizabeth Miller (published 1929) is a Newbery Honor book about a teenager in Albania whose world is changing as war comes to her region. After the author gives us a glimpse into the unique lifestyle of mountain-dwelling people, Pran and her family become refugees as the women and children flee the

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Emily’s Runaway Imagination by Beverly Cleary (published 1961) is a funny semi-autobiographical historical novel about a girl in the 1920s living in rural Oregon, written by the esteemed and well-beloved Beverly Cleary. I hadn’t know Cleary had written any historical fiction books; I’d only been familiar with her Ramona and Henry Huggins books, some of

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The picture book Turtle, Turtle, Watch Out! by April Pulley Sayre (illustrated by Annie Patterson; Charlesbridge, 2010) emphasizes the human and animal dangers to turtles, and the ways humans can help. The refrain “Turtle, turtle, watch out!” echoes throughout. Watercolor illustrations make this a friendly read, despite these dangers.

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With a wide variety of poems, the picture book Volcano Wakes Up! by Lisa Westberg Peters (illustrated by Steve Jenkins; Henry Holt, 2010) shows the plants, crickets, and road having a conversation as a sleepy volcano “wakes up.” Based on volcanoes on the Hawaiian Islands, this book reminds readers that the Hawaiian Islands are active

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The First Four Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder (published posthumously in 1971) is the author’s “rough draft” of one more book about her early life, in this case the first four years of her marriage. Because it was only discovered after her death and was published in essentially the same form it was found it,

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What’s Alive? by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld (illustrated by Nadine Bernard Westcott; published 1995) is an easily approachable “Let’s Read and Find Out!” book that finds commonalities between a child and other living things. It is written with a conversational voice that would attract very young children and has a second-person narration that directly speaks to

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Little Blacknose: The Story of a Pioneer by Hildegarde Swift (published 1929) is a story for a young child about the creation of the first steam locomotive in New York State. The steam locomotive, eventually called the DeWitt Clinton Steam Engine, ran between Albany and Schenectady beginning in 1831. (Although that’s less than 20 miles,

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