Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
Her Right Foot by Dave Eggers (illustrated by Shawn Harris; Chronicle Books, 2017) is a second-person picture book about the Statue of Liberty. As the title indicates, it focuses on the right foot of the statue, a foot that shows motion! As a whole, the book tells the history of the sculpture, from the idea
Across So Many Seas by Ruth Behar (Nancy Paulsen Books, February 2024) is an epic historical fiction middle grade novel about Sephardic Jews, jumping from Inquisition Spain in 1492 to Turkey, Cuba, and Miami in more recent years. With narration transitioning among four young girls during these times, the novel highlighted music as a way
Middle grade novel Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga (HarperCollins, 2019) captures one teen girl’s perspective as a Syrian refugee to America. Even without using dates within the text, Other Words for Home feels sadly applicable today since the Syrian conflict still rages and refugees flee to America from many different countries. Jude’s life
Matthew is a seventh-grader now required to finish his school year online, isolated from his friends, due to the COVID pandemic. Nothing could be worse than having to help his 100-year-old great-grandmother (GG) sort her belongings. But it is through his isolation with GG that Matthew learns the secrets of her life and just how
In the picture book The Words We Share by Jack Wong (Annick Press, 2023), the child narrator, Angie, tells how she is the one that helps her father with basics of communication in their Canadian community because he is not comfortable or fluent in English. Angie finds she can help the entire community, and to
Front Desk by Kelly Yang (Scholastic, 2018) is a story about a family of immigrants from China who are trying to achieve the American dream, but they haven’t been having much success. In this first novel of a middle-grade series, Mia begins to see just how she can help her family with her skills and
Illegal by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin (Sourcebooks, 2018) is a graphic novel that illustrates the fictional story of two orphaned brothers traveling illegally from their home in Ghana to Europe, hoping to reunite with their sister, who illegally traveled the same route years before. On their journey, they face robbers and homelessness as they
Solito by Javier Zamora (Hogarth, 2022) is the stark memoir of the adventure of one nine-year-old as he traveled from his small town in El Salvador to join his parents in the U.S. in 1999. During his ordeal, Javier was abandoned by his “coyote” (the paid smuggler). He wasn’t truly alone (or, solito) as he
Around the globe are families and children who have fled their home seeking for peace elsewhere. And these refugees have to live somewhere! We get a glimpse of what such a life in a refugee camp is like in the memoir graphic novel When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed (Dial Books
Lina, the main character in Finally Seen by Kelly Yang (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, February 2023) has grown up with her grandmother in China, while her young sister and parents have spent the last years living in California without her. Now it is her chance to move to the United States to
In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Bao Lord (published 1984) tells of one girl’s journey from her traditional Chinese home to New York City in 1947. How can Shirley hold on to her heritage in such a strange land? At the beginning of the story, the girl is known by
Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai (2011 National Book Award for Young People and Newbery Honor Award) is a novel in poetry about a young girl’s relocation to American from Vietnam during the Vietnam War. It is about the challenge of starting over and the pain of discrimination in a strange new country and
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