Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
Kristin Hannah has done it again. Her novel, The Four Winds (published 2025) captures a unique era of America history within a loveable story about strong a strong woman overcoming hardship. The Four Winds is a primarily a novel of the Dust Bowl, and how one family sought for their own American dream in the
The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See (Scribner, 2019) is the story of questioning fate tied into friendship, war, survival, betrayal, and ultimately forgiveness. Two girls from different backgrounds, Mi-ja and Young-sook, become friends in the 1930s, and their friendship story alternates between their growing-up years and 2008 “modern-day” Young-sook, who is a bitter
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
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.
The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder (published 1940) is a great tale of endurance and survival for the Ingalls family, pioneers in the brand new city of De Smet in the Dakota territory. During this historic winter, frequent blizzards lasting 3 or 4 days crippled towns and halted railway traffic, which means that De
In The Wild Robot Escapes by Peter Brown (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2018), our robotic friend from the first book has been refurbished and sent to work as a “normal” robot on a farm in a futuristic world. With all of her memories and abilities from her wild years, however, Roz is only
What if a robot never interacted with humans? What if a robot’s survival instincts taught it how to survive in the wild, among animals? This is the premise of The Wild Robot by Peter Brown (Little Brown Books for Young Readers, 2016). Rozzum Unit 7134 has crashed into a wild island, where she learns to
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder (published 1932) was the first book published by this acclaimed children’s author, and it kicks off the “Little House” series of stories that were loosely based on the author’s own childhood as a pioneer in Wisconsin. I find it to be more like a collection
In Newbery Honor book The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani (Kokila, 2018), the partition of India has a profound effect on the life of twelve-year-old Nisha, who is half-Muslim and half-Hindu and now must figure out where she is welcome. Along with her twin brother and her widower father, now Nisha finds she must leave their
Everyone except Maddie, and I mean everyone, has been inexplicably evacuated from her town in the middle of the night in the beginning chapters of the free verse novel Alone by Morgan E. Freeman (Aladdin, 2021). Now Maddie has no access to anyone (phones have been abandoned). She is without electricity and running water and
The 2023 middle grade novel Freewater by Amina Luqman-Dawson (Little Brown Books for Young Readers, February 2022) offers a hopeful and dream-like success for two children fleeing slavery. Just as they feel hope of escape ebbing away, a mystery man rescues them, leading them to an island community on the edge of the swamp. Homer’s
The middle grade novel No Place Like Home by James Bird (Feiwel & Friends, August 2023) is a heartfelt tale of resilience and the power of cultural identity. Twelve-year-old Ojibwe boy Opin faces the increasing discomfort of homelessness as he and his mother and brother make their way to Los Angeles to be with family.
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