Grades 3 – 5
Nanea is a young girl living in Hawaii in the 1940s, when Peal Harbor was attacked by the Japanese, the event that initiated the United States in the Second World War. Her father works at the naval base that was attacked, and she has to deal with the fact that some of the members of her family and friends are missing after the act of war. She relies on her spirit of aloha to get her through the tough times that lie ahead.
Thanks to SLJ for a review copy of this book.
Grades 3 – 5
Dinah Lance has a plan. She wants to join the Gotham City Junior Police Academy and follow in her dad’s footsteps by solving crimes and saving the world. However, a mysterious creature keeps getting in the way of Dinah’s goals and intimidates her friends and family. Can she evade this threat and reach her goals?
Thanks to SLJ for a review copy of this book.
Grades 3 – 5
From writing duo Shannon and Dean Hale comes a graphic novel about a girl named Diana who grows up in the Amazon and raised by her mother and many aunts. However, she feels isolated as the only child on the island. She begins to explore and use her imagination, but she gets in trouble when she strays too far. Filled with colorful graphics, this adventure is one you don’t want to miss!
Thanks to SLJ for a review copy of this book.
Grades 3 – 5
Grades 3 – 5
Grades 3 – 5
This book takes place in the 1960s, when Black Americans faced segregation and civil injustice. Nine-year-old Melody is excited to sing her first solo at her church’s Youth Day, and has to choose the songs she sings wisely. She elicits advice from her older brother and sister, and is inspired by Martin Luther King, Jr. Then, when tragedy strikes, Melody is stunned into silence. Can she find her voice again and speak out for civil rights?
Thanks to SLJ for a review copy of this book.
Grades 4 – 6
This novel in verse follows twelve-year-old Natsu and her family who live in Manchuria, near the Soviet Union during World War II. Then Natsu’s father joins the Japanese Army, and she and her younger sister Asa are left to fend for themselves. Desperate to save Asa’s life, Natsu sells Asa to a Russian family after the Soviet occupation, with the ultimate goal of getting her back and making her family whole again.
Thanks to SLJ for a review copy of this book.
Grades 3 – 6
Pie in the Sky is the name of the bakery Jingwen’s father had planned to open back home before he unexpectedly passed away. Forced to move to Australia with his mom and annoying little brother Yanghao, Jingwen feels lost and alone, because he can’t speak English very well and he has major culture shock. He tries to cheer himself up by imagining all the fancy cakes his father would have baked. His mother forbids Jingwen or his brother from using the oven without supervision, so when they bake cakes when she’s not home, they make up intricate stories to hide it from her. Fans of Timmy Failure and the Middle School series will love this book, whose format is part prose and part graphic format.
Thanks to School Library Journal for a review copy of this book.
Grades 4 – 7
A modern retelling of Little Women, More to the Story follows Jameela Mirza and her three sisters, Muslim American girls living in Georgia. Jam has just been picked as feature editor for the school paper at her middle school. She is very excited to start her assignment, but the editor keeps shooting down her story ideas. When Jam’s father is sent overseas for work for 6 months, she becomes more determined to write the best article possible and make him proud.
Thanks to School Library Journal for a review copy of this book.
Grades 3 – 7
Ruby Byrd, who likes to be called Red, is counting down the days when she can be back under the care of her mother, who is trying to get her life in order. Until then, Red is placed in foster care with Celine and Jackson Groove, an odd couple who run a petting zoo. Just when Red starts to like her new life with the Grooves, her mother comes back into her life like a raging storm. Will the courts allow her mother to gain custody once more?
Thanks to School Library Journal for a review copy of this book.
