Number the Stars

Name of Book:  Number the Stars Author:  Lois Lowry Publisher:  Sandpiper ISBN:  978-0547577098 Audience:  Ages 10-14 Summary:  Young Annemarie Nielsen and her friend Ellen Rosen live in occupied Copenhagen in 1943. Though young, they understand that the occupation of their city by the Nazis is frightening and dangerous, especially for Jews like Ellen and her [...]

Teens and Faith: Marcelo in the Real World

Title:  Marcelo in the Real World Author:  Francisco X. Stork Illustrator: Publisher:  Arthur A. Levine Books ISBN: 139780545054744 Audience:  Ages 14 and up Summary: Marcelo Sandoval, an autistic seventeen-year old, has come to the end of his junior year at Patterson, the special education school he has attended since kindergarten. His autism has not been [...]

Speak

Name of Book: Speak Author: Laurie Halse Anderson Illustrator: None Publisher: Puffin Books ISBN: 9780142407325 Audience: Ages 13-17. A high school girl could easily relate to this story, whether they themselves have suffered some emotional trauma or if they want to be a good listener for a friend in need. Summary: Being “popular” was no [...]

Letting Swift River Go

Name of book:  Letting Swift River Go Author:  Jane Yolen Publisher:  Little Brown ISBN: 978-0316968607 Audience:  Ages 4-8 Summary:  Sally Jane tells the story of the demise of her beloved town along the Swift River in Massachusetts. The town will be flooded along with the rest of the valley to form the Quabbin reservoir that [...]

The Bracelet

Name of Book: The Bracelet Author:  Yoshiko Uchida Publisher:  Puffin ISBN: 978-0698113909 Audience:  Ages 4-9 Summary:   During World War II, Second grader Emi is one of thousands told they must give up everything and move to an internment camp. Why? Because their relatives came from Japan. In many cases, as in Emi’s, those relatives came [...]

Smoky Night

Name of Book:  Smoky Night Author:  Eve Bunting Illustrator:  David Diaz Publisher:  Voyager Books Harcourt Inc. Audience:   Ages 8-10 Summary:  The book was written to portray the experience of a young boy and his mother during the riots in Los Angeles in 1994.  The main characters watch as angry people destroy property, steal, and hurt [...]

Olive’s Ocean

Name of Book: Olive’s Ocean Author: Kevin Henkes Illustrator: None Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers Publisher’s Intended Audience: Grades 5-8 Summary: As Martha Boyle is getting ready to go to her grandmother’s house on the ocean, she receives a visit from the mother of a classmate named Olive who was recently killed in a car accident.  [...]