Crow

Barbara Wright
In the summer of 1898 in Wilmington North Carolina, escalating tensions lead to race riots and attacks on minority citizens. Moses Thomas, an 11 year old African American young man, becomes an unexpected hero during the riots, showing great bravery and wise judgment. Some young readers may find this Reconstruction Era story disturbing, however it is...

Review by Michele R. »

Starry River of the Sky

Grace Lin
Rendi leaves home hoping for a place bigger and better but finds himself stranded in a small nowhere village. A missing mountain, strange moaning in the night, and a moon that is gone from the sky haunt the village and overshadow any chance for happiness. Rendi becomes the chore boy at the village Inn. ...

Review by Michele R. »

The Unfortunate Son

Constance Leeds
Don’t let the dull dark cover lead you astray, there are great and huge adventures in this work of historical fiction set in the fifteenth century. Luc, unfortunately born with only one ear, is considered unlucky and his father despises and neglects him. His mother has already left. ...

Review by Michele R. »

Navigating Early

Clare Vanderpool
When Jack’s mom dies, his long absent military father comes home and places Jack in a boarding school. Alone and a bit miserable, Jack befriends the unusual student Early Audon. Early is strange, almost in a magical way. ...

Review by Michele R. »

A Long Walk to Water: a Novel

Linda Sue Park
"What was it Uncle had said during that first terrible day in the desert? Do you see that group of bushes? You need only to walk as far as those bushes…" Bit by bit Uncle Jewiir helps eleven year old Salva cross the Akobo Desert to escape the war in Sudan and seek shelter in an Ethiopian refugee camp. ...

Review by Melanie A. »

Ruth and the Green Book

Calvin A Ramsey
This book/CD (Kit) chronicles a black family’s car trip from Chicago to Alabama to visit a beloved grandma in the early 1950's. As they travel they encounter the humiliation of being refused service based on the color of their skin. Fortunately, in Georgia a man showed them something called The Negro Motorist Green Book. ...

Review by Christopher S. »

The Silent Witness: a True Story of the Civil War

Robin Friedman
The Silent Witness: A True Story of the Civil War is beautifully told and illustrated by Robin Friedman and Claire A. Nivola. As a child’s family plantation in Manassas, Virginia becomes a Civil War headquarters under the command of General Beauregard, readers learn about life during the Civil War through the McLean family’s historic events. ...

Review by Melanie A. »