Special Collections

The Birchbark House

Omakayas, a seven-year-old Native American girl of the Ojibwa tribe, lives through the joys of summer and the perils of winter on an island in Lake Superior in 1847.

[This text is listed as an example that meets Common Core Standards in English language arts in grades 4-5 at http://www.corestandards.org.]

Date Added: 05/31/2019

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

Winner of the Newbery Medal, this remarkably moving novel has impressed the hearts and minds of millions of readers. Set in Mississippi at the height of the Depression, this is the story of one family's struggle to maintain their integrity, pride, and independence in the face of racism and social injustice. And it is also Cassie's story--Cassie Logan, an independent girl who discovers over the course of an important year why having land of their own is so crucial to the Logan family, even as she learns to draw strength from her own sense of dignity and self-respect.* "[A] vivid story.... Entirely through its own internal development, the novel shows the rich inner rewards of black pride, love, and independence."--Booklist, starred review

Date Added: 01/15/2019

Brown Girl Dreaming

Jaqueline Woodson is the 2018-2019 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature

A President Obama "O" Book Club pick

A Coretta Scott King Award Winner

A New York Times Bestseller and National Book Award and Newbery Honor Book

Jacqueline Woodson, the acclaimed author of Another Brooklyn, tells the moving story of her childhood in mesmerizing verse. Raised in South Carolina and New York, Woodson always felt halfway home in each place. In vivid poems, she shares what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement.

Touching and powerful, each poem is both accessible and emotionally charged, each line a glimpse into a child’s soul as she searches for her place in the world. Woodson’s eloquent poetry also reflects the joy of finding her voice through writing stories, despite the fact that she struggled with reading as a child. Her love of stories inspired her and stayed with her, creating the first sparks of the gifted writer she was to become.

Date Added: 01/08/2019

Young Cornrows Callin Out the Moon

Who needs a backyard when there are brownstone steps, double dutch, and freeze tag beneath the sizzling summer sun? The jingling bell of the ice cream truck mingles with laughter and sidewalk rhymes. Frosty lemonade from the corner store and tight cornrows beat the heat with style. There's nothing like summer in the city with friends, family, and a child's imagination for company.

Ruth Forman offers a poetic testament to childhood, language, and play, and Cbabi Bayoc's richly hued paintings bring the streets of South Philadelphia to vivid life.

Date Added: 06/21/2018

Celebrate!

Every culture has its own special traditions and reasons for celebrating. At first glance these practices seem quite different from each other, but they are actually much more alike than most people realise. In Celebrate! readers travel to communities near and far and explore the essence of celebrations the world over. With striking photographs and engaging text, photojournalist Jan Reynolds presents a refreshing look at the similarities among cultural traditions around the world.

Date Added: 05/14/2018

The Wakame Gatherers

Nanami has two grandmothers: Baachan, who lives with her family in Japan, and Gram, who lives in Maine. When Gram visits Japan for the first time, Baachan takes her and Nanami on a trip to the seaside to gather Wakame, a long, curvy seaweed that floats near the shore.While the three assemble their equipment and ride the streetcar to the beach, Baachan explains how Wakame and other seaweeds are used in Japan. Gram shares stories about how seaweeds are used in Maine, and Nanami translates for them both.By the end of the day, Nanami's two grandmothers discover that they have much in common despite being from countries that fought in the war they both remember vividly. Now, looking out across the beach at the surfers, dog walkers, and seaweed gatherers, they share an appreciation of this precious peace.Holly Thompson's beautiful prose captures the exuberance of a young girl who easily traverses between two cultures and languages. It also illuminates the love and understanding that grow between two older women who are so different, yet share an unbreakable bond. Kazumi Wild's bright, vivid paintings make the Japanese landscape and the rocky shores of Maine come alive, reminding us all that we share this earth and the peace that we create.

Date Added: 05/14/2018

Drummer Boy of John John

"A story inspired by events in the boyhood of Winston "Spree" Simon, a pioneer in the development of the steel drum, in which he discovers he can create tunes by banging on discarded cans. Includes author's note, glossary, and sources"--Provided by publisher.

Date Added: 05/14/2018

Out of Wonder

Out of gratitude for the poet's art form, Newbery Award-winning author and poet Kwame Alexander, along with Chris Colderley and Marjory Wentworth, present original poems that pay homage to twenty famed poets who have made the authors' hearts sing and their minds wonder. Stunning mixed-media images by Ekua Holmes, winner of a Caldecott Honor and a John Steptoe New Talent Illustrator Award, complete the celebration and invite the reader to listen, wonder, and perhaps even pick up a pen.

Date Added: 04/10/2018

Save Me a Seat

Joe and Ravi might be from very different places, but they're both stuck in the same place: SCHOOL. Joe's lived in the same town all his life, and was doing just fine until his best friends moved away and left him on his own. Ravi's family just moved to America from India, and he's finding it pretty hard to figure out where he fits in. Joe and Ravi don't think they have anything in common -- but soon enough they have a common enemy (the biggest bully in their class) and a common mission: to take control of their lives over the course of a single crazy week.

Date Added: 03/23/2018

Cora Cooks Pancit

Cora loves being in the kitchen, but she always gets stuck doing the kid jobs like licking the spoon. One day, however, when her older sisters and brother head out, Cora finally gets the chance to be Mama's assistant chef. And of all the delicious Filipino dishes that dance through Cora's head, she and Mama decide to make pancit, her favorite noodle dish. With Mama's help, Cora does the grown-up jobs like shredding the chicken and soaking the noodles (perhaps Mama won't notice if she takes a nibble of chicken or sloshes a little water on the floor). Cora even gets to stir the noodles in the potcarefully-- while Mama supervises. When dinner is finally served, her siblings find out that Cora did all their grown-up tasks, and Cora waits anxiously to see what everyone thinks of her cooking. Dorina Lazo Gilmore's text delightfully captures the warmth between mother and daughter as they share a piece of their Filipino heritage. With bright and charming illustrations by Kristi Valiant, Cora's family comes alive as Cora herself becomes the family's newest little chef.

Date Added: 03/14/2018

A Full Moon is Rising

Mysterious and evocative, the full moon is the most celebrated phase of the earth s only natural satellite. Around the world, people and other living things interact with and are affected by the full moon in fascinating ways. Sailors set out to sea on the high tides the full moon causes. Insects and migrating birds are guided by its brilliant light. Families dance, sing, and feast at full moon festivals, while traders buy and sell camels. Corals reproduce, wolves howl, and children dream of being astronauts. In this poetic exploration of full moon science, celebrations, beliefs, and illusions, Marilyn Singer and Julia Cairns take us on a whirlwind international tour. Along the way we visit Canada, Israel, Morocco, India, China, Australia, and more as we learn about the many ways people welcome and honor Earth s wondrous full moon.

Date Added: 03/14/2018

Bringing Asha Home

It's Rakhi, the Hindu holiday special to brothers and sisters, and Arun wishes he had a sister with whom to celebrate. Soon it looks as if his wish will come true. His parents are going to adopt a baby girl named Asha, and she is coming from India, where Arun's dad was born. The family prepares for Asha's arrival, not knowing it will be almost a year until they receive governmental approval to bring Asha home. Arun is impatient and struggles to accept the long delay, but as time passes his love of paper airplanes and his supportive family help Arun conquer his frustration and find his own way to build a bond with his sister, who is still halfway around the world. With warmth and honesty, this tender story taps into the feelings of longing, love, and joy that adoption brings to many families. Readers will find reassurance knowing there is more than one way to become part of a loving family.

Date Added: 03/09/2018

Little Melba And Her Big Trombone

Melba Doretta Liston loved the sounds of music from as far back as she could remember. As a child, she daydreamed about beats and lyrics, and hummed along with the music from her family's Majestic radio. At age seven, Melba fell in love with a big, shiny trombone, and soon taught herself to play the instrument. By the time she was a teenager, Melba's extraordinary gift for music led her to the world of jazz. She joined a band led by trumpet player Gerald Wilson and toured the country. Overcoming obstacles of race and gender, Melba went on to become a famed trombone player and arranger, spinning rhythms, harmonies, and melodies into gorgeous songs for all the jazz greats of the twentieth century: Randy Weston, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Billie Holiday, and Quincy Jones, to name just a few. Brimming with ebullience and the joy of making music, Little Melba and Her Big Trombone is a fitting tribute to a trailblazing musician and a great unsung hero of jazz.

Date Added: 03/09/2018

Juna's Jar

Sometimes a simple, everyday object can take you away on great adventures. Juna and her best friend, Hector, have many adventures together, and they love to collect things in empty kimchi jars. Then one day, Hector unexpectedly moves away without having a chance to say good-bye. Juna is heartbroken and left to wonder who will on go on adventures with her. Determined to find Hector, Juna turns to her special kimchi jar for help each night. She plunges into the depths of the ocean, swings on vines through the jungle, and flies through the night sky in search of her friend. What Juna finds is that adventure--and new friends--can be found in the most unexpected places. Coupled with dreamy watercolor illustrations by Felicia Hoshino, Juna's Jar is a heart-warming and whimsical tale about the power of the imagination.

Date Added: 03/09/2018

Good Luck Cat

Some cats are good luck. You pet them and good things happen. Woogie is one of those cats. But as Woogie gets into one mishap after another, everyone starts to worry. Can a good luck cat's good luck run out?

Date Added: 05/25/2017

The First Part Last

Bobby's a classic urban teenager. He's restless. He's impulsive. But the thing that makes him different is this: He's going to be a father. His girlfriend, Nia, is pregnant, and their lives are about to change forever. Instead of spending time with friends, they'll be spending time with doctors, and next, diapers. They have options: keeping the baby, adoption. They want to do the right thing. If only it was clear what the right thing was.

Winner of the Coretta Scott King Medal

Date Added: 05/25/2017

Wings

Are you brave enough to be your true self?

Ikarus Jackson is. But it isn't always easy. The people in his neighborhood point at his wings. The kids at school laugh. The teachers call him a distraction.

One girl identifies with him, but she is too shy to speak up.

Finally, when his classmates' taunts send Ikarus drifting into the sky, the girl sets out in search of him, and so begins her own journey of self-discovery -- leaving both of them transformed.

Date Added: 05/25/2017

I Love Saturdays y Domingos

A girl discuses the differences between her father's American parents and her mother's Mexican parents. Discuses de una muchacha las diferencias entre los padres americanos de su padre y los padres mexicanos de su madre.

Date Added: 05/25/2017

¡Pío Peep! Traditional Spanish Nursery Rhymes

Spanish oral folklore is rich in nursery rhymes and songs. Some rhymes are fragments of ancient medieval ballads; others, such as De colores, are old harvest songs. Some are frequently sung as lullabies, like Este niño lindo, others as finger plays, like Palmas palmitas. Some rhymes accompany games, such as El patio de mi casa, while others are unending rhymes that can be repeated as long as the child wants, like El barquito or La hormiguita. In most cases the rhymes and songs originated in Spain and crossed the Atlantic with the language, to delight children in all the nineteen Spanish-speaking countries of Latin America as well as the American Southwest, occasionally changing along the way. Of the ones we have collected here, three are from Mexico--La víbora de la mar, La piñata, and Tortillitas--the rest are well-known throughout the Spanish-speaking world. We have purposely selected some of the best known and most loved rhymes as an introduction to this genre. To make the selection for this book, we reviewed numerous anthologies from Spain and Latin America, among them those of Carmen Bravo Villasante, Arturo Medina, and Ana Pellegrin in Spain; Elsa Isabel Bornemann and Maria Elena Walsh in Argentina; the series Así cantan y juegan..., published by CONAFE in Mexico, and many more. Finally, faced with the decision to select among hundreds, we chose those nursery rhymes and songs that we cherished in our own childhoods, and those the numerous children--Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Dominican, and Central American--with whom we have worked love the most. En este libro la palabra se hace canto y juego para los más pequeñitos. Dirigida a niños de uno a seis años, esta maravillosa colección bilingüe de rimas tradicionales infantiles, que han sido transmitidas de generación en generación, que celebra la infancia y la herencia española y latinoamericana, será un fiel acompañante de los niños al momento de dormir o de jugar. Los versos se caracterizan por su gran ritmisidad y las adaptaciones inglesas son excelentes pues mantienen el ritmo, metro y sentido general de las originales, haciendo las rimas tan inolvidables y fácilmente memorizadas tanto en inglés como lo son en el idioma español. Esta colección, ilustrada bellamente por una artista española, está destinada a encantar a los niños y a transformarse en un clásico tanto para los más pequeños como para la familia.

Date Added: 05/25/2017

Miracle's Boys

From a three-time Newbery Honor author, a novel that was awarded the 2001 Coretta Scott King award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize

For Lafayette and his brothers, the challenges of growing up in New York City are compounded by the facts that they've lost their parents and it's up to eldest brother Ty'ree to support the boys, and middle brother Charlie has just returned home from a correctional facility.

Lafayette loves his brothers and would do anything if they could face the world as a team. But even though Ty'ree cares, he's just so busy with work and responsibility. And Charlie's changed so much that his former affection for his little brother has turned to open hostility.

Now, as Lafayette approaches 13, he needs the guidance and answers only his brothers can give him. The events of one dramatic weekend force the boys to make the choice to be there for each other--to really see each other--or to give in to the pain and problems of every day.

Winner of the Coretta Scott King Medal

Date Added: 05/25/2017

The Red Pencil

"Amira, look at me," Muma insists. She collects both my hands in hers. "The Janjaweed attack without warning. If ever they come-- run."

Finally, Amira is twelve. Old enough to wear a toob, old enough for new responsibilities. And maybe old enough to go to school in Nyala-- Amira's one true dream.

But life in her peaceful Sudanese village is shattered when the Janjaweed arrive. The terrifying attackers ravage the town and unleash unspeakable horrors. After she loses nearly everything, Amira needs to dig deep within herself to find the strength to make the long journey-- on foot-- to safety at a refugee camp. Her days are tough at the camp, until the gift of a simple red pencil opens her mind-- and all kinds of possibilities.

New York Times bestselling and Coretta Scott King Award-winning author Andrea Davis Pinkney's powerful verse and Coretta Scott King Award-winning artist Shane W. Evans's breathtaking illustrations combine to tell an inspiring tale of one girl's triumph against all odds.

Date Added: 05/25/2017

Bronx Masquerade

When Wesley Boone writes a poem for his high school English class and reads it aloud, poetry-slam-style, he kicks off a revolution. Soon his classmates are clamoring to have weekly poetry sessions. One by one, eighteen students take on the risky challenge of self-revelation.

Award-winning author Nikki Grimes captures the voices of eighteen teenagers through the poetry they share and the stories they tell, and exposes what lies beneath the skin, behind the eyes, beyond the masquerade.

Winner of the Coretta Scott King Medal

Date Added: 05/25/2017

Ling & Ting

Ling and Ting are twins. They have the same brown eyes. They have the same pink cheeks. They have the same happy smiles.Ling and Ting are two adorable identical twins, and they stick together, whether they are making dumplings, getting their hair cut, or practicing magic tricks. But looks are deceiving--people can be very different, even if they look exactly the same.

Date Added: 05/25/2017

Monster

Sometimes I feel like I have walked into the middle of a movie. Maybe I can make my own movie. The film will be the story of my life. No, not my life, but of this experience. I'll call it what the lady who is the prosecutor called me. MONSTER.

FADE IN: INTERIOR COURT. A guard sits at a desk behind Steve. Kathy O'Brien, Steve's lawyer, is all business as she talks to Steve.

O'BRIEN: Let me make sure you understand what's going on. Both you and this king character are on trial for felony murder. Felony Murder is as serious as it gets. . . . When you're in court, you sit there and pay attetion. You let the jury know that you think the case is a serious as they do. . . .

STEVE: You think we're going to win ?

O'BRIEN (seriously): It probably depends on what you mean by "win."

Sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon is on trial for murder. A Harlem drugstore owner was shot and killed in his store, and the word is that Steve served as the lookout.Guilty or innocent, Steve becomes a pawn in the hands of "the system," cluttered with cynical authority figures and unscrupulous inmates, who will turn in anyone to shorten their own sentences.

For the first time, Steve is forced to think about who he is as he faces prison, where he may spend all the tomorrows of his life.As a way of coping with the horrific events that entangle him, Steve, an amateur filmmaker, decides to transcribe his trial into a script, just like in the movies. He writes it all down, scene by scene, the story of how his whole life was turned around in an instant. But despite his efforts, reality is blurred and his vision obscured until he can no longer tell who he is or what is the truth. This compelling novel is Walter Dean Myers's writing at its best.

Date Added: 05/25/2017

One Crazy Summer

In this Newbery Honor novel, New York Times bestselling author Rita Williams-Garcia tells the story of three sisters who travel to Oakland, California, in 1968 to meet the mother who abandoned them.

Eleven-year-old Delphine is like a mother to her two younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern. She's had to be, ever since their mother, Cecile, left them seven years ago for a radical new life in California. When they arrive from Brooklyn to spend the summer with her, Cecile is nothing like they imagined. While the girls hope to go to Disneyland and meet Tinker Bell, their mother sends them to a day camp run by the Black Panthers. Unexpectedly, Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern learn much about their family, their country, and themselves during one truly crazy summer.

This moving, funny novel won the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction and the Coretta Scott King Award and was a National Book Award Finalist.Readers who enjoy Christopher Paul Curtis's The Watsons Go to Birmingham will find much to love in One Crazy Summer. Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern's story continues in P.S. Be Eleven.

Date Added: 05/25/2017