Special Collections

In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson

by Bette Bao Lord

A young Chinese girl in 1947 comes to Brooklyn and discovers her love for baseball while adjusting to new life in America.

Date Added: 05/25/2017

Amazing Grace

by Mary Hoffman

Although classmates say that she can't play Peter Pan in the school play, because she's black and a girl, Grace discovers that she can do anything she sets her mind to do.

Date Added: 05/25/2017

Dear Mr. Henshaw

by Beverly Cleary

Beverly Cleary's Newbery Medal-winning book explores the thoughts and emotions of a sixth-grade boy, Leigh Botts, in letter form as he writes to his favorite author, Boyd Henshaw.

After his parents separate, Leigh Botts moves to a new town with his mother. Struggling to make friends and deal with his anger toward his absent father, Leigh loses himself in a class assignment in which he must write to his favorite author. When Mr. Henshaw responds, the two form an unexpected friendship that will change Leigh's life forever.

Date Added: 05/25/2017

The Cay

by Theodore Taylor

Phillip is excited when the Germans invade the small island of Curaçao. War has always been a game to him, and he’s eager to glimpse it firsthand–until the freighter he and his mother are traveling to the United States on is torpedoed.

When Phillip comes to, he is on a small raft in the middle of the sea. Besides Stew Cat, his only companion is an old West Indian, Timothy. Phillip remembers his mother’s warning about black people: “They are different, and they live differently.”

But by the time the castaways arrive on a small island, Phillip’s head injury has made him blind and dependent on Timothy.

· A New York Times Best Book of the Year

· A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year

· A Horn Book Honor Book

· An American Library Association Notable Book

· A Publishers Weekly Children’s Book to Remember

· A Child Study Association’s Pick of Children’s Books of the Year

· Lewis Carroll Shelf Award

· Commonwealth Club of California: Literature Award

· Southern California Council on Literature for Children and Young People Award

· Woodward School Annual Book Award

· Friends of the Library Award, University of California at Irvine

· Jane Addams Book Award

Date Added: 05/25/2017

The Pinballs

by Betsy Byars

From Newbery-winning author Betsy Byars comes a story full of "poignancy, perception, and humor" (The Chicago Tribune), about three foster kids who learn what it takes to make a family. You can't always decide where life will take you—especially when you're a kid.Carlie knows she's got no say in what happens to her. Stuck in a foster home with two other kids, Harvey and Thomas J, she's just a pinball being bounced from bumper to bumper. As soon as you get settled, somebody puts another coin in the machine and off you go again.But against her will and her better judgment, Carlie and the boys become friends. And all three of them start to see that they can take control of their own lives.

Date Added: 05/25/2017