Book Finder

A lyrical biography of a Cuban slave who escaped to become a celebrated poet. Born into the household of a wealthy slave owner in Cuba in 1797, Juan Francisco Manzano spent his early years by the side of a woman who made him call her Mama, even though he had a mama of his own.

The Power Of Myth touches on subjects from modern marriage to virgin births, from Jesus to John Lennon, offering a brilliant combination of intelligence and wit.

Collard documents the efforts of naturalists to restore the prairie ecosystem at the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge in Iowa. Collard’s beautiful color photographs complement descriptions of workers’ attempts to reintroduce bison, to develop a colony of butterflies, and to nurture native plants.

An apprentice herbalist, Reveka, figures out how to break the ridiculous curse afflicting 12 princesses in this original and funny fantasy.

In this epic debut fantasy, inspired by Renaissance France, an outcast finds herself bound to a disgraced lord and entangled in his plot to overthrow the king.

A 6-year-old boy whose mother is working in a munitions factory in Chicago during World War II is sent to live in Minnesota with his grandmother, Alida. Since all of the men are in Europe fighting, the women have to work the farm, and there are plenty of animals to look after to keep the young boy busy. But he is out of his element when his cousin, Kristina, goes into labor. While waiting for the delivery, the women work on a quilt that reveals the family stories of love and loss.

When Harry Reasoner thrust a microphone at an angry mob, and yelled “I don’t care what you’re going to do to me, but the whole world is going to know it!” he spoke for all the reporters and photographers, black and white, north and south, who played a critical role in bringing the reality of the Civil Rights movement into the living rooms and consciousness of the American public.

The ivory-billed woodpecker is thought to be extinct, but some disagree. Hoose documents the scientific and bird-watching communities’ attempts to find this lost species and save its habitat in the Southern United States.

Growing up in suburban Detroit, David Hahn was fascinated by science. While he was working on his Atomic Energy badge for the Boy Scouts, David’s obsessive attention turned to nuclear energy.

In December 1937, the Japanese army invaded the ancient city of Nanking, systematically raping, torturing, and murdering more than 300,000 Chinese civilians. This book tells the story from three perspectives: of the Japanese soldiers who performed it, of the Chinese civilians who endured it, and of a group of Europeans and Americans who refused to abandon the city and were able to create a safety zone that saved many. 

Set in a world where reading is unheard-of, Sefia makes use of a mysterious object to track down who kidnapped her aunt Nin and what really happened the night her father was murdered.

Oscar knows he’s different. He can’t remember where he comes from, he has an encyclopedic knowledge of magical herbs and their uses, and he just does not understand human interaction. As the apprentice to Caleb, the last magician in the magic-steeped Barrow, Oscar’s job is to collect the herbs, prepare the charms and tinctures, do his chores, and avoid trouble. That changes when a mysterious destructive force arrives and it is up to Oscar and his friend Callie to protect the Barrow and its inhabitants.

Written by Naoki Higashida, a very smart, very self-aware, and very charming 13-year-old boy with autism, it is a one-of-a-kind memoir that provides a window into how an autistic mind thinks, feels, perceives, and responds. It is a “… wise, beautiful, intimate and courageous explanation of autism as it is lived every day by one remarkable boy.”

In this adaptation of Jeanne Theoharis’ award-winning biography of Rosa Parks for young people, Theoharis and Brandy Colbert reveal the story of a lifelong freedom fighter whose activism began two decades before her historic stand that sparked the Montgomery bus boycott and continued for 40 years after. Because Rosa Parks was active for 60 years, in the North as well as the South, her story provides a broader and more accurate view of the Black freedom struggle across the twentieth century. 

This novel recreates the biblical life of Dinah, daughter of Leah and Jacob, from her birth in Mesopotamia through her death in Egypt. She is a minor character in the Bible, but the author has broadened her story. 

Parkland Middle School is a place the students call Darkland, because no one in it does much to stop the daily harassment of kids by other kids. Three bullied seventh graders use their smarts to get the better of their tormentors by starting an unofficial e-mail forum at school in which they publicize their experiences. Unexpectedly, lots of other kids come forward to confess their similar troubles, and it becomes clear that the problem at their school is bigger than anyone knew. 

There are two secrets Evelyn Serrano is keeping from her Mami and Papi: her true feelings about growing up in her Spanish Harlem neighborhood, and her attitude about Abuela, her sassy grandmother who’s come from Puerto Rico to live with them. Then, like an urgent ticking clock, events erupt that change everything. Through it all, Evelyn learns important truths about her heritage and the history makers who shaped a nation. Infused with actual news accounts from the time period, Sonia Manzano, best known as the beloved Maria from Sesame Street, has crafted a gripping work of fiction based on her own life growing up during a fiery, unforgettable time in America, when young Latinos took control of their destinies.

After an apocalyptic catastrophe, a father and his young son embark on a grim and perilous quest following the road to the sea.

Many people are ignorant of the Turks’ Armenian Genocide that occurred in 1915, killing over a million innocent people. David captures the voice of his mother, Vernon Dumehjian Kherdian, who was born into a fine family just prior to the systematic killings.

After his sister is murdered, Ruben and his older brother Cole go to reclaim her body, and discover the truth about her death. The violence isn’t for the squeamish, but teens will enjoy this story that reads like a movie.

This collection of more than 100 poems that honestly and artfully confront topics ranging from poverty and motherhood to Van Gogh and Mandela is presented in Tupac Shakur’s own handwriting on one side of the page, with a typed version on the opposite side. 

Several recent college graduates go to an archaeological dig in rural Mexico. What follows is a suspense-filled, horrific nightmare in the jungle. Will any of them return?