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Seventeen-year-old Bo has always had delusions that he can travel through time. When he was ten, Bo claimed to have witnessed the Titanic hit an iceberg, and at fifteen, he found himself on a Civil War battlefield, horrified by the bodies surrounding him. So when his concerned parents send him to a school for troubled youth, Bo assumes he knows the truth: that he’s actually attending Berkshire Academy, a school for kids who, like Bo, have “superpowers.”

At Berkshire, Bo falls in love with Sofia, a quiet girl with a tragic past and the superpower of invisibility. Sofia helps Bo open up in a way he never has before. In turn, Bo provides comfort to Sofia, who lost her mother and two sisters at a very young age. 

But even the strength of their love isn’t enough to help Sofia escape her deep depression. After she commits suicide, Bo is convinced that she’s not actually dead. He believes that she’s stuck somewhere in time — that he somehow left her in the past, and now it’s his job to save her.  

Using a complicated literary format (heroic crown of sonnets) and wrenching subject matter (the lynching of Emmett Till) poet Marilyn Nelson creates a work of complete beauty. Each of the 15 sonnets feature a part of Till’s story, using imagery and metaphor rather than straightforward graphic language. The illustrations by Philippe Lardy are a lovely complement to the poetry.

Most boys look forward to birthdays, but not Palmer. Once he turns 10-years old, he’s expected to assume the role of “wringer” in the town’s annual pigeon shoot. He doesn’t want to strangle wounded birds any more than he wants to be bullied. His dilemma is compounded by the secret he keeps in his room.

How the Murray children search through time to find and save their missing scientist father continues to enthrall readers even 50 years after its publication. The author was awarded the Newbery Medal for what has become a classic time travel fantasy.

One morning before school, someone tells Piddy Sanchez that Yaqui Delgado hates her and wants to “kick her ass.” Piddy doesn’t even know who Yaqui is, never mind what she’s done to get her attention. But as the harassment escalates, avoiding Yaqui and her gang starts to take over Piddy’s life. Is there any way for Piddy to survive without closing herself off or running away? In an all-too-realistic novel dealing head-on with bullying, Meg Medina draws upon her own experiences to portray a sympathetic heroine who is forced to decide who she really is. Winner Pura Belpré award.

It is 1970 in Red Grove, Alabama, and Latina sixth-grader Lu Olivera just wants to get along with everyone, but growing racial tensions will not let Lu stay neutral about the racial divide in school. 

Teenage Rayona is abandoned by her parents and goes to live with her grandmother, called Aunt Ida, on the reservation where her Mother was raised. Three generations of Native American women are beautifully portrayed in the audiobook by Dorris and acclaimed narrator Rosenblat.

Five girls. Three generations. One great American love story. You Bring the Distant Near explores sisterhood, first loves, friendship, and the inheritance of culture — for better or worse. Ranee, worried that her children are losing their Indian culture; Sonia, wrapped up in a forbidden biracial love affair; Tara, seeking the limelight to hide her true self; Shanti, desperately trying to make peace in the family; Anna, fighting to preserve her Bengali identity. Award-winning author Mitali Perkins weaves together a sweeping story of five women at once intimately relatable and yet entirely new. Winner of the Walter Dean Myers Honor Award for Young Adult Literature.

Two 15 year olds — one black one white — meet and fall in love at an exclusive New York prep school. Both deal with their family issues as well as with how their growing relationship is received. This difficult novel is told in the couple’s alternating voices — until the wrenching and tragic conclusion.

When her music scholarship falls through, Black teen Liz Lighty is forced to turn to her school’s scholarship for prom king and queen, which plunges her into the gauntlet of social media which she hates and leads her to discoveries about her own identity and the value of true friendships.

In 1991, during Cuba’s el período especial en tiempos de paz — the special period in times of peace — Liana and Amado find love after their severe hunger gives both courage to risk government retribution by skipping a summer of labor to seek food. 

There are issues you care about and now you can do something about them. It’s Your World will show you how to act on your beliefs, no matter what they are, and make a difference.

Have you ever wondered who first thought to freeze cream? Or when people began making sweet pastry shells to encase fruity fillings? Food sprite Peri is excited to show you the delicious history of sweets while taking you around the world and back!
 
The team-up that made ice cream cones!
 
The mistake that made brownies!
 
Learn about and taste the true stories behind everyone’s favorite treats, paired with fun and easy recipes to try at home. After all, sweets—and their stories—are always better when they’re shared!

Zenobia July is starting a new life. She used to live in Arizona with her father; now she’s in Maine with her aunts. She used to spend most of her time behind a computer screen, improving her impressive coding and hacking skills; now she’s coming out of her shell and discovering a community of friends at Monarch Middle School. People used to tell her she was a boy; now she’s able to live openly as the girl she always knew she was. When someone anonymously posts hateful memes on her school’s website, Zenobia knows she’s the one with the abilities to solve the mystery, all while wrestling with the challenges of a new school, a new family, and coming to grips with presenting her true gender for the first time.