Book Finder

At 16, Johnny is checking out of rehab and going to live with his uncle. Johnny loves old punk music and is obsessed with Debbie Harry. When he meets Maria, she helps him understand that this obsession might go even deeper, and she encourages him to get in touch with his feminine side, the one that might want to look like Debbie Harry.

One night, in a noisy punk rock club, Nick asks Norah to be his girlfriend, so that he can avoid his old girlfriend. Thus begins a night-long adventure that’s part New York mini-road trip, part foul-mouthed romance. Though the movie adaptation was PG-13, the original novel is closer to R-rated for its frank language.

This very different take on music features 11-year old Zoe, who dreams of being a concert pianist, until her Dad brings home an organ. Zoe learns to play and even enters a competition.

Through slightly fictionalized poetry, readers learn about a girl born in Baltimore who grows up to become jazz singer Billie Holiday. Her life is in not white-washed, there’s sex and drugs along with the music, but ultimately the music shines through. Floyd Cooper’s illustrations are gorgeous and perfectly suited.

Conservative, slightly uptight Leo finally finds out who his biological father is — his name is Maggot and he’s the lead singer of an old punk band that’s headed back on the road. Leo joins them to earn money and get to know how on earth this man could be his father.

Poems and photographs subtly introduce the stunning church bombing in which four girls were killed. Readers come to know each child as individuals as well as glimpse this sad, tumultuous period while looking toward a more hopeful future.

A range of original poetry is coupled with photographs and other visuals to present an unusual glimpse of African American life and history from the Civil War to recent times.

When a high school class starts having Friday afternoon open-mike poetry, the kids tell their life stories and worries in the poems included in this book. This is a great introduction to spoken word poetry and an inspiration to budding poets.

This classic poem, which may not be familiar to kids today, is given a contemporary update by illustrator Joe Morse, who moves the setting to the inner city. Contrast this version with other illustrated versions of the poem and examine how the illustrations and text work together to affect meaning.

Teenage Jessie shares the ups and downs of her life in these clever, and cleverly constructed, poems. This is a sequel to Technically It’s Not My Fault, which was told in the voice of her younger brother.

Despite the dry subtitle, this is actually a lively guide to poetry forms both familiar and obscure. In a picture-book format, Janeczko uses examples and informative language to illustrate a wide variety of poems.

Have you ever tried to write a poem about a pizza? How about a pig? This book gives you the inside scoop on writing poetry and shows you how you can turn your own experiences and stories about your family, your pets, and your friends into poems,

 A realistic and emotional novel about a woman battling mental illness and societal pressures written by the iconic American writer Sylvia Plath.The Bell Jar chronicles the crack-up of Esther Greenwood: brilliant, beautiful, enormously talented, and successful, but slowly going under—maybe for the last time. 

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. 

When Ernest Hemingway famously wrote, “For Sale: baby shoes, never worn,” he proved that an entire story can be told using a half-dozen words. In this book, a variety of writers try to sum up their life in six simple words. Clever and fun, this book is a perfect starting point for a similar writing lesson.

A thoroughly researched, fictionalized account of the life of Emily Dickinson as a young girl. While most obviously useful for school support, the book will also appeal to budding writers and those who enjoy a strong heroine.

In this historical fiction novel, 12-year-old Hannah find herself transported back in time. As she experiences the horrific events of the Holocaust that were often recounted by her grandparents, Hannah finds new reasons to embrace her family and culture.

Stanford flunks English and is forced to go to summer school instead of his beloved basketball camp. What makes it worse is Millicent Min, girl genius, is brought in to act as his tutor. This is a very funny book that will especially appeal to boys.

Wim lives in Cape Cod, where she drowns her sorrows in a riding stable. But something keeps drawing her to New Zealand — from visions of a tattooed Maori tribesman, to the New Zealander who comes to research Wim’s ancestors. Ghostly visions, family relations, and a hint of romance are woven through this ethereal novel.

Jen Dik Seong, aka “Dixie,” is dirt poor and living on the ragged edge of LA’s Koreatown. Her only outlet is the ancient martial art of hapkido, and shes on the verge of winning a championship—until she falls for surfer boy Adam. 

This non-fiction account of a medical crisis in the Hmong community is as compelling as any novel. When baby Lia is born to a Hmong family, she shows signs of possibly epilepsy. Conflicting medical opinions between the traditional Hmong and the American medical establishment show that neither side is completely right.