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When a boy from an abusive home is placed in foster care with an old woman, he brings with him his troubles — an invitation to the Sinisteeds, nighttime visitors to humans who gather memories good or not so good. Tough, timely topics are handled in a straightforward telling in this compelling and credible fantasy.

Dangerous work and long hours were the norm for some poor children-many of them young immigrants — who worked in Pennsylvania coal mines prior to child labor laws.

Two friends — one black and wealthy, the other poor and white — are united by their lack of mothers, but divided by the racism and classicism in their small Ohio town.

“You’re always drawing in that notebook of yours,” Dino’s friend teases. To the small boy, 1950s Havana is alive with color, music, and glamour, and he itches to capture it on paper. When Fidel Castro and the Communist Party take over the Cuban government, Dino’s family must move to New York, where the lonely boy pours his heart into making a model of Havana’s archways and balconies, buildings and streets. Rosemary Wells composes a tender ode to an immigrant boy who grew up to be a U.S. architect, while Peter Ferguson’s atmospheric paintings evoke two vibrant cities as they were half a century ago.

Livia Bitton-Jackson a.ka. Elli Friedmann, was only 13 years old when the Nazis invaded Hungary. She recounts her struggle to survive with her mother, first in the ghetto, then in the Plaszow Concentration Camp (the one shown in Stephen Spielberg movie, Schindler’s List), and then while working in a factory in Augsburg.

Jack’s life is a crazy roller-coaster ride. At his fifth school in six years, he has a crackpot teacher who wont give him a break about his lousy handwriting and a secret crush who wants to be a policewoman. At home, he has a pesky little brother with a knack for breaking an arm whenever Jack’s supposed to be looking after him, a terror for an older sister, all sorts of weird neighbors, and, last but not least, ferocious alligators in the canal behind his house.

To avoid spending time with his father and his new girlfriend, eleven-year-old Nathan goes to stay with his grandma, Nali, on the Navajo reservation where Nathan meets a Holy Being from the Navajo Creation Story—a Water Monster in need of his help.

Though war is not the focus of this story, it does drive the plot. When young Brother’s father is shipped off to Iraq, he must assume more responsibility on the family farm. This is a unique, spiritual book that will appeal to those looking for gentle reads.

Kate and her astrophysicist grandfather share a special bond, so when her grandfather disappears and his lab is attacked by an alien outsider, Kate must find him and the secret of his most important project. Book one of The Heroic Adventures of Kate trilogy.

The powerful graphic memoir from Jarrett Krosoczka about growing up with a drug-addicted mother, a missing father, and two opinionated grandparents. Hey, Kiddo is a profoundly important story about a family grappling with addiction and finding the art that helps you survive. National Book Award finalist.

You can see related interviews with Jarrett about Hey, Kiddo on Jarrett's website, as well as his TED talk in which he shares his personal story.

Ten-year old Lucky lives in a small California desert town with her guardian Brigitte, her father’s ex. Lucky’s “family” also includes the adults at the 12-Step meetings she eavesdrops on. When Lucky begins to worry that Brigitte will return to her native France, she searches for her own “higher power.” This title is a Newbery Award winner.

Brit’s parents go on vacation, leaving her with her 85-year old grandmother. But Nannie has vacation plans of her own — she is going to her 65th college reunion, and she’s taking her classmates with her. As the “girls” head up Interstate 95, the plot expands to include everything from kidnapping to the rights of the elderly. This is a fast-paced and fun intergenerational adventure.

Even though she’s a little on the small side, Termite can take care of herself-and has been through twelve foster homes. Her newest “home” in Forest Glen, California, is home to many other foster kids. As logging operations there have been suspended due to the discovery of a rare owl, many logging families have taken in foster kids to help ends meet. After coming to appreciate the beauty of the forest and getting attached to a giant redwood, Termite finds herself between those whose lives depend on trees and those who live to protect the trees and the wildlife that depends on them.

Sunita, a volunteer at the Wild at Heart Animal Clinic, desperately wants a cat of her own, but her parents won’t hear of it. Eventually, Sunita gets her animal as readers learn about feral cats and the need for animal control.

When 16-year-old Hope and the aunt who has raised her move from Brooklyn to Mulhoney, Wisconsin, to work as waitress and cook in the Welcome Stairways diner, they become involved with the diner owner’s political campaign to oust the town’s corrupt mayor. (from Penguin.com)

Jack buys an old stuffed bear at a thrift shop, planning to draw it for his art project. But that bear gets him into a whole lot of trouble.

Ana Shen has what her social studies teacher calls a “marvelously biracial, multicultural family” but what Ana simply calls a Chinese-American father and an African-American mother. And on eighth-grade graduation day, that’s a recipe for disaster. Both sets of grandparents are in town to celebrate, and Ana’s best friend has convinced her to invite Jamie Tabata-the cutest boy in school—for a home-cooked meal.

Life for 14-year old Tomi Nakaji and other Japanese-Americans living on the Hawaiian island of Oahu has changed radically since the bombing of Pearl Harbor the previous year. He confronts violence, despair but ultimately finds hope in this gripping sequel to Under the Blood-Red Sun (1994).

Eighteen-year-old Amir Azadi always knew coming out to his Muslim family would be messy—he just didn’t think it would end in an airport interrogation room. But when faced with a failed relationship, bullies, and blackmail, running away to Rome is his only option. Right? Soon, late nights with new friends and dates in the Sistine Chapel start to feel like second nature… until his old life comes knocking on his door. Now, Amir has to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth to a US Customs officer, or risk losing his hard-won freedom. At turns uplifting and devastating, How It All Blew Up is Arvin Ahmadi’s most powerful novel yet, a celebration of how life’s most painful moments can live alongside the riotous, life-changing joys of discovering who you are. 

Harper Evans wants to help. She’s always been passionate about the planet, but also desires to help people who live on it. So when her father suggests she spend the summer with Homes from the Heart, she jumps at the chance to help build a new house for a family in a Tennessee community devastated by a tornado. She feels a little guilty though because it’s not just an opportunity for her to help; it’s her chance to run away from her dad’s divorce, stepsister’s hostility and her boyfriend situation.

Hungry Planet is a photo-chronicle of families around the world, the food they eat, and how uncontrollable forces like poverty, conflict and globalization affect our most elemental human need – food.

“Young Quebrado’s name means ‘the broken one,’ a child ‘of two shattered worlds.’ The son of a Taíno Indian mother and a Spanish father, he is taken in 1510 from his village on the island that is present-day Cuba and enslaved on a pirate’s ship, where a brutal conquistador, responsible for thousands of deaths throughout the Americas, is held captive for ransom. When a hurricane destroys the boat, Quebrado is pulled from the water by a fisherman, Naridó, whose village welcomes him, but escape from the past proves nearly impossible.” — Gillian Engberg, Booklist

Growing up is particularly difficult for Evie Green as she has no past. She lost it when her father testified against fellow police officers in a racially motivated murder. Each family member must learn to deal with their new lives and identities alone.

Lucy was raised by foster parents after her own mother became mentally ill, foster parents who may know more about her past than they’ve shared. Lucy must solve a puzzle, found in the song Scarborough Fair, to break a curse and save her own sanity. Werlin, known mysteries and thrillers, gives this story a unique touch of fantasy.