by Kelly YangConditional Recommendation: Chinese immigrants Mia Tang and her family work hard to run a motel and achieve the American Dream while confronting obstacles like prejudice with determination, hope, and kindness.
Awards: 2019 Asian Pacific American Award for Children’s Literature
by Janette Oke & T. Davis BunnUnconditional Recommendation: In Acadia, a chance meeting creates a strong bond of friendship and faith between an Englishwoman and a Frenchwoman during a time of hostilities and impending war between their homelands.
Awards: Christy Award for North American Historical (2000)
by Tui T. SutherlandConditional Recommendation: Told from the perspective of Clay the MudWing, the dragonets of destiny come out of hiding and enter the world only to discover it more dangerous and violent than they were expecting.
Genre: Fantasy
by Margo HansenUnconditional Recommendation: A shotgun wedding to a stranger, a tangle of relationships, and strange circumstances happening all over Sand Creek make for an engaging and sentimental finale to the series.
Genre: Historical Christian Romance
by Francine RiversConditional Recommendation: An old lonely lady, her bitter daughter, and her loving granddaughter navigate family secrets and redemption in this moving story.
Genre: Christian Contemporary
by Wilson RawlsConditional Recommendation: An engaging tale of friendship and adventure shared by a boy and his two hound dogs.
Awards: Massachusetts Children’s Book Award (1987), North Dakota Children’s Choice Award (1981).
by Elizabeth George SpeareUnconditional Recommendation: Katherine “Kit” Tyler must learn to live in a Puritan community with her relatives but befriends the Witch of Blackbird Pond and risks being persecuted as a witch herself.
Awards: Newbery Medal (1959), Dorothy Canfeld Fisher Children’s Book Award (1960)
by Michael MorpurgoConditional Recommendation: The story of the First World War as told from the perspective of a farm horse turned cavalry horse.
Genre: Historical, Animal
by Jessica Day GeorgeConditional Recommendation: 11-year-old Princess Celie and her siblings strive together within their magical castle to protect themselves and their kingdom.
Awards: Utah Book Award for Children’s (2011), Pennsylvania Young Readers’ Choice Award for Grades 3-6 (2013), California Young Readers Medal for Intermediate (2015), Rebecca Caudill Young Readers’ Book Award (2015)
by Kenneth OppelConditional Recommendation: Matt Cruse’s adventures continue as he, Kate and a gypsy race to recover the ghost ship Hyperion and its treasures before falling prey to deadly high-altitude life forms and other sailors who seek its riches.
Awards: Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Award for Adult Middle Reader (2006), OLA Forest of Reading Red Maple Award for Fiction (2006)