A twist on Sleeping Beauty, Princess of the Wild Sea explores the concept of heroism and the danger and reward of risk-taking. Princess of the Wild Sea by Megan Frazer Blakemore. Bloomsbury, 2023, 303 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: ages 10-14 A Curse and a Promise Princess Harbor Rose’s 12th birthday was supposed to bring significant changes to her restricted life on Small Island. The story of her situation is well known: how she was cursed at birth by a disgruntled magical aunt, who predicted how a prick to the girl’s finger before her 13th birthday would precipitate death and destruction to her homeland. But another…

Victory, Stand!, this year’s ALA YA nonfiction award winner, tells the story of the notorious “Olympic fist” from a point of view that makes it understandable. Victory, Stand! Raising My Fist for Justice by Tommie Smith and Derrick Barnes, artwork by Dawud Anyabwile. Norton, 2022, 202 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: ages 10-15 Raising a Champion When the national anthem played, they bowed their heads and raised their fists, sheathed in black leather gloves. Tommie Smith had just won an Olympic gold medal for breaking a record in the 200 meter; his friend and teammate had won bronze. They hadn’t planned what they were going to…

Victory, Stand!, this year’s ALA YA nonfiction award winner, tells the story of the notorious “Olympic fist” from a point of view that makes it understandable. Victory, Stand! Raising My Fist for Justice by Tommie Smith and Derrick Barnes, artwork by Dawud Anyabwile. Norton, 2022, 202 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: ages 10-15 Raising a Champion When the national anthem played, they bowed their heads and raised their fists, sheathed in black leather gloves. Tommie Smith had just won an Olympic gold medal for breaking a record in the 200 meter; his friend and teammate had won bronze. They hadn’t planned what they were going to…

In the Blue gently explores what it is like for a child to experience the depression of a loved one. In the Blue by Erin Hourigan. Little Brown Books for Young Readers, 2022. 40 pages. Reading Level: Picture Books, ages 4-8 Recommended For: Ages 4-8 “My dad is as tall as the sky! And I’m his teeny-tiny sunspot.” A vivacious little girl introduces readers to her dad. As the cover and illustrations quickly show though, there is something wrong. Colors are used to explain the transformation as pages shift from a joyful array of colors to a limited palette. “Right now things for my dad aren’t bright and yellow. They…

15-year-old boys: learning to drive. Wrestling with heavy high school work (10th grade is usually more intense than 9th, in terms of work load). Taking standardized tests with an eye to college. Girlfriend? Part-time job? Who has time to read? When the right book appears, it’s amazing what you can make time for! We’ve got 15 books for 15-year-old boys, but don’t expect any one 15 year old to like them all. After all, part of maturing as a teen and separating from parents is having Opinions. That goes for books and genres, too. But we’ve got a nice mix of genres that include a little something for every type…

At Jersualem’s Gate offers poetic meditations on what people involved in the events leading to Christ’s resurrection might have thought and felt. At Jerusalem’s Gate: Poems of Easter by Nikki Grimes and illustrated by David Frampton. Eerdmans, 2005. 48 pages. Reading Level: Picture Books, ages 8-10 Recommended For: Ages 6 and up At Jerusalem’s Gate begins with the triumphal entry we now call “Palm Sunday.” A free verse poem presents the story from the perspective of an observer. From there, poems move through the Pharisees and Sadducees plotting about Jesus to the Passover, Gethsemane, Jesus’s betrayal, all the way to the cross and finally the resurrection. Much of this book…