Nicky & Vera, by Caldecott illustrator Peter Sís, celebrates the quiet heroism of Nicholas Winton, who saved 669 Czech children from the Holocaust. Nicky & Vera: A Quiet Hero of the Holocaust and the Children He Rescued by Peter Sís. Norton, 2021, 60 pages. Reading Level: Picture Book, ages 4-8 Recommended for: ages 4-10 “Nicky was born in 1909, into a century full of promise.” World-shaking events would soon begin to erode that promise, but Nicky managed to avoid them during his early years. His comfortable British middle-class upbringing allowed for a fine education, the opportunity to travel Europe, and eventually become a banker. By the mid-1930s, though, he could…

ꜟVamos! Let’s Go Eat!, Welcoming Elijah, and Miriam at the River all won 2021 ALA awards for outstanding illustration in their categories. ꜟVamos! Let’s Go Eat! by Raúl the Third, colors by Elaine Bay.  Versify (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), 2020, 38 pages. Reading Level: Picture Book, ages 0-4 Recommended for: ages 3-6 (ꜟVamos! Let’s Go Eat! was this year’s Pura Delpre award winner for illustration.) Little Lobo and his partner Kooky Dooky (a rooster) make food deliveries for special events in their town. Today, there’s a huge event: a Lucha Libre match featuring El Toro y sus Amigos (which even beginning Spanish learners will recognize as “the Bull and his friends.”…

Ida Mae Jones is a true “flygirl” in this engaging historical fiction read for teens that examines issues of race, coming-of-age, and learning to fly. Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith. Penguin, 2010. 304 pages. Reading Level: Young adult, ages 14-18 Recommended For: Ages 14-18 Ida Mae Jones, aka “Jonesy,” is 18, African American, and a wannabe pilot. She knows how to fly, but in the 1940’s, women rarely get their pilot licenses, African Americans (female or not) even more rarely. When the war comes along, poor strawberry farmers in Louisiana want to do their part; Ida Mae’s older brother enlists and heads off to fight. She’s left behind cleaning houses…

The Blossom and the Firefly, Hana and Taro, are brought together by music and war in this emotional historical fiction read for teens. The Blossom and the Firefly by Sherri L. Smith. Putnam’s, 2020. 340 pages. Reading Level: Teens/Young Adult, ages 15-18 Recommended For: Ages 15-18 Hana helps her classmates wash the sheets and hang them to dry. They’re waiting for the call that the next group of tokkō pilots will be leaving on their flight. Instead of farming, like Hana’s mother thinks, Hana’s Nadeshiko Unit from her school is performing a far more emotionally grueling role. The tokkō pilots are young Japanese pilots heading out on kamikaze missions during…