Fresh Reads, Honest reviews, Educator-approved
Will Chambers is the only “round kid” in a school full of thin ones. He hides behind oversized hoodies and avoids the cafeteria, struggling with shame and self-doubt. When a cruel comment in fourth grade triggers years of pain, Will begins to spiral, using food restriction to cope.
Set in Oswego, New York during the Gilded Age, this historical fiction novel recounts the true and haunting story of ten-year-old Virginia Tonkin, whose death sparked one of the region’s most enduring legends.
Teen Josie Black, known as J.B., begins noticing strange memory lapses that her mother dismisses as stress. When she investigates, J.B. uncovers a shocking secret—she has been unknowingly trained as a spy by her mother and a covert organization.
Tavia is already at odds with the world, forced to keep her siren identity under wraps in a society that wants to keep her kind under lock and key. Nevermind she’s also stuck in Portland, Oregon, a city with only a handful of black folk and even fewer of those with magical powers.
Throughout World War II, in the conflict fought against Japan, Navajo code talkers were a crucial part of the U.S. effort, sending messages back and forth in an unbreakable code that used their native language.