This is a beautiful book about identity and being true to yourself.  Amina Khokar, a Pakistani-American girl who lives with her parents and older brother in Milkauwee has just started middle school and is feeling a little lost.  Her best friend is drifting away, her uncle is visiting from Pakistan and her mom and dad are worried that they need to be "more traditional”. Amina’s beautiful voice has been in hiding due to shyness and anxiety. To make matters worse, her family has signed her up for the Qu’ran reciting competition.
After an awful attack on the community’s Islamic Center, an inter-faith effort rallies around the Muslim community. Amina struggles to define her sense of self among family, friends, faith, as well as the world around her that is by turns hostile and embracing.  Will Amina find the strength to free her voice?  
It is the first novel from Salaam Reads, a new imprint of Simon & Schuster.


Tessa's Picks, 4th grade, 5th grade, 6th Summer 2017, Contemporary Fiction, Issues Fiction, Friendship, Family Life, People of Color

 

Not since the Penderwicks has there been such  a loveable family novel.  Four parents: two gay couples, a man from Yukon and one from Dehli plus a woman from Jamaica and a Mohawk woman. They all became best friends and decided to have a baby together. One of the moms wins the lottery and they buy a rambling big house that they call Camelottery and fill it with seven kids and five pets.
Nine year old Sumac is the most level-headed of the lot until her world and her room are invaded by an aged grandfather no one has ever met as he and his son did not get along.  Grumps has dementia and would rather be home in Alaska. Sumac tries to be nice but he disapproves of everything lottery including vegetables, whole grains, gay people, and the whole multicultural household.  The family comes to see that sometimes the most contrary people are the ones who need love the most.This book is laugh out loud funny and would make a great read aloud.

Tessa's Picks, 3rd & 4th Summer 2017, 6th grade, Contemporary Fiction. Family Life, LGBTQ, People of Color

​Braden just wants to keep his head down and play baseball. But his entire world is turned upside-down when his father is arrested for killing a police officer. His father is a well-known christian radio personality, which makes the case a field day for the press. Braden is the key witness in his trail, and in the midst of this circus he has to decide how he will testify. Everyone takes sides, and naturally his team has his back. The nephew of the cop Braden's father is accused of killing plays baseball at a neighboring school, and when the two teams face off, everyone feels that there's much more than a game at stake.

I'm not a baseball fan, but this book made me care about the game. Religion, politics, sexuality, sports, race: this book sounds like the recipe for an awkward and contentious dinner conversation, but somehow Gilbert pulls it all together into a fantastic and compelling novel.

Conviction by Kelly Loy Gilbert

Erica's Picks 8th & up
Tags: Character Driven, Contemporary Fiction, Family Life, Issues Fiction, LGBTQ, Sports

Told in alternating viewpoints, this novel presents Naomi Marie who is African American, a big sister and finally feeling better about living with her mother since her parents’ divorce and Naomi E. who is white, an only child also dealing with a divorce and a mom who has moved away.  Both the girls are ten years old when their parents start dating each other.
When Naomi Marie’s mom and Naomi Edith’s dad get serious about dating, each girl tries to cling to the life she knows and loves. Then their parents push them into attending a class together, where they might just have to find a way to work with each other—and maybe even join forces to find new ways to define family.  Love and laughter and lots of empathy make this a joyful read.



Tessa's Picks, 4th grade, 5th grade, 6th Summer 2017, Contemporary Fiction, Family Life, Friendship, People of Color

"My name is Liv (Not Olivia)... I'm not technically a girl.I'm Transgender. Which is a bit like being a transformer. Only not quite as cool because I probably won't get to save the world one day." Liv knows he was always meant to be a boy and his new school's dress code won't even let him wear pants. He puts on the skirt of his new uniform and tears blur his vision.  Angry tears at how unfair it is and how wrong he feels. Supported by his two moms, Liv tries various methods of protest (wearing pants under the skirt, organizing a petition) but nothing can budge the powers that be until he meets some new friends who embrace his cause. This is a book about identity, acceptance and celebrating who you are.
Funny and empowering, this book will have you cheering for the pants project.


Tessa's Picks, 4th grade, 5th grade, Character driven, Issues Fiction, Friendship, School Stories, LGBTQ

 People of   With a diverse cast of characters, Harlem Charade takes on real-life issues of gentrification, big money and the loss of a neighborhood's history and culture. Harlem has long been synonymous with black culture and this books explores the rich heritage and present day issues.  Three 7th graders band together to solve a mystery and save their community. Jin who lives with her grandparents and helps run their bodega, keeps her keen observations in notebooks. Alex hides her embarrassing wealth and spends her free time trying to help the disadvantaged. Elvin has just arrived in Harlem to live with his estranged grandfather but is living on the streets after grandfather is mysteriously attacked. 
In their efforts to find the attackers, the three discover that there are missing master pieces from the past worth a fortune.  If they can uncover them, they may be able to stop an ambitious politician who wants to turn their neighborhood into a ludicrous historic theme park.
Daring, danger and plenty of action enliven this story about what it means to be a community and the power of art to show truth and define home.

Tessa's Picks, 6th grade Summer 2017, 7th grade, Adventure, Contemporary fiction, Friendship, Mystery, Issues Fiction, People of Color

Two interweaving stories of present-day Jesse who is dealing with grief over the death of her brother on 9/11, while in 2001, Alia, a Muslim teenager is trapped in one of the twin towers where she meets a boy who will change her destiny.
Jesse's family doesn't talk about her brother Travis and her parents are about to divorce. Lead astray by the wrong crowd, she is arrested for hate speech tagging,and is sentenced to community service at the Islam Peace Center. The friends she makes there instill in Jesse a new understanding of Muslims and the Islamic faith.

Alia, is an aspiring comic book writer/illustrator. An incident at school causes her parents to withdraw permission for Alia to attend a program for talented high school artists. On September 11, she heads to her father's office at the World Trade Center to plead with him to change his mind. She is there when the planes hit the building and as she struggles to escape the flames she must trust the boy she just met if they are to make it out alive.This  touching look at a national tragedy promotes healing and understanding.

8th Summer 2017, 7th grade, Issues Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Historical Fiction, Tessa's Picks

"Naeem is far from the “model teen.” Moving fast in his immigrant neighborhood in Queens is the only way he can outrun the eyes of his hardworking Bangladeshi parents and their gossipy neighbors. Even worse, they’re not the only ones watching. Cameras on poles. Mosques infiltrated. Everyone knows: Be careful what you say and who you say it to. Anyone might be a watcher." (from the flyleaf)
Naeem is more interested in street life than in studying and when his friend Ibrahim frames him for shop lifting, he finds himself faced with a hard decision.  The cops give him the choice of jail or becoming a watcher, an informer.  Naeem tries to convince himself that he is keeping people safe but as he starts attending mosque and participating in a Muslim teen volunteer group, he begins to like how being a good Muslim boy feels.  His unease with the role the cops have forced him into grows as he tries to extricate himself from their power.
This is a fast moving gripping tale that examines how it feel to grow up under surveillance, something that is a reality for may Muslim Americans.


Tessa's Picks, 8th grade Summer 2017, 7th grade, Contemporary Fiction, Issues Fiction, Character driven

Alina has always hidden her magic. She knew that her powers would set her apart. They'd take her away from her best friend, Mal, and the closest thing to family she had left. So she pretended to be normal, and she had everyone fooled. Until the day Mal got injured and only she could save him. Suddenly she's thrust into a world of magic and politics for which she was never prepared. With her country's fate in the balance, Alina needs to decide where her loyalties lie: with Mal and the other common soldiers, or with her fellow magic-wielders led by the mysterious Darkling.

Alina is a compelling protagonist and the choices she faces are complex and thrilling. The world is a fantasy one, but rooted in Russian mythology. There's many different factions at play which make for a complicated political situation as alliances are formed and broken and corruption is discovered in various guises.  An excellent series from start to finish!

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
Erica's Picks
6th & up
Tags: Adventure, Fantasy, Mytholgoy, Romance