A solitary boy with a red knit cap and a knapsack wanders the countryside searching for a playmate—preferably one who likes to seesaw, catch, and hide-and-seek. A shy blue bear does not seem ideal, even if he does have his own... Read More

It isn’t easy being an awkward narwhal or a shy walrus in Miss Blubber’s School for Arctic Mammals, especially when all the other students are seals; it isn’t long before Neville and Wilfred begin to dread attending class. When a... Read More

In Zeruya Shalev’s searing contemporary novel "Pain", an Israeli woman who survived a terror attack is forced to address the wounds that will not heal. Ten years ago, Iris survived a bus bombing. Scraped off of molten pavement, she... Read More

In the wake of the Bolshevik Revolution, many Russians fled the country and ensconced themselves in interwar Europe. Irina Odoevtseva’s novel "Isolde" speaks to the sense of alienation that many young Russians felt as they waited,... Read More

Victoria Williamson’s "The Boy with the Butterfly Mind" is a story about acceptance and empathy. In Scotland, eleven-year-old Elin lives with her mother and her mother’s boyfriend, Paul. She thinks that if she can just be perfect,... Read More

A spunky heroine, a not quite human boy, and a little sprinkle of magic make Stephanie Burgis’s middle grade fantasy, "The Princess Who Flew with Dragons", charming. Sofia knows that she’ll never equal her older sister, Katrin. She... Read More

Dovey Johnson Roundtree’s powerful memoir "Mighty Justice" covers her devotion to legal, racial, and gender equality. Roundtree was born in 1914, and in her 104 years worked as both an attorney and a minister to fight for the rights of... Read More

Clint Edwards’s memoir "Silence Is a Scary Sound" is written from the family trenches, as his toddler navigates the transition between babyhood and childhood, asserting independence and making mistakes. Though it is heavy on humor,... Read More