January/February 2016
— An African boy witnesses his mother's sacrifice when colonial soldiers raid their village, discovering that true bravery sometimes means choosing not to fight.
— Turn Left at the Cow, by Lisa Bullard; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: New York, 2013; $16.99 When I read this book, I realized right away how it got its name. In...
— When villagers capture wolf pups for companionship, a girl who frees one is granted the power to speak to wolves and must negotiate peace between the species.
— A girl journeys through fields and past a mill to a windowsill where, with pencil and paper, she begins to write as if the page were a ballroom.
— A fashion-conscious ten-year-old chooses a fancy dress for a family gathering, then watches from the sidelines until she decides playing with cousins matters more than looking perfect.
— An English girl grieving her father's death moves to Germany and creates a magical world in the apartment building's garden, finding friendship through imagination.
— A girl watches classmates bully an autistic student on the bus until a fifth-grader intervenes, transforming the entire bus culture with one act of courage.
— A speaker deliberately ignores the decay around them—dirty dishes, holes in walls, a broken fishbowl—because noticing would make it feel less like home.
— A boy learns his parents are divorcing, finds solace in his golden retriever Lucky, and escapes into baseball—both through books and a Giants game.
— Playing for the Commandant, by Suzy Zail; Candlewick Press: Massachusetts, 2014; $16.99 When Suzy Zail, author of Playing for the Commandant, details how Hanna, our young Jewish protagonist, was shipped...