March/April 2016
— An Indian college student encounters racism while grocery shopping, triggering memories of her parents who returned to India to afford her education.
— A bullied boy runs away into the Canadian wilderness, survives alone for days, and discovers his supposedly dead father has been living in the forest after being kidnapped years ago.
— A prose poem captures the joyful chaos of puppies at play, describing them as a single creature of fur, tongues, and wagging tails.
— My Cousin’s Keeper, by Simon French; Candlewick Press: Massachusetts, 2014; $16.99 Do you know what it feels like to be bullied? Have you ever felt left out? These are questions...
— A teen reluctantly agrees to teach piano to her blind neighbor, confronting her own prejudices when the girl calls her out for treating her differently because of her disability.
— A child races to watch the sunset, imagining where the sun goes, then becomes the sun sinking into bed while darkness transforms into regenerative sleep.
— A girl accompanies her stubborn friend into a forbidden forest to prove his bravery, only to encounter Shape Stealers—creatures that mimic humans—and flee when she can't distinguish friend from monster.
— A Haitian-American adoptee imagines helping the world through kindness, reuniting families, and bridging the gap between her birth country and adoptive home.
— The Way to Stay in Destiny, by Augusta Scattergood; Scholastic Press: New York, 2015; $16.99 It’s funny how we can adapt to the way we live and call it normal,...
— Three young cats journey to find a new home after their dying mother sends them away, guided by their deceased father's cryptic message about believing in possibilities.