Breaking Through

Ages 8–12

Marjorie Agosín

Celeste Marconi’s peaceful life on Butterfly Hill in Valparaíso, Chile, ends when a dictatorship takes hold. She is sent to Maine while her parents go into hiding — a Pura Belpré Medal novel about exile, waiting, and finding a way home.

Ages 8–12

Julia Alvarez

After Tyler’s family hires undocumented Mexican workers to save their Vermont farm, he becomes close with Mari Cruz. Letters between the two children hold a secret that could split both families apart. Pura Belpré Medal.

Ages 8–12

Alexandra Diaz

After a gang kills his cousin in Guatemala, twelve-year-old Jaime and his sister Ángela flee north toward the United States. A Pura Belpré Honor about the journey families should not have to make.

Ages 8–12

Kelly Yang

Mia Tang has a lot of secrets. Number 1: She lives in a motel, not a big house. Number 2: Her parents hide immigrants. Number 3: She wants to be a writer. It will take all of Mia's courage, kindness, and hard work to get through this year.

Ages 8–12

Jacqueline Woodson

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! Jacqueline Woodson's first middle-grade novel since National Book Award winner Brown Girl Dreaming celebrates the healing that can occur when a group of students share their stories.

Ages 8–12

Thanhhà Lai

Inside Out & Back Again is a verse novel by Thanhha Lai. The book was awarded the 2011 National Book Award for Young People's Literature and one of the two Newbery Honors. The novel was based on her first year in the United States, as a ten-year-old girl who spoke no English in 1975.