Ages 8–12
90 Miles to HavanaEnrique Flores-Galbis
Julian and his brothers leave Havana on Operation Pedro Pan and land in a Miami camp where bullies run the yard. Inspired by the author’s childhood. Pura Belpré Honor.
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Celia C. Pérez
The First Rule of Punk
Ages 8–12
Twelve-year-old María Luisa O'Neill-Morales (who really prefers to be called Malú) reluctantly moves with her Mexican-American mother to Chicago and starts seventh grade with a bang--violating the dress code with her punk rock aesthetic and spurning the middle school's most popular girl in favor of starting a band with a group of like-minded weirdos.
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Why this book
Family and language as they actually sound at the table.
Who it's for
Ages 8-12. Home, or the classroom rug.
Conversation starter
Who in this book feels like you? Who still feels new?
Try this
Chapter break. One true sentence about what just happened. Not a summary.
Pair with
Two titles that deepen the same conversation.
Ages 8–12
American Born ChineseGene Luen Yang
American Born Chinese is a 2006 National Book Award Finalist for Young People's Literature, the winner of the 2007 Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album: New, an Eisner Award nominee for Best Coloring, a 2007 Bank Street Best Children's Book ...
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Ages 8–12
Black Brother, Black BrotherJewell Parker Rhodes
From NYT bestselling author Jewell Parker Rhodes, another poignant and gripping story about how children and families face the complexities of race and racism in today's world.
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Ages 8–12
Breaking ThroughFrancisco Jiménez
Jiménez’s memoir continues after The Circuit: a migrant farmworker student in 1950s California fights to stay in school. Pura Belpré Honor.
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Ages 8–12
Esperanza RisingPam Muñoz Ryan
Esperanza and her mother are forced to leave their life of wealth and privilege in Mexico to go work in the labor camps of Southern California, where they must adapt to the harsh circumstances facing Mexican farm workers on the eve of the ...
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Ages 8–12
I Lived on Butterfly HillMarjorie 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.
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Ages 8–12
InvisibleChristina Diaz Gonzalez
This Breakfast Club--inspired story by Christina Diaz Gonzalez, award-winning author of Concealed, and Gabriela Epstein, illustrator of two Baby-Sitters Club graphic novel adaptations, is a must-have graphic novel about unexpected ...
$12.99$14.99
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Ages 8–12
Merci Suárez Changes GearsMeg Medina
Winner of the Newbery Medal A New York Times Bestseller Thoughtful, strong-willed sixth-grader Merci Suarez navigates difficult changes with friends, family, and everyone in between in a resonant new novel from Meg Medina.
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