Youth – What We’re Reading

Margarita Engle provides us with an intimate portrait of her childhood struggle to find her place in the world. Torn between her homeland of Cuba and American home in Los Angeles, Margarita’s loneliness is used as a catalyst for her drawings and writings. This enchanting story tells of a love for her family and beloved island of Cuba, and the fear and anguish she feels at being cut off from them during the Cuban Missile Crisis….

This Poet Laureate winner is a collection of poems is a celebration of the earth, nature, and science, taking the reader on a poetic journey from the beginning of time in our world to present day. With a focus on the family tree of all life on earth, this book appropriately begins with a quote and diagram of the Tree of Life by Charles Darwin;…

The year is 1919. Henrietta’s father is moving the family to Hope House after a family tragedy. Mama has become very withdrawn and ill, and the strange Doctor Hardy is treating her with bed rest and sedatives to help with her “unspoken” condition. Henry’s father takes a job abroad almost immediately, leaving her with Nanny Jane and her younger sister,…

What do you do when your BFF since Kindergarten moves away
then moves back several months later? Shannon and Adrienne have
always been there for each other – they were the girl wonders after all…
until she moves back and the other kids in class want to be her friend, too…
including Jen, the most popular girl in class and “The Group.” Everyone
wants to be friends with Jen,…

Do you have a cat (or 2? or 3?) at home? You are going to love this collection of true stories about cats, including the oldest living cat that found its way back home after being lost for over a year! You’ll read about Simon, a cat that helped saved a ship full of sailors on a British warship. You’ll read about Monty,…