National Network for Equitable Library Service

Moonbeam Children's Book Award Gold Winner. A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. From the acclaimed author of The Wolf Suit comes another weirdly hilarious, masterfully thought-provoking, and lushly painted early reader graphic novel. Two sisters, one stubbornly cheerful (Beatrice) and one relentlessly grumpy (Magnolia), live in a drafty old house with a family of helpful spiders. When Beatrice is gifted magic yarn from a giant forest spider obsessed with sustainability named Bog Myrtle, she and the spiders set to work knitting up a perfectly warm sweater.

What can you do when the adult world lets you down? Suspended from school and prone to rages, twelve-year-old Kate finds her own way to get on with her life, despite the messed-up adults around her. Her gran, for one, is stubborn and aloof—not unlike Kate herself, who has no friends, and who's been expelled for "behavioral issues," like the meltdowns she has had ever since her mom dumped her with her grandmother three years ago. Kate dreams that one day her mother will return for her. When that happens, they'll need money, so Kate sets out to make some.

Calling all fans of myths, action-adventure, and the Percy Jackson series—don't miss this first book in the Blackwell Pages trilogy from bestselling authors K.L. Armstrong and Melissa Marr. While thirteen-year-old Matt Thorsen has always known he's a modern-day descendent of Thor, he's been living a normal kid's life. In fact, most people in the small town of Blackwell, South Dakota, are direct descendants of either Thor or Loki, including Matt's classmates Fen and Laurie Brekke. No big deal.

The conditions of the Dust Bowl created over 2.5 million refugees who fled massive dust storms and barren landscapes. Lauren Tarshis's story of one boy's journey to escape this disaster will leave you breathless. The Dust Bowl of the 1930s was the worst environmental disaster in American history, a time when "black blizzards" of dust, some hundreds of miles wide, swept across the southern plains. Hundreds of people were killed. Thousands of farms were buried. Millions of refugees fled starvation and sickness in the plains only to face hatred and prejudice in California.

Winner of the 2016 Odyssey Award for Excellence in Audiobook Production. An exceptionally moving story of triumph against all odds set during World War 2, from the acclaimed author of Jefferson’s Sons and for fans of Number the Stars. Nine-year-old Ada has never left her one-room apartment. Her mother is too humiliated by Ada’s twisted foot to let her outside. So when her little brother Jamie is shipped out of London to escape the war, Ada doesn’t waste a minute—she sneaks out to join him.

Anyone But Me. Katie Carew is fed up. Everything keeps going wrong. If only she could be anyone but herself! But Katie has to be careful what she wishes for . . . it just might come true. Out to Lunch. Katie wished she could be someone else. But she never thought it would come true! It was bad enough being the class hamster . . . could it possibly get any worse? Who will she turn into next?

It's the summer of 1989, and Mia is on her own—adjusting to life without her ex-best friend, Lara. Summer vacation starts off well enough as Mia binges MuchMusic and learns how to jar fish with her aunty and uncle. Then her grandma starts feeling unwell. At first, Mia isn't too worried, but when a call comes in from the clinic to say her grandmother has to go to the hospital in Vancouver, everyone realizes this is serious. Mia and her mom and aunties head to the city to be by her grandmother's side.

The first book in the series, Elvis, Me, and the Lemonade Stand Summer, won the City of Victoria Children's Book Prize and the Jean Little First-Novel Award. Winter rains have swept into Eagle Shores Trailer Park, and Truly is happily settling into a new life. A new home with Andy El, the Salish elder who took her in. A new responsibility to look after her new puppy, Gracie. A new passion for playing her not-quite-new guitar — gifted to her by Elvis Presley, the thought-to-be-dead King of Rock 'n' Roll and Truly's pen pal.

Look through the one-of-a-kind eyes of acclaimed author/illustrator Julie Morstad and explore the beauty, diversity and wonder of faces all around. A face is a poem with all the parts put together, adding up to someone you love. Have you ever stopped and looked, really looked, at a face? Do faces stay the same forever, or do they change? What if we could change faces to see through someone else's eyes? What if eyelashes were butterflylashes?

What makes the place we live feel like home? This is a warm-hearted and lush picture book about family, the immigrant experience and how a simple garden can foster a connection to the larger natural world. Mama was born in a country far away from here. I love her stories about warm rain in winter and green mountains. And now Mama's taking me there! When a young girl and her mother go to visit her family, the girl notices a change. At home, her mother mostly stays inside. Here, her mother likes to explore and go hiking. The girl has never seen her so happy!