National Network for Equitable Library Service

"A dazzling debut novel about resilience, courage, home and family."--Rebecca Stead, Newbery Award-winning author of When You Reach MeSoHo, 1981. Twelve-year-old Olympia is an artist--and in her neighborhood, that's normal. Her dad and his business partner Apollo bring antique paintings back to life, while her mother makes intricate sculptures in a corner of their loft, leaving Ollie to roam the streets of New York with her best friends Richard and Alex, drawing everything that catches her eye. Then everything falls apart.

A determined 12-year-old girl bikes across the country in this quirky and charming debut middle grade novel. Introverted Bicycle has lived most of her life at the Mostly Silent Monastery in Washington, D.C. When her guardian, Sister Wanda, announces that Bicycle is going to attend a camp where she will learn to make friends, Bicycle says no way and sets off on her bike for San Francisco to meet her idol, a famous cyclist, certain he will be her first true friend.

Humphrey the classroom hamster has adventures going to the library, learning about the ocean, and sailing across a pond on a sailboat.

An exciting #OwnVoices middle-grade debut starring a Muslim boy with a huge imagination Welcome to the imaginative brain of Omar! Omar and his family have just moved, and he is NOT excited about starting at a new school. What if the work is too hard or the kids are mean or the teacher is a zombie alien'! But when Omar makes a new best friend, things start looking up. That is, until a Big Mean Bully named Daniel makes every day a nightmare! Daniel even tells Omar that all Muslims are going to be kicked out of the country ...

Sam meets a stranger who helps him make the perfect decision on how to spend his lucky money.

Frances is worried about the monkey and organ grinder who play near her window, especially after she sees them sleeping outside on the cold street after midnight. To express her compassion, she finds just the right thing to say at the local Christmas pageant.

On Valentine's Day, Gilbert brings a tin of homemade cookies and his original nice or nasty poems to school.

One summer, a car full of relatives came a long way to visit a family. The relatives hugged and ate and stayed for weeks, tending the garden and fixing around the house. And when they left, the house was too quiet, and the family and the relatives dreamed about their next reunion.

Grandma's tiny house stays small as her family grows and this time as they all gather she wonders will everyone fit inside? A fantastic feast unfolds as family and friends and neighbors arrive with lots of food and energy until... the walls bulge! "There is no more space! How will we all eat in this too-tiny place?" One of the "FIFTEEN hungry grandchildren" provides the solution in this rhyming, counting story of a large, impromptu gathering that celebrates the joys of family, friends and food.

Rachel has been chosen to ride a bike in Riverdale's parade! There's only one problem—she doesn't know how. But she's determined to learn! She and her dad go all over Riverdale to prepare for the big day—from the bank to the bike shop. How is Rachel's town similar to and different from other towns? Come along and see what makes Riverdale worth celebrating!