By Alicia Gaspar de Alba Its the summer of 1998 and for 5 years over a hundred mangled and desecrated bodies have been found dumped in the Chicuahua desert outside of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, just across the river from El Paso, Texas. The perpetrators of the ever-rising number of violent deaths target poor young women,…
Biography Born and raised in Evanston, a Chicago suburb, Sam Weinberg is the son of a psychologist and former probation officer. He attended Glenbrook South High School in Glenview, Illinois before moving alone to the Middle East at the age of 17 to study peace-building diplomacy on the border of Israel-proper and the West Bank…
By Elsie Augustave Elsie Augustave’s debut novel, The Roving Tree, explores multiple themes: separation and loss, rootlessness, the impact of class privilege and color consciousness, and the search for cultural identity. The central character, Iris Odys, is the offspring of Hagathe, a Haitian maid, and Brahami, a French-educated mulatto father who cares little about his child.…
By Olivia A. Cole In the dazzling sequel to acclaimed author Oliva A. Cole’s YA sci-fi/fantasy debut, A Conspiracy of Stars, Octavia’s search to uncover the truth grows more dangerous as she becomes determined to protect her planet’s fate. This series is perfect for fans of Amie Kaufman, Veronica Roth, and Pierce Brown In the forty…
By Olivia A. Cole Enter the vivid and cinematic world of Faloiv in the first book of this dazzling YA sci-fi/fantasy series, perfect for fans of Carve the Mark, Red Rising, and These Broken Stars. Octavia has always dreamed of becoming a whitecoat, one of the prestigious N’Terra scientists who study the natural wonders of Faloiv. So when…
By Olivia A. Cole For fans of I’m Not Dying with You Tonight, this gripping YA novel digs into the historical and present-day effects of white supremacy and the depths of privilege. Shania never thinks much about being white. But after her beloved grandmother passes, she moves to the gentrifying town of Blue Rock and is…
Written by Olivia A. Cole Illustrated by Jessica Gibson This powerful picture book shows the importance of raising your own strong voice to defend what you love. Sasha the bear loves the meadow in her forest more than anything. But when great yellow beasts threaten to cut and burn the forest, Sasha and the other…
Written by Derrick Barnes In this much anticipated middle grade novel by author Derrick Barnes (Ruby & the Booker Boys), two thirteen-year-old African-American boys become friends during a three-day stint in after school suspension. They were both involved in two unrelated incidents with the same person, the resident menace at Alain Locke Middle, Tariq Molten. Robeson…
Written by Derrick Barnes Illustrated by Barbara Jean Phillips-Duke Rhyming words help a grade-schooler deal with his angry feelings in a more constructive way.
By Ann Gonzalez Running for My Life is the powerful story of Andrea McKane, a fourteen-year-old who struggles to cope with her mother’s schizophrenia. She must face the heartbreaking fact that her mother, with whom she once laughed and played, has vanished into her disease, possibly forever. The book accurately portrays the difficulties a teen…
