Drawing Deena by Hena Khan By Hena KhanSalaam Reads / Simon & Schuster, 2024 232 pages 978-1-5344-5991-5 Ages 8-12 An emotionally resonant novel explores anxiety, social media, and finding one’s voice as a young artist. As much as Pakistani American Deena enjoys her seventh grade art class, she’s eager to improve her creative skills with additional training. Classes are expensive, though, and Deena has overheard her parents arguing about finances. Her mom designs and sells desi clothing out of their home; to help grow her customer base, Deena designs a logo and starts a website for Z’s Thr ..read more

When Rosie Walks George by Amy Hest. Illustrated by Taeeun Yoo By Amy HestIllustrated by Taeeun YooTwo Lions / Amazon, 2024 32 pages 978-154201-855-5 Ages 3-7 “George is old and deaf in one ear, and he doesn’t run fast anymore.” The brown-spotted white dog, clearly beloved, still needs to go for walks, however. Rosie is too little to walk George alone but sometimes the whole family walks him along the beach near their home. Rosie, the youngest, “lags behind, rolling her ball near the sea.” George is slow too. “He steps. And stops. And looks around.” He notices birds and shells and waves. And R ..read more

The Enigma Girls: How Ten Teenagers Broke Ciphers, Kept Secrets, and Helped Win World War II by Candace Fleming By Candace FlemingScholastic Focus / Scholastic, 2024 325 pages 978-1-338-74957-1 Age 10 and older Imagine accepting a job knowing nothing about the work, only to arrive by train at a nondescript location where the first order of business is to sign the Official Secrets Act. In the early days of World War II, many young British women found themselves arriving at Bletchley Park in the English countryside, the desire to serve their nation guiding their decisions to accept work so secre ..read more

By Sherri WinstonBloomsbury, 2024 292 pages 978-1-5476-0850-8 Ages 9-12 Recently back home after a stint in foster care, twelve-year-old Sharkita (Black) lives in fear of again being separated from her precocious sister, Lilli, and developmentally disabled brother, Lamar. While Mama goes out—sometimes for days at a time—Kita cooks dinner, pays the bills, cleans the house, and cares for her younger siblings. Kita’s head swirls with adult worries and complicated emotions: She longs to be loved and cherished by her mother even as she sometimes hates her. She is both her mom’s “ride-or-die” and t ..read more

By Yi Shun LaiAtheneum / Simon & Schuster, 2024 326 pages A Suffragist’s Guide to the Antarctic by Yi Shun Lai 978-1-6659-3776-4 Age 13 and older In 1914, 18-year-old Clara Ketterling-Dunbar (white) is the only female (and American) member of a crew of 28 on board the British ship Resolute when it sinks in Antarctic waters, leaving everyone alive but stranded on ice floes. A staunch women’s suffragist, Clara was involved with the Women’s Social and Political Union in London before she grew frustrated with their decision to halt their suffrage efforts to focus on wartime contributions. Clar ..read more

By Uma MenonIllustrated by Rahele Jomepour BellCandlewick, 2024 32 pages My Mother’s Tongues: A Weaving of Languages by Uma Menon 978-1-5362-2251-7 Ages 5-9 “My mother has two tongues. With one tongue, she speaks Malayalam. With the other, she speaks English.” Young Sumi (Indian American) explains that her mother changes the language she speaks depending on who she’s with and what she’s doing. With Sumi’s grandmother, she speaks Malayalam, her first language. To the cashier at the store, she speaks English. And to Sumi, she speaks a combination, “the two tongues … now woven together like fine ..read more

By Michelle MeadowsIllustrated by Jamiel LawHarper / HarperCollins, 2024 48 pages Jimmy’s Rhythm and Blues: The Extraordinary Life of James Baldwin by James Baldwin 978-0-06-327347-4 Ages 4-8 “Home is brick brown, / Harlem, uptown, / trains rumbling by.” An exquisitely composed picture book biography of James Baldwin illuminates his interest in the arts and development as a writer from a young age. Jimmy was raised by a strict preacher father who only saw value in reading the Bible, and a mother who warmly nurtured him. A Black boy in America, Jimmy knew “the sting of violence and racism” but ..read more

By Moa Backe ÅstotTranslated from the Swedish by Eva ApelqvistLevine Querido, 2023 205 pages Fire from the Sky by Moa Backe Åstot. Translated by Eva Apelqvuist 9781646142484 Age 14 and older Teenage Ánte loves his life in a small northern Swedish town. His Sámi family herds reindeer, although they’re no longer nomadic. Indeed, he’s living a settled, 21st-century life, going to high school, texting with friends, engaging (or not) on social media. Ánte has no desire to go anywhere but wonders if he’ll be able to stay: He doesn’t know anyone else who is gay. Are there gay reindeer herders? Ánte i ..read more

By Joy McCulloughAtheneum/Simon & Schuster, 2023 233 pages Code Red by Joy McCullough 9781534496262 Ages 10-13 Eden (white) is struggling to find her middle school footing after an injury ended the gymnastics career that once consumed her life. Although Eden is proud of her mom’s rags-to-riches story as the founder and CEO of a menstrual products company, she’s dismayed when her mom is invited to give a talk on Career Day and humiliated by the unpredictable period jokes and teasing that ensue. After a hallway altercation with a bully, Eden finds herself in the principal’s office along ..read more

By David Barclay MooreIllustrated by Noa DenmonCandlewick, 2023 32 pages Boyogi: How a Wounded Family Learned to Heal by David Barclay Moore 9781536213706 Ages 4–8 A young boy’s father has returned “from far away,” where he was a soldier, changed. Daddy used to be fun, but now he’s angry and sad and spends a lot of time in his room. The boy’s mother explains that Daddy’s mind is hurt by bad things that happened while he was gone, and she assures the boy that they are trying to figure out how to help Daddy feel better. One day Mommy insists Daddy come with her to a yoga class at the Y. The ..read more