Preschool
To Make
by Danielle Davis, illustrations by Mags DeRoma
To make . . . a cake, a garden, a song, you first gather, then make — and wait. To make a story, you gather, make, wait.
To make anything, it will take some time.
You may have to gather more, make more, and wait a little more, but you can create wonderful things if you just gather, make, and wait.
Dream with the Latinitas/Sueña con las latinitas
by Juliet Menéndez
Meet the Latinitas, whose big dreams paved the way for your little feet! With her gorgeous, hand-painted illustrations, Juliet Menéndez shines a spotlight on the power of childhood dreams.
Primary (Kindergarten–Grade 2)
Remixed: A Blended Family
by Arree Chung
In Mixed City, when colors care for each other, they decide to mix. They create families that come in every combination of colors, shapes, and sizes. But sometimes those sizes, shapes, and colors can change. And change isn't always easy. It might be hard to get used to. It might make some colors feel worried or sad.
Remixed: A Blended Family is an inspiring picture book that celebrates the strength and resilience of remixed families and the beauty of chosen families, showing how even after change or loss, love can thrive.
The Coquíes Still Sing: A Story of Home, Hope, and Rebuilding/Los coquíes aún cantan
by Karina Nichole González, illustrations by Krystal Quiles
The coquí frogs sing to Elena from her family's mango tree — their calls, so familiar. But home suddenly is not safe when a hurricane threatens to destroy everything that Elena knows.
Elena and her community begin to rebuild their home, planting seeds of hope along the way. When the sounds of the coquíes gradually return, they reflect the resilience and strength of Elena, her family, and her fellow Puerto Ricans.
Intermediate (Grades 3–5)
The Bad Guys in Open Wide and Say Arrrgh!
by Aaron Blabey
WEIRD?! Nothing weird EVER happens in The Bad Guys. Like, you would NEVER see a chainsaw monster confronting a velociraptor that has eaten an elderly piranha or the disturbing antics of a deranged dentist running amok with an oversized drill. NOPE. None of that nonsense here. So relax and be entirely unsurprised by the next adventure of The Bad Guys!
Catwad: It's Me/Pangato: soy yo
by Jim Benton
He's blue, he's a bit of a grouch, and his best friend is a dim-witted cat named Blurmp that can see the bright side of anything. This crabby tabby has a funny take on just about everything, and he's not afraid to share it. This collection of short comic stories will make even the grumpiest of grouches crack up and is not to be missed!
Middle School (Grades 6–8)
Shot Clock
by Caron Butler and Justin A. Reynolds
Tony loves basketball. But the game changed recently when his best friend, Dante, a hoops phenom, was killed by a police officer. Tony hopes that he can carry on Dante's legacy by getting into the Sabres, the AAU basketball team that Dante took to two national championships.
Tony doesn't make the team, but Coach James likes what he sees from Tony at tryouts and offers him another chance: to join the team as the statistician. With his community reeling and the team just finding its footing on the court, can Tony find a path to healing while helping to bring the Sabres a championship?
Attack of the Black Rectangles
by Amy Sarig King
When Mac first opens his copy of Jane Yolen's The Devil's Arithmetic and finds some words blacked out, he thinks that it must be a mistake. But then when he and his friends discover what the missing words are, he is outraged.
Someone in his school is trying to prevent kids from reading the full story.
Even though his unreliable dad tells him to not get so emotional about a book (or anything else), Mac has been raised by his mom and granddad to call out things that are wrong. He and his friends head to the principal's office to protest the censorship . . . but her response shows that she doesn't take them seriously.
So many adults want Mac to keep his words to himself.
Mac is about to see the power of letting them out.
High School (Grades 9–12)
The Inheritance Games
by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Avery Grambs's future changes in an instant when billionaire Tobias Hawthorne dies and leaves his entire fortune to her. Avery has no idea why.
To receive her inheritance, Avery must move into Hawthorne House, where every room contains Hawthorne's love of puzzles, riddles, and codes. Hawthorne House is also occupied by the remainder of the Hawthorne family. This includes the four Hawthorne grandsons: boys who grew up with every expectation that one day they would inherit billions. Caught in a world of wealth and privilege, with danger around every turn, Avery will have to play the game herself just to survive.
When We Make It
by Elisabet Velasquez
Sarai is a first-generation Puerto Rican question asker who can see with clarity the truth, pain, and beauty of the world both inside and outside her Bushwick apartment. Together with her older sister, Estrella, she navigates the strain of family traumas and the systemic pressures of toxic masculinity and housing insecurity in a rapidly gentrifying Brooklyn. Sarai questions the society around her, her Boricua identity, and the life she lives with determination and an open heart, learning to celebrate herself in a way that she has long been denied.
Books in Spanish
Desayuno en Júpiter
de Andrea Tomé
Ofelia y Amoke parecen ser completamente opuestas la una a la otra. Cuando Virginia le ofrece un trabajo a Ofelia como su asistente personal, la vida de las dos jóvenes se une. A través de conversaciones, libros usados, cartas y mensajes temprano en la mañana por WhatsApp, las jóvenes descubren un futuro que no sabían que existía, al igual que sus sentimientos la una por la otra.
Ofelia and Amoke appear to be complete opposites. When Virginia offers Ofelia a job as her personal assistant, the lives of the two girls merge. Through conversations, used books, letters, and early morning WhatsApp messages, the girls discover a future they thought did not exist as well as their feelings toward one another.
To access the books on our monthly MPS Reads book lists, visit your school library or local library, or go online to OverDrive* and log in with your MPS student ID number.
*Some titles are not available through OverDrive.