Preschool
Big Kids NO Everything
by Wednesday Kirwan
There are small no's
and big no's
loud no's
and quiet no's
. . . But big kids know
that all this NO-ing
is because they're GROW-ing
"No" is not always a bad word — it's just part of growing up! Because when kids learn to hear and say the word "no," they will learn when to say "yes."
Across the Bay
by Carlos Aponte
Embark on a journey through Old San Juan with this picture book that follows Carlitos, who lives in Puerto Rico with his mother, his abuela, and Coco the cat. As Carlitos travels across the bay in search of his father, he will learn the true meaning of family and home in this beautiful story.
Primary (Kindergarten–Grade 2)
Bitsy Bat: School Star
by Kaz Windness
Bitsy is a little bat with big-star dreams of making friends at her new school. But when she arrives, Bitsy doesn't feel like she fits in. The other kids sit on their chairs, but sitting upright makes Bitsy dizzy. The other kids paint with their fingers, but Bitsy would rather use her toes. Everyone tells Bitsy that she's doing things wrong-wrong-wrong, so she tries harder . . . and ends up having a five-star meltdown.
Now Bitsy feels like a very small star and doesn't want to go back to school. But with help from her family, Bitsy musters her courage, comes up with a new plan, and discovers that being a good friend is just one of the ways that she shines brightly!
Remember
by Joy Harjo, illustrations by Michaela Goade
Remember the sky you were born under,
Know each of the star's stories.
Remember the moon, know who she is.
Remember the sun's birth at dawn
That is the strongest point of time.
So begins the picture book adaptation of the renowned poem that encourages young readers to reflect on family, nature, and their heritage. In simple and direct language, Harjo, a member of the Mvskoke Nation, urges readers to pay close attention to who they are, the world that they were born into, and how all inhabitants on earth are connected. Michaela Goade, drawing from her Tlingit culture, has created vivid illustrations that make the words come alive in an engaging and accessible way.
This timeless poem paired with magnificent paintings makes for a picture book that is a true celebration of life and our human role within it.
Intermediate (Grades 3–5)
Your Name Is a Song
by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow, illustrations by Luisa Uribe
Frustrated by a day full of teachers and classmates mispronouncing her beautiful name, a little girl tells her mother that she never wants to come back to school. In response, the girl's mother teaches her about the musicality of African, Asian, Black American, Latinx, and Middle Eastern names on their lyrical walk home through the city. Empowered by this newfound understanding, the young girl is ready to return the next day to share her knowledge with her class. Your Name Is a Song is a celebration to remind all of us about the beauty, history, and magic behind names.
Isla to Island
by Alexis Castellanos
Marisol loves her colorful island home. Cuba is vibrant with flowers and food and people . . . but things are changing. The home that Marisol loves is no longer safe — and then it's no longer her home at all. Her parents are sending her to the United States. Alone.
Nothing about Marisol's new life in cold, gray Brooklyn feels like home — not the language, school, or even her foster parents. But Marisol starts to realize that home isn't always a place. And finding her way can be as simple as staying true to herself.
Middle School (Grades 6–8)
Duel
by Jessixa Bagley, illustrations by Aaron Bagley
Sixth grader Lucy loves fantasy novels and is brand-new to middle school. GiGi is the indisputed queen bee of eighth grade (as well as everything else she does). They have only one thing in common: fencing. Oh, and they are sisters. They never got along super well, but ever since their dad died, it seems like they're always at each other's throats.
When GiGi humiliates Lucy in the cafeteria on the first day of school, Lucy snaps and challenges GiGi to a duel with high sisterly stakes. Both sisters are determined to triumph. But will winning the duel mean fracturing their family even further?
Summer of the Mariposas
by Guadalupe García McCall
When Odilia and her four sisters find a dead body in the swimming hole, they embark on a hero's journey to return the dead man to his family in Mexico. But returning home to Texas turns into an odyssey that would rival Homer's original tale.
With the supernatural aid of ghostly La Llorona via a magical earring, Odilia and her little sisters travel a road of tribulation to their long-lost grandmother's house. Along the way, they must outsmart a witch and her Evil Trinity: a wily warlock, a coven of vicious half-human barn owls, and a bloodthirsty livestock-hunting chupacabras. Can these fantastic trials prepare Odilia and her sisters for what happens when they face their final test, returning home to the real world where goddesses and ghosts can no longer help them?
Summer of the Mariposas is more than a magical Mexican American retelling of The Odyssey. It is a celebration of sisterhood and maternal love.
High School (Grades 9–12)
Mid-Air
by Alicia D. Williams, illustrations by Danica Novgorodoff
It's the last few months of eighth grade, and Isaiah feels lost. He thought his summer was going to be him and his boys Drew and Darius, hanging out, doing wheelies, watching martial arts movies, and breaking tons of Guinness World Records before high school. But now, more and more, Drew seems to be fading from their friendship, and though he won't admit it, Isaiah knows exactly why. Because Darius is . . . gone.
A hit and run killed Darius in the middle of a record-breaking long wheelie when Isaiah should have been keeping watch, ready to warn "CAR!" Now Drew can barely look at Isaiah. But Isaiah, already quaking with ache and guilt, can't lose two friends. So he comes up with a plan to keep Drew and him together — they can spend the summer breaking records for Darius.
Bur Drew is not the same Drew since Darius was killed, and Isaiah, being Isaiah, isn't enough for Drew any more. Not his taste in clothes, his love for rock music, or his aversion to jumping off rooftops. And one day, something unspeakable happens to Isaiah that makes him think that Drew is right. If only he could be less sensitive, more tough, less weird, more cool, less him, things would be easier. But how much can Isaiah keep inside until he shatters wide open?
Ain't Burned All the Bright
by Jason Reynolds, illustrations by Jason Griffin
Jason Reynolds and his best bud, Jason Griffin, had a mind meld. And they decided to tackle it, in one fell swoop, in about ten sentences and three hundred pages of art, this piece, this contemplation-manifesto-fierce-vulnerable-gorgeous-terrifying-WhatIsWrongWithHumans-hope-filled-hopeful-searing-Eye-Poppingly-Illustrated-tender-heartbreaking-how-The-HECK-Did-They-Come-UP-with-This project about oxygen. And all the symbolism attached to that word, especially NOW.
So for anyone who didn't really know what it means to not be able to breathe, REALLY breathe, for generations, now you know. And those who already do, you'll be nodding yep yep, that is exactly how it is.
Books in Spanish
Ni gua ni miau (para preescolar hasta 2do grado)
de Blanca Lacasa, ilustraciones de Gómez
Fabio es un perro diferente. No le gusta nada de lo que le gusta a los otros perros. Un día, Max descubre que Fabio desaparece cada noche y decide seguirlo . . .
Una divertidísima y tierna historia que nos ayuda apreciar nuestras propias cualidades y a entender la diversidad. ¿Quién no se ha sentido alguna vez como Fabio?
To access the books on our monthly MPS Reads book lists, visit your school library or local library, or go online to Sora* (formerly OverDrive) and log in with your MPS student ID number.
*Some titles are not available through Sora.