Good Reads

A BookPage Notable Title
From the award-winning author of "Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes" comes this riveting, scorching, intelligent, and hilarious memoir of Crutcher's tricky road to adulthood. ...More

Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal Winner - 2005
This insightful account of the great African-American vocalist considers her life and musical career in the context of the history of civil rights in America. Drawing on Anderson's own writings and other contemporary accounts, Freedman shows how she came to stand for all black artists--and for all Americans of color. Illustrations. ...More

2005 Beehive Award Winner - Informational
Tales of high jinx, high spirits, and high fun from the author's own boyhood are presented by the three-time Newbery Honor winner as he shares stories of how boys growing up in a small town in the north woods make their own excitement. ...More

Alex Award Winner - 2004
CCBC Choices - 2004
An intelligent and outspoken only child, Satrapi--the daughter of radical Marxists and the great-granddaughter of Iran's last emperor--bears witness to a childhood uniquely entwined with the history of her country. Illustrations. ...More

Una biografía lírica de un esclavo cubano que se escapó para convertirse en un celebrado.
Nacido en la casa de un rico amo de esclavos en Cuba en 1797, Juan Francisco Manzano pasó sus primeros años al lado de una mujer que se hizo llamar Mamá, aún cuando él tenía su propia madre. A pesar de haberle sido negada una educación, Juan mostró un excepcional talento para la poesía. Sus versos reflejan la belleza de su mundo, pero también exponen su crueldad odiosa. Los poemas poderosos y perturbadores y las ilustraciones imponentes crean un retrato de una vida en la cual ni el dolor de la esclavitud pudieron extinguir la capacidad para la esperanza.

A lyrical biography of a Cuban slave who escaped to become a celebrated poet.
Born into the household of a wealthy slave owner in Cuba in 1797, Juan Francisco Manzano spent his early years by the side of a woman who made him call her Mama, even though he had a mama of his own. Denied an education, young Juan still showed an exceptional talent for poetry. His verses reflect the beauty of his world, but they also expose its hideous cruelty. Powerful, haunting poems and breathtaking illustrations create a portrait of a life in which even the pain of slavery could not extinguish the capacity for hope.
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Who was this man who could walk through brick walls and, with a snap of his fingers, vanish elephants? In these pages you will meet the astonishing Houdini—magician, ghost chaser, daredevil, pioneer aviator, and king of escape artists. No jail cell or straitjacket could hold him! He shucked off handcuffs as easily as gloves.

In this fresh, witty biography of the most famous bamboozler since Merlin, Sid Fleischman, a former professional magician, enriches his warm homage with insider information and unmaskings. Did Houdini really pick the jailhouse lock to let a fellow circus performer escape? Were his secrets really buried with him? Was he a bum magician, as some rivals claimed? How did he manage to be born in two cities, in two countries, on two continents at the same instant?

Here are the stories of how a knockabout kid nam ...More

What would it take for slaves to escape from slavery in the Deep South, 1,000 miles from freedom and then on to England during the period of the Fugitive Slave Act? For most slaves the thought of escape was unimaginable. But fear did not stop Ellen and William Craft from chasing freedom.

An inspiring and riveting story of two amazing people stopping at nothing to fight for freedom and racial equality, this thrilling true tale chronicles Ellen and William Craft's lives from their flight from slavery in Georgia to their rise to world-wide fame as heroes of the Abolitionist movement.

Illustrated with period artwork, newspaper clippings, and archival photographs, "5,000 Miles to Freedom" captures the unforgiving realities of slave life, the political hatred between North and South, and, above all, the extraordinary achievement ...More

Tayshas Reading List 2008-2009

BookPage Notable Title
"This is an astonishingly beautiful and heartbreaking book. The resurrected memories of a gifted girl growing up under the crush of war and occupation gave me hope: that if we read carefully, with open hearts, the world just might begin to change." -- Suzanne Fisher Staples, author of Under the Persimmon Tree ...More

Part family history, part backstage drama, this original work takes a firsthand look into a young dancer's beginnings--and beyond. "To Dance" is the stunning graphic memoir of a young ballerina's journey. ...More

What is it like to be a young woman in a war? At a time when Israel is in the news every day and politics in the Middle East are as complex as ever before, this story of one girl's experience in the Israeli national army is both topical and fascinating. ...More

Tayshas Reading List 2008-2009

BookPage Notable Title
In the more than 50 conflicts going on worldwide, it is estimated that there are some 300,000 child soldiers. Ishmael Beah used to be one of them. In a rare and mesmerizing account, Beah tells of his experience as a child fighting a war in Sierra Leone. ...More

Alex Award Winner - 2005
A BookPage Notable Title
Tender but brutal, this portrait of unwavering commitment shines light on the little explored world of women's friendships through the author's relationship with critically acclaimed and recently deceased author, Lucy Grealy. ...More

Winner - 2006 ALA Notable Non-Fiction Selection
Alex Award Winner - 2006
In the tradition of Mary Karr's The Liars' Club and Rick Bragg's All Over But the Shouting, Jeannette Walls has written a stunning and life-affirming memoir about surviving a willfully impoverished, eccentric and severely misguided family. ...More

One of the worlds only 50 living autistic savants is the first to tell his compelling and inspiring life story, and explain how his incredible mind works. While Tammets brain has amazed scientists for years, readers will be moved by this remarkable mans story. ...More