Recommended Reads from 2024

How do you choose what to read?  

As a teacher and librarian, I get asked that question quite a bit.  The quick answer is: I read what interests me.  The longer answer is: I read with young people and educators in mind.  What benefits would readers gain from this book?  I am of Iranian descent so other authors who are Iranian are on my radar to read and support.  I also seek out stories from other people's cultures and perspectives that are different than mine.  Non-fiction books that cover a range of topics, especially about history and science, infatuate me.  What I love about books is the various formats that a person can tell and take in a story:  a novel-in-verse, a graphic novel, a nonfiction narrative, or a traditional chapter book.  

Below, I have compiled my favorite books that I read in the year 2024.  Some of these were published prior to 2024, however, I finally got to read them so they made the list!  Many of them have been awarded literary honors, however, a good deal of them have not.  Even if they haven't been selected for awards, they deserve to be widely shared.

Each category is intended to inform the audience's age for which the book was written:

Young Adult: usually ages 14+, depending on the book's content, definitely for ages 18+, i.e. adults

Middle Grade: usually ages 9-13, depending on the book's content, some adults will enjoy these, too

These books made me cry, laugh, jump out of my seat, think and have conversations about the subject matter and characters. They taught me about the world, others' experiences and connections between myself and the subjects of the books. If you've read any of these or have recommendations for me, please leave a comment!

Impossible Escape: A True Story of Survival and Heroism in Nazi Europe by Steve Sheinkin

As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh

The Bad Ones by Melissa Albert

Whiteout by Dhonielle Clayton

Wild Dreamers by Margarita Engle 

Hollow Fires by Samira Ahmed

Anatomy: A Love Story by Dana Schwartz

Nigeria Jones by Ibi Zoboi

How the Boogeyman Became a Poet by Tony Keith

Salt the Water by Candice Iloh

The Great Cool Ranch Dorito in the Sky by Josh Galarza

Ariel Crashes a train by Olivia A. Cole

Everything We Never Had by Randy Ribay

The Unboxing of a Black Girl by Angela Shante

Queer Ducks (And Other Animals) by Eliot Schrefer

Break to You by Neal Shusterman, Debra Young and Michelle Knowlden

Bright Red Fruit by Safia Elhillo 

The Next New Syrian Girl by Ream Shukairy

Rising from the Ashes: Los Angeles, 1992. Edward Jae Song Lee, Latasha Harlins, Rodney King and a City on Fire by Paula Yoo

Supercommunicators by Charles Duhigg

Harvest House by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Forever is Now by Mariama J. Lockington

Azar on Fire by Olivia Abtahi

The Davenports by Krystal Marquis

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

The Black Queen by Jumata Emill

Gorgeous Gruesome Faces by Linda Cheng

The Silence that Binds Us by Joanna Ho

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross

Ruthless Vows by Rebecca Ross

An Impossible Thing to Say by Arya Shahi

The Unfinished by Cheryl Isaacs

Serendipity edited by Marissa Meyer

Twenty-four Seconds from Now...by Jason Reynolds 

Dark Room Etiquette by Robin Roe

You've Reached Sam by Dustin Thao

We Own the Sky by Rodman Philbrick

Mascot by Charles Waters and Traci Sorell

Falling Short by Ernesto Cisneros

The Canyon's Edge by Dusti Bowling

Keeping Pace by Laurie Morrison

The Puppets of Spelhorst by Kate DiCamillo

The Door is Open: Stories of Celebration and Community by 11 Desi Voices edited by Hena Khan

The Lost Year by Katherine Marsh

The Probability of Everything by Sarah Everett

Unstuck by Barbara Dee

We Still Belong by Christine Day 

Just Shy of Ordinary by A.J. Sass

Warrior Girl by Carmen Tafolla

Nothing Else But Miracles by Kate Albus

Finally Heard by Kelly Yang

The Plot to Kill a Queen by Deborah Hopkinson

Elf Dog & Owl Head by M.T. Anderson

Kareem Between by Shifa Saltagi Safadi

Call Me Adnan by Reem Faruqi

Alebrijes by Donna Barba Higuera

The Town with No Mirrors by Christina Collins

Kin: Rooted in Hope by Carole Boston Weatherford and Jeffrey Boston Weatherford

The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman by Gennifer Choldenko

Treasure Island: Runaway Gold by Jewell Parker Rhodes

The One and Only Family by Katherine Applegate 

Mind Over Monsters by Betsy Uhrig

The First State of Being by Erin Entrada Kelly

Olivetti by Allie Millington

The Eyes & the Impossible by Dave Eggers, illustrated by Shawn Harris

Buffalo Dreamer by Violet Duncan

Daybreak on Raven Island by Fleur Bradley

The Misfits: A Royal Conundrum by Lisa Yee and Dan Santat

Chinese Menu: The History, Myths and Legends Behind Your Favorite Foods by Grace Lin

Borderlands and the Mexican American Story by David Dorado Romo

American Murderer: The Parasite That Haunted the South by Gail Jarrow

Barracoon: Adapted for Young Readers by Zora Neale Hurston, Ibram X. Kendi, illustrated by Jazzmen Lee-Johnson

Unstoppable Us: Volume 2 Why the World Isn't Fair by Yuval Noah Harari, illustrated by Ricard Zaplana Ruiz

Nearer My Freedom: The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano by Himself by Monica Edinger and Lesley Younge

Saving Sunshine by Saadia Faruqi, illustrated by Shazleen Khan

Dear Brother by Allison McGhee, illustrated by Tuan Nini

The Ribbon Skirt: A Graphic Novel by Cameron Mukwa

Astronauts: Women on the Final Frontier by Jim Ottaviani, illustrated by Maris Wicks

 

New Year, New Plans

As the first month of the new year begins, I am reminded of how quickly time passes. Planning ahead is one of my major efforts to better capture special observances and opportunities for community partnerships for the last half of the school year.  Here are the events and dates on my radar as I plan for library units, lessons, speakers, etc.  

What are you looking forward to celebrating and what do you do? Comment below!

January

MLK, Jr. Day - January 16

Lunar New Year - January 22

Crayola Creativity Week - January 23-29

ALA Youth Media Awards - January 30

February

World Read Aloud Day - February 2

Black History Month 

(Coretta Scott King Literature Connections)

Kindness / Friendship Day (Valentine's Day) - February 14

March

March Madness Book Tournament 

Women's History Month

Music in Our Schools Month

April

Poetry Month

Children's Book Day - April 2

School Librarian Day - April 4

Earth Day - April 22

Library Week - April 23-29

State Book Award Voting (varies by state)

May

Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

June

Pride Month

Poetry: the art of language

 

April is National Poetry Month, but the art of language is to be celebrated all year long.  When my students first hear that we are going to study poetry, many groan, unsure of what is to follow.  Thankfully, after these engaging and creative ideas, they change their perspective to one that celebrates the various forms and topics that one can express through the art of language.  

Shape or Concrete Poems:  a poem that takes the shape of its subject matter.  Some books that help illustrate this are:

First, we read several concrete poems and students form the definition for a concrete poem.  Then I take them through a group writing experience where we brainstorm a list of items they generate. Then we take one and I loosely sketch an image that is associated with that. Then we come up with descriptive words, feelings, similes, metaphors, and analogies to write our ideas in the borders of the shape.  Students who are able can try this out on their own, or for those who need scaffolds you can provide the outline of various shapes along with vocabulary for students to cut out and glue to form their concrete poem.  

Blackout Poetry:  this is when writing that has already been published is used as inspiration for carving out a poem from those words already printed.  The poet can circle those words they wish to use and black out the rest of the words through patterns, other colors, or by blacking them out.

Rather than use books for this I like to use images from Google to show examples of blackout poetry and ask students to tell me what they notice about the poems.  

Note: I used to use newspapers for this, however, I had to be careful about the subject matter, vocabulary and layout of the articles in comparison to the advertisements, so ever since those experiences I have turned to using pages of discarded or weeded books to give to students for this type of writing.

Homophones, homonyms, idioms, puns:  poetry doesn't have to be lyrical or rhyme. Poetry can be the juxtaposition of words with multiple meanings and clever sayings explained in literal terms.  My students enjoy exploring this aspect of language because it is in small bites rather than long poems to analyze or just rhyming poems meant to  entertain.  Some books that we study during this topic are:

A video that my students like to watch and sing along with is below:

Poetry Slam:  lyrics of songs and poems are meant to be heard aloud, therefore, I invite students to read or recite poetry or songs aloud in front of an audience or if they'd rather, record and edit a video of their poem or song on a video production application, like Apple CLIPS or iMovie.  Students should be given time to find a poem or song with which they connect and choose to share it with others. For the Poetry Slam experience, I hang twinkle lights up, spread out picnic blankets and a variety of flexible seating options around as the lights dim and we can enjoy one another's love of language.  

Book Spine Poetry: this is one of my favorite types of poetry to share with students. First we look at a variety of examples and students form a definition for what is included in a book spine poem.  Then students are sent in partners or small groups to a certain part of the library to create their own book spine poem.  I ask students to take a photo of their poem on their device so that I may project it for the class, but they also like to display their book spine poems for others to read.  The best part of this experience is that students always find books that they want to read that they may have never even chosen if not for this opportunity to look for interesting book titles. 

An extension of this is to add music or other effects to the mood of their poems using a collage of photos or a technology application, like iMovie, FlipGrid, Seesaw, or Apple CLIPS.

Although some librarians hesitate to use book spine poetry with students due to the large amount of shelving that will follow the experience, Mike Rawls, a.k.a. The Book Wrangler, suggests using paper spines with book titles already on them or you can photocopy.  

Novels-in-Verse: a story written in verse is one of my favorite formats to share with students. Much like a chapter book or graphic novel or picture book format, a novel-in-verse is another way that writers tell a story, but in lyrical form.  

Do you have a favorite way to share poetry? Please leave a comment below!

2022 - A Year of Book Picks

2022 was quite the year in publishing. We are so lucky to have more inclusive and broader range of perspectives represented in literature. Thinking back to my year in reading, here are my highest rated chapter books that I recommend for children, teens and adults: 

Early Readers (ages 5-9)

Slug Days - realistic fiction, autism, school, friendship

Maybe Maybe Marisol Rainey - realistic fiction, overcoming fears, friendship, family

Surely Surely Marisol Rainey - realistic fiction, school, self-confidence, friendship

The Weird Sisters: A Note, a Goat and a Casserole - fantasy, mystery, humor, sisters

Bee & Flea and the Compost Caper - science, biology, humor

Ada Twist and the Perilous Plants - science, inquiry

Pet That Cat! - nonfiction, cat care, cat behavior

Middle Grade (ages 9-14)

Fantasy 

Cress Watercress - fantasy, animals, grief, humor, adventure, community 

The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez - fantasy, military families, bullying, mystery, Cuban folklore

The Ogress and the Orphans - fantasy, community, family, social commentary 

Too Bright to See - paranormal, mystery, grief, ghosts, identity, LGBTQ, family, friendship

The Last Mapmaker - fantasy, family, mystery, adventure, humor, dragons

Lalani of the Distant Sea - fantasy, Filipino folklore, adventure, monsters

Lotería - magical realism, Mexico, mortality, fate

Scary Stories for Young Foxes: The City - fantasy, suspense, scary, animal adventure, sequel to Scary Stories for Young Foxes

The Silver Arrow - fantasy, train travel, family, friendship, mystery, humor

The Marvellers - fantasy, action, family secrets, magic school

Pony - supernatural, historical fiction, 1860s, U.S., horses, grief, sons, fathers, horses, bandits

Snapdragon - fantasy, graphic novel, friendship, LGBTQ, mystery

Zatanna and the House of Secrets - fantasy, magic, graphic novel, family secrets, mystery

Scritch Scratch - paranormal, Chicago, tragedies, family, friendship

The Year I Flew Away - fantasy, historical fiction, 1980s New York City, Haitian folklore, immigrants in the U.S.

Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians, Book 1 - fantasy, humor, adventure, grandfathers, magic, clumsiness

Frances and the Monster - fantasy, adventure, humor

Historical Fiction

The Other Side of the River - historical fiction, Mexican revolution, immigrants in the U.S., identity, sequel to The Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna

The Door of No Return - historical fiction, Africa, slavery, family

The Blackbird Girls - historical fiction, 1980s Chernobyl Explosion, Russia, family, friendship, religion

Red, White and Whole - historical fiction, 1980s, Indian, immigrants the U.S., ill parent, family, identity

My Own Lightning - historical fiction, 1940s Pennsylvania, mystery, sequel to Wolf Hollow

Long Road to the Circus - historical fiction, 1900s, U.S. farms, gender roles, family

Starting from Seneca Falls - historical fiction, 1800s, U.S., women's rights, child abuse

Moonwalking - historical fiction, 1980s New York City, novel in verse, art, autism, friendship, ill parent, bullying, race

By the Light of the Fireflies - historical fiction, American Revolution, child hero, family

Being Clem - historical fiction, 1940s Chicago, grief, race, family, friendship, class

The Legend of Auntie Po - historical fiction, graphic novel, 1880s NW U.S., LGBTQ, Chinese voices, logging history

A Place to Hang the Moon - historical fiction, WWII, England, siblings, orphans, community 

 

Nonfiction

Alias Anna - biography, WWII, novel in verse, music, family

While I Was Away - memoir, immigrants in the U.S., Japanese, friendship, family, grandparents

Short Stories

Beyond the Stars - short stories, Irish authors, emotional

Hope Wins - short stories, inspiring, overcoming challenges

Realistic Fiction

Stuntboy, in the Meantime - realistic fiction, graphic novel, anxiety, bullying, community, family

Out of My Heart - realistic fiction, disability POV, friendship, sequel to Out of My Mind

The Best Liars in Riverview - realistic fiction, mystery, LGBTQ, friendship, bullying 

Maizy Chen's Last Chance - realistic fiction, identity, racism, immigrants in the U.S., Asian, family, community

Efrén Divided - realistic fiction, immigrants in the U.S., Mexico, deportation, friendship, family

Worser - realistic fiction, school, friendship, family, ill parent, autism, bullying, community activism

Golden Girl - realistic fiction, novel in verse, Pakistani immigrants in the U.S., family, kleptomaniac

Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence - realistic fiction, friendship, pets, inspiring 

New From Here - realistic fiction, COVID lockdown, Asian, racism, community, family, ADHD

Tune it Out - realistic fiction, homelessness, sensory processing disorder, family, friendship

Turtle Boy - realistic fiction, identity, friendship, grief, religion, death

Brave Like That - realistic fiction, adoption, identity, friendship

Five Things About Ava Andrews - realistic fiction, friendship, social anxiety, community activism

96 Miles - realistic fiction, family, survival, friendship, mystery, suspense

This Last Adventure - realistic fiction, grandparents, Alzheimers, friendship

The Amelia Six - realistic fiction, friendship, mystery, gender, humor

Jennifer Chan is Not Alone - realistic fiction, friendship, mystery, identity, bullying, Asian, aliens

Solving for M - realistic fiction, ill parent, friendship, family

Stuck - realistic fiction, learning disabilities, friendship, school, family

Lemon Drop Falls - realistic fiction, grief, OCD, anxiety, family, friendship

Samira Surfs - realistic fiction, novel in verse, Rohingya refugees, gender roles, identity, Bangladesh, surfing

One Time - realistic fiction, school, imagination, friendship, identity

How to Become a Planet - realistic fiction, LGBTQ, anxiety, depression, family, friendship

Violets are Blue - realistic fiction, opioids, divorce, friendship, special FX makeup 

Count Me In - realistic fiction, Indian, immigrants in the U.S., racism, community activism, friendship

The Girl Who Stole an Elephant - realistic fiction, adventure, Sri Lanka, friendship, class

Young Adult (ages 14 +)

Nonfiction

Black Birds in the Sky - nonfiction, Tulsa Race Massacre, racism, American history, Oklahoma

From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry - nonfiction, true crime, Asian, justice, American history 

Fallout - nonfiction, Cold War, espionage, nuclear war, Soviet Union, United States, communism

Revolution in Our Time - nonfiction, Black Panthers, history, politics

The Woman All Spies Fear - nonfiction, biography, code breaker, heroism

Historical Fiction

Last Night at the Telegraph Club - historical fiction, 1950s San Fransisco, LGTBQ, Chinese immigrants, gender, identity

A Sitting in St. James - historical fiction, 1860s Louisiana, enslaved generation, plantation life, identity, racism, class 

I Must Betray You - historical fiction, Romania, Communism, spies, romance, family  

Under a Painted Sky - historical fiction, 1849 Oregon Trail, romance, friendship, gender roles

Displacement - historical fiction, graphic novel, Japanese-American Internment Camps, WWII, Asian

Realistic Fiction

All My Rage - realistic fiction, immigrants in the U.S., romance, ill parent, abuse, identity, trauma, Middle Eastern

Firekeeper's Daughter - realistic fiction, Ojibwe, identity, mystery, thriller, family

You Should See Me in a Crown - realistic fiction, LGBTQ, high school, friendship, social pressure

Jagged Little Pill - realistic fiction, sexual assault, multiple narrators, community, friendship

Ain't Burned All the Bright - poetry, COVID, Black voices, social commentary

Blackout - short stories (intertwined), realistic fiction, identity, LGBTQ, relationships, romance

Fantasy

A Snake Falls to Earth - fantasy, Indigenous futurism, family, community, Lipan Apache, supernatural

Me (Moth) - supernatural, romance, grief, identity, spiritualism, Navajo

Gleanings - short stories, dystopian, death, power, part of the Arc of a Scythe trilogy

Poster Girl - dystopian, mystery, power, family

Adult

When Women Were Dragons - fantasy, gender roles, family, mystery, social commentary

Nightcrawling - poverty, crime, realistic fiction, law enforcement

Wrong Place, Wrong Time - organized crime, time travel, family, betrayal 

The It Girl - mystery, suspense, murder, Oxford, friendship, romance 

Book Lovers - romance, family, book publishing industry

Tracy Flick Can't Win - realistic fiction, dark humor, community, high school, sequel to Election

One Italian Summer - realistic fiction, grief, marriage, mothers, romance

She Come By it Natural - nonfiction, culture, music, feminism 

This Tender Land - historical fiction, 1930s ,Great Depression, midwest U.S., epic quest

Compiling this list reflects the genres I gravitate towards and what I need to seek out more.  The upcoming year provides the perfect time to read more books that will leave their mark in my psyche.  If you have any suggestions for me, please leave them in the comments. 90% of these books I read come from others' recommendations!

 I'm incredibly grateful to be a part of book clubs, review groups and other professional learning networks that allow me to discuss the best books.  The American Library Association's Youth Media Awards are also a source of my selected books to read in the coming year.  The nominees and winning books are announced on January 30, 2023 from 8 a.m. - 9:45 a.m. CENTRAL time. I can't wait!