Brown Girl Dreaming

Brown Girl Dreaming

By Jacqueline Woodson

On the surface, Brown Girl Dreaming is the story of a girl’s journey from the South to the North and how her perceptions of race and self changed during that time. Go a bit deeper, and you may discover it to be a kind of touchstone for other children’s books about the African-American experience in North America. Brown Girl Dreaming may be the story of a girl’s journey to find her vocation and her voice but Jacqueline Woodson's novel in verse is more than a story. For it tells us more than most of our children’s nonfiction history books do.

Samira Surfs

Samira Surfs

by Rukhsanna Guidroz, illustrated by Fahmida Azim  

11-year-old Samira and her family are Rohingya refugees who have traveled by boat to Bangladesh. Unregistered, they must live outside the camp, are banned from formal employment, and are resented by some of the locals. This middle-grade novel starts off at Samira’s new home, “made of bamboo choppy by Baba’s bare hands”, a leaky roof, and a single room for their family of four. The tightly woven verses take us to the beach where Samira sells eggs to beach-goers. She would love to use some of the money for school, but her father wouldn’t send her even if they could afford it because she’s a girl. Fortunately, her older brother, Khaled, gives her English lessons.

We cheer for Samira as she sets out with quiet determination to show everybody how she can work to make money for their family, learn English, and learn to surf. After meeting a group of girl surfers at a local surf club where there’s an announcement for a contest with a cash prize, Samira is empowered to overcome her fear of water that developed after her grandparents died falling into the water from the boat when coming to Bangladesh.

Azim’s lively illustrations bring Samira’s world to life, highlighting both the beauty of Bangladesh and Samira’s spirit.  

Verse novel. 9-14

 

“I’ve learned that belonging, having a home, having a country, means everything, is everything.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dragons in a Bag

Dragons in a Bag

By Zetta Elliott

A fresh, new, chapter-book fantasy series in an urban setting, Dragons in a Bag follows Jaxon as his mom leaves him with Ma, an older woman he's never met. He soon discovers Ma is not his grandmother, but a witch! And his mother was her apprentice. Ma tells Jaxon she needs help delivering baby dragons to a magical realm, but there are two important rules: do not open the bag they are in and do not feed them anything sweet. His friends, Vikram and Kavita, become involved in the adventure by freeing the baby dragons and sharing their sweets. Oops.

This is a perfect introductory fantasy novel for young readers. Because of the detailed world-building, it's a great primer to reading the Harry Potter books.

When Stars Are Scattered

When Stars Are Scattered

By Victoria Jamieson and Omar Hassan

When Stars Are Scattered is a warm and welcoming graphic novel that introduces us to two brothers, Omar and Hassan, who are from Somalia but staying in a Kenyan refugee camp after their father dies in the Somalian Civil War and they are separated from their mother. This is based on a real-life story that the author, Victoria Jamieson, wrote after collaborating with one of the brothers, Omar. Omar is the one who takes care of his younger brother because Hassan has special needs, and their story continues on for years in this novel until Omar is nearly an adult. Through Omar’s narration, we find out how traumatic their lives have been, and how he wants to have hope for the future, enough for both brothers. Ages 9-12.