Powered by a book like {foo}
Recommendations based on Out of the Dustby Karen Hesse
* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans
Bud, Not Buddy
by Christopher Paul Curtis
A young boy searches for his father during the Great Depression, encountering adventure and unexpected kindness along the way.
The story opens with Bud being placed with a new foster family, the Amoses'. Bud soon meets Todd Amos, their 12-year-old son, who teases him mercilessly and calls him Buddy. After a fight with Todd, ... (Wikipedia)
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
by Mildred D. Taylor
A family's story of struggle and survival during the Great Depression in the segregated American South.
Nine-year-old Cassie Logan is walking to school with her siblings Stacey (twelve years old), Christopher-John (seven years old), and Little Man,(six years old), in rural Mississippi . Cassie talks ... (Wikipedia)
The Midwife's Apprentice
by Karen Cushman
A young girl's journey from poverty to independence as she learns the craft of midwifery.
In medieval Europe, a homeless orphan girl who has no name, and can recall being named Brat, attempts to nestle in a warm dung heap on a cold night. She wakes up to the taunts of village boys, and ... (Wikipedia)
Clementine
by Sara Pennypacker
A young girl's journey of self-discovery, learning to be brave and stand up for herself.
Clementine is having not so good of a week. • On Monday she's sent to the principal's office for cutting off Margaret's hair. • Tuesday, Margaret's mother is mad at her. • Wednesday, she's sent to ... (Goodreads)
Make Lemonade
by Virginia Euwer Wolff
A teenage mother takes a job cleaning for a writer and learns to make the best of her situation.
An award-winning novel about growing up and making choices, Virginia Euwer Wolff's groundbreaking novel, written in free verse, tells the story of fourteen-year-old LaVaughn, who is determined to go ... (Goodreads)
Unwind
by Neal Shusterman
A dystopian future world where teenagers are subjected to a “harvesting” process that splits them apart.
Connor, Risa, and Lev are running for their lives. The Second Civil War was fought over reproductive rights. The chilling resolution: Life is inviolable from the moment of conception until age ... (Goodreads)
The Westing Game
by Ellen Raskin
A mysterious game of wit and skill, with a fortune as the prize.
BE CLASSIC with, The Westing Game, introduced by, New York Times, bestselling author Mac Barnett. A highly inventive mystery begins when sixteen unlikely people gather for the reading of the very ... (Barnes & Noble)
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
by Brian Selznick
An orphaned boy's journey to unravel the secrets of a mechanical man and find his place in the world.
In 1930s Paris, young Hugo Cabret and his father repair an automaton at the museum where his father works. When Hugo's father dies in a fire, his uncle brings him to live and work at the train ... (Wikipedia)
American Born Chinese
by Gene Luen Yang
Three seemingly unrelated stories converge to explore themes of identity, assimilation, and acceptance in the American-born Chinese experience.
All Jin Wang wants is to fit in. When his family moves to a new neighborhood, he suddenly finds that he's the only Chinese American student at his school. Jocks and bullies pick on him constantly, ... (Goodreads)
The House of the Scorpion
by Nancy Farmer
A gripping sci-fi story of a boy's fight for survival in a world of clones and immortality.
This story is set in the country of Opium, a narrow strip of land between Mexico (now called Aztlán ), and the United States , which is ruled by the original Matteo Alacrán, or El Patrón, an ... (Wikipedia)
Love You Forever
by Robert Munsch
A boy is comforted and loved by his mother throughout his life, reminding him that her love is unconditional.
An extraordinarily different story by Robert Munsch is a gentle affirmation of the love a parent feels for their child—forever. "A young woman holds her newborn son and looks at him lovingly. Softly ... (Goodreads)
The First Part Last
by Angela Johnson
A teenage girl's journey of self-discovery, coming to terms with teen pregnancy.
Bobby's a classic urban teenager. He's restless. He's impulsive. But the thing that makes him different is this: He's going to be a father. His girlfriend, Nia, is pregnant, and their lives are about ... (Goodreads)
Yellow Star
by Jennifer Roy
A young Jewish girl's harrowing experience during the Holocaust, told through free-verse poetry.
In 1939, the Nazis invaded Poland and forced that nation's second-largest community of Jews, 270,000 strong, into one section of the city of Łódź , which they later walled off to form a ghetto. ... (Wikipedia)
Maniac Magee
by Jerry Spinelli
A young orphan boy, Jeffrey Lionel Magee, becomes a legend in a racially divided town by bringing people together through his incredible feats of athleticism and kindness.
Jeffrey Lionel Magee's parents were killed in a trolley accident when a drunk driver crashed and sunk it into the river in Bridgeport, Pennsylvania , orphaning him at age three. After living with his ... (Wikipedia)
Flat Stanley
by Jeff Brown
An imaginative adventure of a boy who is flattened by a bulletin board and must rely on his wits to navigate the world.
When Stanley Lambchop wakes up one morning, his brother, Arthur, is yelling. A bulletin board fell on Stanley during the night, and now he is only half an inch thick! Amazing things begin happening ... (Goodreads)
When You Reach Me
by Rebecca Stead
A young girl in 1970s New York City receives mysterious notes that seem to predict the future. She must unravel the mystery before it's too late.
Miranda is an ordinary sixth grader, until she starts receiving mysterious messages from somebody who knows all about her, including things that have not even happened yet. Each message brings her ... (Goodreads)
Because of Winn-Dixie
by Kate DiCamillo
A girl's journey of self-discovery and healing, as she finds friendship in an unlikely companion.
Kate DiCamillo's beloved, best-selling debut novel is now available in a paperback digest edition. Kate DiCamillo's first published novel, like Winn-Dixie himself, immediately proved to be a keeper—a ... (Goodreads)
Henry's Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad
by Ellen Levine
A slave's courageous escape to freedom via the Underground Railroad.
A stirring, dramatic story of a slave who mails himself to freedom by a Jane Addams Peace Award-winning author and a Coretta Scott King Award-winning artist. Henry Brown doesn't know how old he is. ... (Barnes & Noble)
The Arrival
by Shaun Tan
A thought-provoking story of a man's journey to an unknown land in search of a new home.
In a heartbreaking parting, a man gives his wife and daughter a last kiss and boards a steamship to cross the ocean. He's embarking on the most painful yet important journey of his life—he's leaving ... (Goodreads)
Hatchet
by Gary Paulsen
A boy must learn to survive in the wilderness after a plane crash leaves him stranded.
Brian Robeson is a thirteen-year-old son of divorced parents. As he travels from Hampton, New York on a single engine Cessna bush plane to visit his father in the oil fields in Northern Canada for ... (Wikipedia)
The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs
by Jon Scieszka
A humorous reimagining of the classic fairy tale, as told from the wolf's side of the story.
You thought you knew the story of the “The Three Little Pigs”… You thought wrong. In this hysterical and clever fracture fairy tale picture book that twists point of view and perspective, young ... (Goodreads)
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
by Jean Lee Latham
A young man's struggle to gain knowledge and self-confidence, inspiring a revolution in navigation.
In Revolutionary War–era Salem, Massachusetts, a young Nat Bowditch, the smallest member of a sea-faring family, astounds his schoolteacher with his talent for mathematics. He dreams of someday ... (Wikipedia)
Stargirl
by Jerry Spinelli
An uplifting story of a unique girl who challenges her classmates to be their true selves.
The book begins with a brief introduction to the main character, Leo, at an early age, which is followed by his move from his home state of Pennsylvania to Arizona when he is 12. Before the move, his ... (Wikipedia)
The Jolly Postman or Other People's Letters
by Janet Ahlberg
A postman's journey to deliver letters to various fairy-tale characters.
A book with real letters inside! The Jolly Postman has delivered the mail... What could possibly be in the letter from Goldilocks to the Three Bears? There is a message for the Wicked Witch... but ... (Goodreads)
Where the Red Fern Grows
by Wilson Rawls
A young boy embarks on an adventure with his beloved hunting dogs, learning valuable life lessons.
An old man named Billy Colman rescues a redbone hound under attack by neighborhood dogs. He takes it home with him so that its wounds can heal. In light of this event, he has a flashback to when he ... (Wikipedia)
Turtle in Paradise
by Jennifer L. Holm
Eleven-year-old Turtle is sent to live with her aunt in Key West during the Great Depression, where she discovers a new family and a world of adventure.
Turtle in Paradise takes place during the Great Depression. Turtle is an eleven-year-old girl living with her mother and cat, Smokey, who is sent to live with her aunt and cousins in Key West, ... (Wikipedia)
Esperanza Rising
by Pam Muñoz Ryan
A young girl from a wealthy Mexican family is forced to flee to California during the Great Depression and learns to adapt to a new life as a farm worker.
Esperanza is a child in Aguascalientes , Mexico, daughter of wealthy landowner Sixto Ortega. She lives on her family's ranch, El Rancho de la Rosas, with her mother, father, and grandmother Abuelita. ... (Wikipedia)
Al Capone Does My Shirts
by Gennifer Choldenko
A boy moves to Alcatraz Island in 1935, where his father works as a prison guard, and navigates life with a sister on the autism spectrum.
Moose Flanagan and his family composed of father Cam, mother Helen, and sister Natalie move from Santa Monica to Alcatraz Island in 1935. The move was caused by Cam's new job as an electrician and ... (Wikipedia)
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
by Kate DiCamillo
Edward, a china rabbit, embarks on a journey of self-discovery, learning the power of love.
Edward Tulane is a china rabbit given to a ten-year-old girl named Abilene , by her grandmother in the 1930s. He enjoys a pleasant but vain life with his young mistress, who treats him with the ... (Wikipedia)
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
by Avi
A young girl's adventures on the high seas, fighting for justice and freedom.
The story starts in the early summer of 1832, as thirteen-year-old Charlotte Doyle prepares to take a voyage from Liverpool , England, to her family's home in Providence, Rhode Island . Her upper ... (Wikipedia)
