juvenile fiction

Twelve-year-old Maribel daydreams at school, but when she defies evacuation orders to return home just as Mount St. Helens erupts in 1980, she must focus in order to survive. Includes historical note, glossary, and discussion questions.

Middle school student Sam is comfortable with their nonbinary identity, and their family has accepted it too (as long as they do their homework and chores), so when their history teacher assigns as a project coming up with a proposal for the new statue honoring a historical Staten Islander (there is a contest involved) they and their friend TJ decide to focus on Alice Austen, a lesbian photographer, whose house on Staten Island is a museum--but they have to overcome the presumption on the part of their teacher that only straight males are eligible.

Charlotte's dream of a summer writing workshop in Venice with her favorite author brings the chance to investigate the mysterious poet in her family's past, meet fascinating new people, and learn truths about her idol.

Reeling from the death of her mother, fourteen-year-old Mati's family leaves England to visit their native Zimbabwe, where Mati finds comfort in Meticais, a gender-neutral spirit or ghost who only she can see, and who helps her navigate her mercurial interpersonal relationships and feelings of grief.

Living in harsh poverty during a brutal Idaho winter, Jack searches for the drug money that sent his father to prison in order to keep his brother out of foster care, while Ava, under the control of her merciless father, makes a wrenching choice to help the brothers survive.

"On a mission from Heracles to find his lost Golden Apple, Julius and his pals come face-to-face with a minotaur in a labyrinth, must find some way to trick a one-hundred-headed dragon at the Garden of Hesperides, and wind up in the palace of King Midas himself. But what on earth will the gods on Mount Olympus have to say about the gang's antics in the underworld? Madcap hijinks abound in another adventure with broad appeal for fans of historical fiction and comedy alike. It's all Greek to Julius Zebra and his pals in this fourth exciting, action-packed, hilarious adventure brimming with entertaining facts about the ancient world."--.

In 1941, fifteen-year-old Lina, her mother, and brother are pulled from their Lithuanian home by Soviet guards and sent to Siberia, where her father is sentenced to death in a prison camp while she fights for her life, vowing to honor her family and the thousands like hers by burying her story in a jar on Lithuanian soil. Based on the author's family, includes a historical note.

"Fifteen-year-old Jon battles for freedom amid high seas, scurvy buccaneers, and Spanish fortresses when he's captured by the famous pirate, Captain Morgan, and ordered into his service. Bases on the true exploits of Captain Henry Morgan in 1670"--Back cover.

Twelve-year-old Essie believes that Black people should be allowed to vote, and she's willing to march for that right. On Sunday, March 7, 1965, she puts on her best dress to join protesters as they plan to visit the governor in Montgomery, Alabama. But as the 600 marchers approach the Edmund Pettis bridge in Selma, they are stopped by state troopers. Can Essie survive blows, tear gas, and being sprayed with a water hose to continue her fight for voting rights? Readers can learn the real story of Selma's Bloody Sunday from the nonfiction back matter in this Girls Survive story. A glossary, discussion questions, and writing prompts are also provided.

Twelve-year-old Millie's family is hesitant to leave the farm their family has owned for generations, but after Black Sunday they leave Oklahoma for California where they find a new kind of stuggle.