Childhood Resilience

Santat, Dan author, illustrator.

After falling off the wall, Humpty Dumpty is very afraid of climbing up again, but is determined not to let fear stop him from being close to the birds.

Kelkar, Supriya, 1980- author.

Gandhi asks for one member of each family to join the fight for independence from the British, and when ten-year-old Anjali's mother is jailed for doing so, Anjali must step out of her comfort zone to take over her mother's work.

Saeed, Aisha author.

In Pakistan, Amal holds onto her dream of being a teacher even after becoming an indentured servant to pay off her family's debt to the wealthy and corrupt Khan family.

Katz, Sandor

Traces the life of the young Jewish girl whose diary chronicles the years she and her family hid from the Nazis in an Amsterdam attic.

Woodson, Jacqueline

Jacqueline Woodson, one of today's finest writers, tells the moving story of her childhood in mesmerizing verse. Raised in South Carolina and New York, Woodson always felt halfway home in each place. In vivid poems, she shares what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement.

Khorram, Adib, author.

Clinically-depressed Darius Kellner, a highschool sophmore, travels to Iran to meet his grandparents, but it is their next-door neighbor, Sohrab, who changes his life.

Engle, Margarita

Follows a girl in the 1920s as she strives to become a drummer, despite being continually reminded that only boys play the drums, and that there has never been a female drummer in Cuba. Includes note about Millo Castro Zaldarriaga, who inspired the story, and Anacaona, the all-girl dance band she formed with her sisters.

Yamasaki, Katie

Naomi has always loved her vibrant neighborhood but things are changing quickly so, inspired by Mr. Ray, she paints murals to preserve her favorite memories.

Thom, Kai Cheng,

A magical gender variant child brings transformation and change to the world around them thanks to their mother's enduring love. In the magical time between night and day, when both the sun and the moon are in the sky, a child is born in a little blue house on a hill. And Miu Lan is not just any child, but one who can change into any shape they can imagine. The only problem is they can't decide what to be: a boy or a girl? A bird or a fish? A flower or a shooting star? At school, though, they must endure inquisitive looks and difficult questions from the other children, and have trouble finding friends who will accept them for who they are. But they find comfort in the loving arms of their mother, who always offers them the same loving refrain: "whatever you dream of / i believe you can be / from the stars in the sky to the fish in the sea." In this captivating, beautifully imagined picture book about gender, identity, and the acceptance of the differences between us, Miu Lan faces many questions about who they are and who they may be. But one thing's for sure: no matter who this child becomes, their mother will love them just the same.

Marshall, Joseph, 1945-

Teased for his fair coloring, eleven-year-old Jimmy McClean travels with his maternal grandfather, Nyles High Eagle, to learn about his Lakota heritage while visiting places significant in the life of Crazy Horse, the nineteenth-century Lakota leader and warrior, in a tale that weaves the past with the present. Includes historical note and glossary.

Cornwall, Gaia author, illustrator.

After he passes his swimming test, little Jabari decides he's ready to try jumping off the diving board, but when the big moment arrives, Jabari needs to work up the courage to jump.

Love, Jessica, author, illustrator.

While riding the subway home from the pool with his abuela one day, Julián notices three women spectacularly dressed up. Their hair billows in brilliant hues, their dresses end in fishtails, and their joy fills the train car. When Julián gets home, daydreaming of the magic he's seen, all he can think about is dressing up just like the ladies in his own fabulous mermaid costume: a butter-yellow curtain for his tail, the fronds of a potted fern for his headdress. But what will Abuela think about the mess he makes -- and even more importantly, what will she think about how Julián sees himself?

Floca, Brian

An ode to the essential workers keeping the country operating during the Covid-19 pandemic. An ode to a city's resilience.

Mills, Deborah (Architect), author.

Join a young boy and his father on a daring journey from Mexico to Texas to find a new life. They’ll need all the resilience and courage they can muster to safely cross the border and to make a home for themselves in a new land.

Gephart, Donna

Lily Jo McGrother, born Timothy McGrother, is a girl. But being a girl is not so easy when you look like a boy. Especially when you're in the eighth-grade. Norbert Dorfman, nicknamed Dunkin Dorfman, is bipolar and has just moved from the New Jersey town he's called home for the past thirteen years. This would be hard enough, but the fact that he is also hiding from a painful secret makes it even worse. One summer morning, Lily Jo McGrother meets Dunkin Dorfman, and their lives forever change.

Yousafzai, Malala, 1997- author.

The author presents her story and life philosophy, describing how she wished for a magic pencil that she would use to fix the world's problems, and how she realized that even if she never found the pencil, she could still have a positive impact.

Duff, Hilary

The actress and singer best recognized as the title star of Lizzie McGuire draws on her personal experiences with motherhood in a lyrical tribute to the courage of girls that offers empowering messages about pursuing one's dreams and approaching the worldwith an open heart.

Lowry, Lois

In 1943, during the German occupation of Denmark, ten-year-old Annemarie learns how to be brave and courageous when she helps shelter her Jewish friend from the Nazis.

Draper, Sharon M. (Sharon Mills)

Eleven-year-old Melody is not like most people. She can’t walk. She can’t talk. She can’t write. All because she has cerebral palsy. But she also has a photographic memory; she can remember every detail of everything she has ever experienced. She’s the smartest kid in her whole school, but NO ONE knows it. Most people—her teachers, her doctors, her classmates—dismiss her as mentally challenged because she can’t tell them otherwise. But Melody refuses to be defined by her disability. And she’s determined to let everyone know it…somehow.

Beaty, Andrea

A young aspiring engineer must first conquer her fear of failure.

Legrand, Claire, 1986- author.

Finley Hart is sent to her grandparents' house for the summer, but her anxiety and overwhelmingly sad days continue until she escapes into her writings which soon turn mysteriously real and she realizes she must save this magical world in order to save herself.

Mantchev, Lisa

A boy is excluded from joining his friends' pet club because of his unusual pet. Now it is time for a boy and his tiny pet elephant to show them what it means to be a true friend.

Bates, Amy June author, illustrator.

Burach, Ross

This comical companion to Ross Burach's "The very impatient caterpillar" pays loving homage to every child's struggle to persist through challenges while also delivering a lighthearted lesson on butterfly migration. Remember, if at first you don't succeed, fly, fly again

author DiTerlizzi, Angela; illustrated by Alvarez, Lorena

Everyday, when learning how to do new things, it is important to keep on trying and remember there is "Yet" something else that can be done.

Diaz, Alexandra author.

Twelve-year-old Jaime makes the treacherous journey from his home in Guatemala to his older brother in New Mexico after his cousin is murdered by a drug cartel.

Moore, David Barclay author.

Unable to celebrate the holidays in the wake of his older brother's death in a gang-related shooting, Lolly Rachpaul struggles to avoid being forced into a gang himself while constructing a fantastically creative LEGO city at the Harlem community center.

Coles, Robert

For months six-year-old Ruby Bridges must confront the hostility of white parents when she becomes the first African American girl to integrate Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans in 1960.

Levinson, Cynthia author.

Presents the life of nine-year-old Audrey Faye Hendricks who became the youngest known child to be arrested for picketing against Birmingham segregation practices in 1963.

Boelts, Maribeth

Jeremy, who longs to have the black high tops that everyone at school seems to have but his grandmother cannot afford, is excited when he sees them for sale in a thrift shop and decides to buy them even though they are the wrong size.

Bridges, Ruby

Ruby Bridges recounts the story of her involvement, as a six-year-old, in the integration of her school in New Orleans in 1960.

Berger, Samantha author.

A child who likes to draw and write stories imagines what would happen if there were no pencils, paper, or other tools for being creative.

Abramson, Ann

Looks closely at Anne Frank's life before the secret annex, what life was like in hiding from the Nazis, and the legacy of her diary.