Recommended Reads for Youth

Recommended Reads are a monthly series of books that can be found in our collection.

Recommended Reads for November 2024 

Early Learners 

BR022570 Thank You, Omu! by Oge Mora. When the aroma of Omu's homemade stew fills the air, her neighbors arrive, one by one, for a taste, until all is gone except her generous spirit. PRINT/BRAILLE. For preschool-grade 2. 2018.

DB101004 How to Catch a Turkey by Adam Wallace. Chaos ensues as students turn their school upside down trying to catch the turkey that is running loose in the halls right before their Thanksgiving play. For preschool-grade 2.

DBC06839 Good Morning World by Paul Windsor. A board book illustrated by a Haisla/Heiltsuk member of Canada's First Nations people.  The book is about the good energy of the morning.  The sun is the main character, and the world is full of animals with spirit and enterprise and a place in tradition. Grades P-2.

BR022747 Bowwow powwow = : Bagosenjige-niimi'idim by Brenda J. Child. While attending a powwow with Uncle, Windy Girl dreams of a bowwow powwow, where all of the dancers are dogs. Translated from the Ojibwe language by Gordon Jourdain. For grades K-3 and older readers. 

DBC24437 Harvest Days: Giving Thanks Around the World by Kate DePalma. Explore harvest festivals from around the globe! Lyrical, rhyming text and lush, detailed artwork from Italian artist Martina Peluso immerse young readers in some of the most ancient traditions in the world. Nine pages of rich, educational endnotes dive deep with more information about the 12 cultures explored in the book and invite young readers to ask questions about food and the labor that produces it. For grades K-3.

DB075815 Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade by Melissa Sweet. Recounts the history of the giant helium-filled character balloons that float every year since 1928 in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. Discusses Tony Sarg's love for puppets, which set the stage for his creations. For grades K-3 and older readers.

Children

BR024025; DB105966 If You Lived During the Plimoth Thanksgiving by Chris Newell. The author examines the feast at Plimoth, the English colonists, the Wampanoag people, and the history leading up to this event, now a national holiday. For grades 2-4. 

BR023064; DB099761 Happy Howlidays! a Middle School Story [#2, Dog Diaries series] by James Patterson. When mischievous mutt, Junior, causes a Turkey Day disaster, he realizes that getting out of the doghouse will take a miracle! For grades 2-4. 

BRC11044; DB103049; LP026372 The Sea in Winter by Christine Day. After an injury sidelines her dreams of becoming a ballet star, Maisie is not excited for her blended family's midwinter road trip along the coast, near the Makah community where her mother grew up. American Indian Youth Literature Award: Middle Grade Honor Book. PNW Story. For grades 4-7. 

BRC10967; LP026038 Indian No More by Charlene Willing McManis. Regina Petit's family has always been Umpqua, and living on the Grand Ronde reservation is all ten-year-old Regina has ever known.  But when the federal government signs a bill into law that says Regina's tribe no longer exists, Regina becomes "Indian no more" overnight--even though she was given a number by the Bureau of Indian Affairs that counted her as Indian, even though she lives with her tribe and practices tribal customs, and even though her ancestors were Indian for countless generations. Best Books of 2019, American Indians in Children's Literature. For grades 4-7 and older. 

BRC01958; DBC19091 Elvis, Me, and the Lemonade Stand Summer by Leslie Gentile. It’s the summer of 1978 and most people think Elvis Presley has been dead for a year. But eleven-year-old Truly knows Elvis is alive and well and living in her trailer park. Truly is determined to raise money for herself through her lemonade stand and to prove that her cool new neighbor is the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll. And when she can’t find motherly support in her own home, she finds sanctuary with Andy El, the Salish woman who runs the trailer park and is a connection to Truly’s own Indigenous roots. For grades 4-7.

BR024124; DB104419; LP026453 Healer of the Water Monster by Brian Young. When Nathan visits his grandma, Nali, at her mobile summer home on the Navajo reservation, he knows he's in for a pretty uneventful summer. But things change after he meets a water monster that needs his help. For grades 3-6.

Tweens & Teens

DB084286 Story of Seeds: From Mendel's Garden to Your Plate, and How There's More of Less to Eat around the World by Nancy F. Castaldo. Describes the history of seeds and the diminishing crop diversity brought about by big farming, war, and global warming. Highlights agricultural pioneers, and efforts to preserve heritage seeds from extinction, such as the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway. For grades 6-9 and older readers.

DB092945 Diet for a Changing Climate: Food for Thought by Christy Mihaly. Explores the environmental and nutritional value of unexpected food sources. Suggests trying crickets and mealworms as a sustainable source of protein and adding invasive weeds, such as dandelions and kudzu, to your favorite recipes. For junior and senior high and older readers. 

DBC06773 Peas and Carrots by Tanita S. Davis. After her mother is arrested, 15-year-old Dess is sent to live with the foster family that took in her baby brother several years ago. She and Hope, her new foster sister, do not get along at all but soon realize they might have more in common than they think. For Grade 7 and up. 

DB111658; LP026462 Man Made Monsters by Andrea L. Rogers. Horror fans will get their thrills in this collection – from werewolves to vampires to zombies – all the time-worn horror baddies are there. But so are predators of a distinctly American variety – the horrors of empire, of intimate partner violence, of dispossession. And so too the monsters of Rogers’ imagination, that draw upon long-told Cherokee stories – of Deer Woman, fantastical sea creatures, and more. Following one extended Cherokee family across the centuries, from the tribe’s homelands in Georgia in the 1830s to World War I, the Vietnam War, our own present, and well into the future, each story delivers a slice of a particular time period that will leave readers longing for more. Award winner. For junior and senior high.

BRC01955; DBC15812 Dreaming in Color by Melanie Florence. Jennifer McCaffrey has been working hard on her art for years and is thrilled when she is accepted to a prestigious art school. The school is everything she always thought it would be, mostly. There is one group of kids who seem to resent her and say she only got in because of her skin color. Jen, who loves to create new pieces of artwork that incorporate her Indigenous heritage, finds herself a target when the group tells her to stop being “so Indian”. The night before the big art show at school, Jen’s beading art project is defaced. Jen has to find a way not to let the haters win. For junior and senior high. 

DB081699; LP026297 Cemetery Boys by Vincent Ralph. When Stephen reluctantly moves to the Hitchcock-like town where his father grew up, he is sure he's not going to like it. When his new friends haunt the local cemetery, Stephen realizes he may be in over his head. Violence and strong language. For senior high and older readers.