CHILDREN'S
Released: Sept. 13, 2012
"Sugar, with her natural gift for rubbing down imperfections, will win readers' hearts. (Fiction. 9-13)"
Through months of homelessness and her mother's breakdown, sixth-grader Sugar Mae Cole and her puppy, Shush, demonstrate what it means to be sweet.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Aug. 7, 2012
"Original and winning. (Fiction. 10-14)"
A seventh-grade boy who is coping with social and economic issues moves into a new apartment building, where he makes friends with an over-imaginative home-schooled boy and his eccentric family.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: April 1, 2012
"Steeped in violence (more implied than graphic) and poverty, but focused on love and hope. (Fiction. 9-12)"
Meet Socrates, better known as Socko, on the first day of summer before his eighth-grade year, a summer that will change his life forever.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Sept. 19, 2011
"This outstanding, emotionally resonant effort will appeal to middle-grade readers. (Fiction. 8-12)"
CHILDREN'S
Released: March 22, 2011
"No art was seen, but the final book will have many fun illustrations (according to Cheesie) from Time Warp Trio illustrator McCauley. (Fiction. 8-12)"
Ronald "Cheesie" Mack and his best friend, Georgie, are about to graduate fifth grade and embark on the best summer ever, which will include, but not be limited to, making points in a private battle against Cheesie's evil older sister June, hanging out in their treehouse and, most importantly, summer camp in Maine.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: May 4, 2010
"Keenly necessary. (Fiction. 12-15)"
CHILDREN'S
Released: May 1, 2010
"In the end, readers get a problem novel with little depth, but it delivers a cast of charming characters and a semi-happy ending. (Fiction. 12 & up)"
Although her parents are divorced, ninth-grader Jacki has a golden California lifestyle with all the accoutrements—private school, large house with a swimming pool and a mom with a high-powered, high-paying job—the works.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: June 1, 2007
"All in all, a pleasing portrait of the healing that can follow an all-too-common childhood trauma. (Fiction/poetry. 7-11)"
First-person free-verse poems describe the emotional journey made by one little girl when her family is forced to move.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: April 6, 2007
"A powerful portrayal from an innocently youthful perspective. (Fiction. 10-12)"
Georgina and younger brother Toby begin a homeless life living in Mom's car, having been evicted when Dad leaves.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Oct. 1, 2005
"Mazur's problem verse-novel becomes unexpectedly uncomfortable and one may wonder if the payoff comes to Vicki and her readers at too high a price. (Fiction. 10-14)"
A fast-paced verse novel chronicles a suburban teen's nightmare: losing her most comfortable, well-appointed lifestyle to a bare bones existence in the city.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: July 1, 2005
"Tobin's own blossoming, through friendship, and the rediscovery of his family, and the love for and of his chickens, is entirely satisfying—just right. (Fiction. 10-14)"
Seventh-grader Tobin has pretty much flown under the radar most of his life, only stealing a paper clip now and then to prove his relationship to the rest of his juvenile-delinquent family.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: July 1, 2004
"Thought-provoking, despite occasional lapses into social-studies lessons about Islam. (Fiction. 9-12)"
CHILDREN'S
Released: Jan. 1, 2003
"Don't let anyone miss this. (Fiction. 9-13)"
Count on award-winning Woodson (Visiting Day, p. 1403, etc.) to present readers with a moving, lyrical, and completely convincing novel in verse.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: May 1, 2001
"They'll think that, after all he's been through, Ricky deserves all the breaks he can get. (Fiction. 10-13)"
Many readers will want to give 11-year-old Ricky Gordon, the protagonist of this fast-paced novel, a reassuring hug.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: March 7, 2001
"But she has learned to hope, and that is no small thing for her—and the reader—to carry away. (Fiction. 10-14)"
The twin challenges of loving and being loved form the theme of another Southern gem from the author of Me and Rupert Goody (1999).
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Aug. 10, 1977
"Cleary knows, for sure."
