Books You May Have Missed 2020: Elementary and Middle Grade

Graphic novel about a young girl who befriends her town's witch and discovers the strange magic within herself. Snap's town had a witch. At least, that's how the rumor goes. But in reality, Jacks is just a crocks-wearing, internet-savvy old lady who sells roadkill skeletons online--after doing a little ritual to put their spirits to rest. It's creepy, sure, but Snap thinks it's kind of cool, too. They make a deal: Jacks will teach Snap how to take...

It is 1805 and Mary Lambert has always felt safe among the deaf community of Chilmark on Martha's Vineyard where practically everyone communicates in a shared sign language, but recent events have shattered her life; her brother George has died, land disputes between English settlers and the Wampanoag people are becoming increasingly bitter, and a "scientist" determined to discover the origins of the islands' widespread deafness has decided she makes...

"A picture biography of educator and politician Shirley Chisholm, who in 1968 was the first Black woman elected to Congress and in 1972 was the first Black candidate from a major political party (the Democratic party) to run for the United States presidency. An afterword with additional information, photographs, and source lists are included"--

"When best friends Sal and Gabi try to repair the damage they created when they altered the universe to help their families, they end up creating even more chaos"--

Lately, seventh grader Nizhoni Begay has been able to detect monsters, like that man in the fancy suit who was in the bleachers at her basketball game. Turns out he's Mr. Charles, her dad's new boss at the oil and gas company, and he's alarmingly interested in Nizhoni and her brother, Mac, their Navajo heritage, and the legend of the Hero Twins. Nizhoni knows he's a threat, but her father won't believe her. When Dad disappears the next day, leaving...

Many years ago, the color purple was available only to a privileged few because the process was very complicated and expensive. Then in 1856, a boy named William Henry Perkin was testing a hypothesis about a cure for malaria and found that his experiment resulted in something else--something vivid and rare for the times: synthetic purple. Perkin, a pioneer of the modern scientific method, made numerous advances possible, including canned food and...

In Silver Springs, Arizona, her mother's stories of the monstrous La Llorona are thrilling but unbelievable to science-loving Paola until she and her best friends Dante and Emma take a walk through a cactus field near the Gila River.

In a predominately white California beach town, the only two black seventh-graders, Alberta and Edie, find hidden journals that uncover family secrets and speak to race relations in the past.

"Explore nature through evocative riddles and bold imagery that take the reader from day to night and back again in this perfect read aloud. Who scribbles on the sidewalk with glistening ink? Snail! Who's a comma in a long, long sentence of a stream? Tadpole! Active readers will delight in the clever language and striking illustrations by esteemed author/illustrator Antoinette Portis. On each spread, children will solve riddles about the familiar...