Books You May Have Missed 2021: Elementary and Middle Grade

"A beautifully illustrated novel in verse about a young Indian girl who tackles the taboos around sanitation in her village. In Latika's village in rural India, there are no toilets. No toilets mean that the women have to wait until night to do their business in a field. There are scorpions and snakes in the field, and germs that make people sick. For the girls in the village, no toilets mean leaving school when they reach puberty. No one in the village...

During 2020, widespread protests rooted in the call-and-response tradition of the Black community gained worldwide attention in the wake of high-profile wrongful deaths of Black people. From the founders to watershed moments, follow the activists and organizers on their journeys and discover the ways that protest has been fundamental to American democracy, eventually making meaningful change.

Why doesn't Berra have a grandfather? And how can he get one? Ulf suggests that there are plenty of old men at the retirement home. Berra and Ulf go there together to find one-ideally one who eats pig's trotters, invites you to tea, and can teach you to whistle. --from Amazon.

Stan Sakai's beloved rabbit samurai has won countless fans over his 35-year history, thanks to a clever blend of thrilling action, heartwarming characters, and a realistic portrayal of Japanese culture. Chibi Usagi brings these fun and thoughtful stories to middle-grade readers as an original graphic novel packed with adorable art and captivating energy.

"Callan and four other young criminals are recruited to pull off a difficult heist from the city's most powerful sorcerer"--

"Mary Golda Ross designed classified projects for Lockheed Air Corporation as the company's first female engineer. Find out how her passion for math and the Cherokee values she was raised with shaped her life and work"--

Twelve-year-old Maxine Chen dreams of being a figure skating champion, but a remarkably talented new girl at the arena and a racist classmate at school test her resolve.--

In Accra, Ghana, after Ato's father dies his mother sends him to spend the summer with his grandmother where he learns about his father's vibrant, complicated life, and learns to honor his past with hope for his own future.

Tor is adjusting to life with the power of the Night Witch, especially with his best friends Engle and Melda by his side. But when a mysterious girl washes up on shore claiming a band of cursed pirates is on their way to Emblem Island, life changes fast. The girl, Vesper, is from an underwater city that was destroyed by the terrible Calavera pirates and she warns Tor they are now on their way to his home. The trio of friends must come up with a plan...

On Dead Wednesday, every eighth grader in Amber Springs is assigned the name and identity of a teenager who died a preventable death in the past year. The kids don black shirts and for the whole day everyone in town pretends they're invisible-as if they weren't even there. The adults think it will make them contemplate their mortality. The kids know it's a free pass to get away with anything. Worm Tarnauer feels invisible every day. He's perfectly...