Puppet

Puppet by Eva Wiseman
The year is 1882. A young servant girl named Esther disappears from a small Hungarian village. Several Jewish men from the village of Tisza Eszvar face the ‘blood libel’ — the centuries-old calumny that Jews murder Christian children for their blood. A fourteen-year-old Jewish boy named Morris Scharf becomes the star witness of corrupt authorities who coerce him into testifying against his fellow Jews, including his own father, at the trial.

The Brooklyn Nine: A Novel in Nine Innings

The Brooklyn Nine: A Novel in Nine Innings by Alan Gratz
Follows the fortunes of a German immigrant family through nine generations, beginning in 1845, as they experience American life and play baseball.
"...He looked for it again now and there it was, all around him. The kind of day where a little dirt on his hands felt good, where the high blue sky was just right for catching fly balls, where grounders always bounced into his outstretched glove. It had been that way all along, but it hadn't belonged to him or to anybody else. It was baseball's day..."/Eighth Inning: The Perfectionist, page 262

Hollywood and Maine

Hollywood and Maine by Allison Whittenberg
In 1976 Pennsylvania, middle-schooler Charmaine Upshaw contemplates a career as a model or actress while coping with boyfriend problems and the return of her uncle, a fugitive who cost her family $1,000 in bail money a year earlier.

The Devil's Paintbox

The Devil's Paintbox by Victoria McKernan
In 1866, fifteen-year-old Aidan and his thirteen-year-old sister Maddy, penniless orphans, leave drought-stricken Kansas on a wagon train hoping for a better life in Seattle, but find there are still many hardships to be faced.

The Desperado Who Stole Baseball

The Desperado Who Stole Baseball by John H. Ritter
In 1881, the scrappy, rough-and-tumble baseball team in a California mining town enlists the help of a quick-witted twelve-year-old orphan and the notorious outlaw Billy the Kid to win a big game against the National League Champion Chicago White Stockings.

Flygirl

Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith
During World War II, a light-skinned African American girl "passes" for white in order to join the Women Airforce Service Pilots. Read an interview with the author here. The book has a homepage here.

The Rock and the River

The Rock and the River by Kekla Magoon
In 1968 Chicago, fourteen-year-old Sam Childs is caught in a conflict between his father's nonviolent approach to seeking civil rights for African Americans and his older brother, who has joined the Black Panther Party.

"It's just breakfast," I said. "Isn't it?"

The Black Panthers Speak by Philip S. Foner (Editor), Martin Luther King(Foreword by), Clayborne Carson (Foreword by), Julian Bond (Introduction)

See page 169 for an essay entitled "Why the Free Breakfast?" Huey P. Newton is credited with the concept of the free breakfast. This article, dated October 4, 1969 says that "the Black Panther Party is about educating the people to the fact they have a right to the best that modern technology and human knowledge can produce. THE WORLD BELONGS TO ALL THE PEOPLE..."

My Brother Abe : Sally Lincoln's Story

My Brother Abe : Sally Lincoln's Story by Harry Mazer
Forced off their land in Kentucky in 1816, nine-year-old Sarah Lincoln, known as Sally, and her family, including younger brother Abe, move to the Indiana frontier. The jacket art is by Laurent Linn.

Best Bad Luck I Ever Had

Best Bad Luck I Ever Had by Kristin Levine
In Moundville, Alabama, in 1917, twelve-year-old Dit hopes the new postmaster will have a son his age, but instead he meets Emma, who is black, and their friendship challenges accepted ways of thinking and leads them to save the life of a condemned man.

After the Train

After the Train by Gloria Whelan
Ten years after the end of the Second World War, the town of Rolfen, West Germany, looks just as peaceful and beautiful as ever, until young Peter Liebig discovers a secret about his past that leads him to question everything, including the town's calm facade and his own sense of comfort and belonging. Herr Schafer, a professor in East Germany, now a bricklayer in West Germany, works for Peter's father. Here are thoughts Herr Schafer shares with Peter.

"There are some Jews, Peter, who believe that in every generation there are only thirty-six righteous people in the whole world and no one knows who they are. Without those thirty-six the world could not exist. For myself, I think there are many more..."-pg 76

"...Being Jewish is not a game like checkers with a set of rules. Any Jew, or any Christian for that matter, will tell you we find out a little more about ourselves every day. What we were yesterday we are not today and will not be tomorrow. Don't be in such a hurry, Peter. Let each day teach you something, even if it comes from a mistake. Sometimes mistakes are the biggest lessons of all..."-pg 113

The True Adventures of Charley Darwin

The True Adventures of Charley Darwin by Carolyn Meyer
In nineteenth-century England, young Charles Darwin rejects the more traditional careers of physician and clergyman, choosing instead to embark on a dangerous five-year journey by ship to explore the natural world.

The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg

The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick

Twelve-year-old Homer, a poor but clever orphan, has extraordinary adventures after running away from his evil uncle to rescue his brother, who has been sold into service in the Civil War.

"...Even covered with pig filth, I can smell the 'medicine' we're selling.

I know that smell. Whiskey. Professor Fleabottom's Miracle Elixir is just plain whisky..."

Find out more about the author Rodman Philbrick here. Read this review at PlanetEsme Plan.

We Can't All Be Rattlesnakes

We Can't All Be Rattlesnakes by Patrick Jennings
When Crusher the snake is captured, her only thought is to escape but as time goes by and she befriends the other inmates of the "zoo," she realizes that freedom also means leaving companions behind.

Lincoln and His Boys

Lincoln and His Boys by Rosemary Wells, P. J. Lynch (Illustrator)

Brothers Willie and Taddie share stories about their father, Abraham Lincoln, from 1859 to 1865. For a perspective and analysis by a blogger especially interested in Abraham Lincoln read this post. Enjoy this slide show of the art of the illustrator, P.J. Lynch. Near the end of the slide show there are several of the illustrations from Lincoln and His Boys.