Kids Book Index
Liara Tamani
Taja moves through the changes and challenges of growing up as she goes from middle school to high school. Her close-knit African American family remains part of that experience. The novel presents her development in a series of poetic prose vignettes, while also considering the struggle to determine where a person belongs and why that person matters in life.
This book appears on 1 reading list across 1 edition.
Among the Red StarsGwen C. KatzWhen Germany attempts to invade the Soviet Union in 1941, eighteen-year-old Valka decides to aid Russia’s war effort. A skilled pilot, she joins an all-female bomber regiment, alongside women known as the Night Witches. Flying has represented freedom and exhilaration to Valka, but bombing German targets brings danger and a different kind of responsibility. As the pilots face peril and treachery, Valka sees her fellow fliers risking everything in wartime.Fourteen and OlderOn the same reading list for the same age or grade groupView book details
That Thing We Call a HeartSheba KarimAfter high school ends, Shabnam Qureshi faces a lonely summer and feels estranged from her best friend, Farah, who has begun wearing hijab. Shabnam also feels that her parents do not understand her. Then she meets Jamie, a free-spirited college student, and reconnects with Farah to share her happiness. As her relationship with Jamie grows, Shabnam compares their warmth and passion with the restrained affection she sees between her parents, while seeking to understand who she is and what she wants.Fourteen and OlderOn the same reading list for the same age or grade groupView book details
City of Saints & ThievesNatalie C AndersonSixteen-year-old Tina returns from Kenya to the Congo, the place she and her mother fled years earlier, seeking answers about her mother’s killing. She pursues evidence against her mother’s former employer, whom she believes responsible. Although she reluctantly works with the employer’s son, their search exposes secrets and increasingly dangerous truths. The novel follows Tina’s determination to uncover what happened to her mother.Fourteen and OlderOn the same reading list for the same age or grade groupView book details