Kids Book Index
Bessie Flores Zaldívar
During a contentious presidential election, Libertad tries to find acceptance and a way to express her lesbian identity. Poetry becomes an important outlet as she works through those questions. Her situation raises the possibility that being herself may require leaving home. The novel brings together political tension, self-expression, and her search for a place where she can live openly.
This book appears on 1 reading list across 1 edition.
Shackled: A Tale of Wronged Kids, Rogue Judges, and a Town that Looked AwayCandy J. CooperShackled documents the Kids for Cash scandal in post-Columbine Pennsylvania, where fear of violent teenagers helped shape a harsh juvenile-court climate. Two judges, a developer, and an attorney established a for-profit detention center and directed money from it into their personal accounts. To keep the facility occupied, Judge Mark Ciavarella imposed severe sentences for minor offenses, sending children who expected community service away in shackles. The account also follows whistleblowers and others who tried to expose the practice, while recognizing the system workers who were complicit.Ninth to Twelfth GradeLexile Text Measure 1140LATOS Book Level 8.2On the same reading list for the same age or grade groupView book details
This Book Won’t BurnSamira AhmedNoor Khan’s father leaves the family, and her mother relocates them far from their Chicago home. The move means Noor must begin the final quarter of her senior year at an unfamiliar school. She is separated from the people and places she knows and loves while adjusting to a new home and school at a difficult moment for her family.Ninth to Twelfth GradeOn the same reading list for the same age or grade groupView book details
The Unboxing of a Black GirlAngela ShantéThis creative nonfiction collection combines free verse, haiku, and brief scenes in a memoir of Black girlhood. Its childhood memories unfold in 1990s New York City, forming a many-part portrait shaped by the past and connected to the present. Alongside the author’s own experiences, the book also turns toward the lives of Black girls beyond the city. Poetry and prose work together to trace girlhood across memory, place, and time. It presents these experiences through multiple poetic forms and vignette-like reflections.Ninth to Twelfth GradeOn the same reading list for the same age or grade groupView book details