Kids Book Index
Jerry Craft
Jordan Banks is a seventh grader who loves to draw. His parents enroll him in a private school where he is among only a few students of color. Jordan has to navigate the differences between his school life and his neighborhood while trying to remain himself. The graphic novel follows his adjustment to the new school, including microaggressions and the friendships he makes there.
This book appears on 6 reading lists across 3 editions from 6 organizations.
The Moon WithinAida SalazarEleven-year-old Celi thinks about changes in her body as she approaches womanhood. Her mother wants her to take part in a moon ceremony, an ancestral Mexica practice reclaimed by Mima and her community. Celi says she will not participate. Alongside this conflict, she experiences a first attraction to a boy and sees her best friend explore being genderfluid. The novel is told in verse with black-and-white spot illustrations.Nine to TwelveOn the same reading list for the same age or grade groupView book details
Can You Crack the Code?: A Fascinating History of Ciphers and CryptographyElla Schwartz, illustrated by Lily WilliamsThis nonfiction book surveys codes and ciphers from antiquity through the present. It explains how coded messages work and recounts their use in hidden-treasure stories, wartime operations, and modern hacking. Sidebars offer activities for decoding messages and creating secret ones, while illustrations and back matter accompany the historical material. The book also presents examples that readers can interact with as they explore its subject.Nine to TwelveOn the same reading list for the same age or grade groupView book details
For Black Girls Like MeMariama J. LockingtonEleven-year-old Makeda, called Kade, moves with her family to New Mexico for her father’s music career. As a Black adopted girl in a white family, she faces questions and experiences her family does not always understand. At her new private school, a classmate uses a racial slur and the school focuses on Kade’s response. Family tensions increase as her mother’s behavior becomes erratic and she later receives a bipolar diagnosis.Twelve to FourteenLexile Text Measure HL500LATOS Book Level 3.5On the same reading list for the same age or grade groupView book details