Special Collections
Newbery Award Winners
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The Wright Brothers
by Russell FreedmanHe saw the first regular airmail service introduced in 1918, the first nonstop transcontinental flight in 1923, the first round-the-world flight in 1924, the first polar flight in 1926, and the first nonstop flight across the Atlantic in 1927. He witnessed two world wars in which the airplane played a critical role. He saw the earth shrink as the jet engine replaced propellers. He lived to see airplanes that flew faster than the speed of sound, and planes whose wings stretched farther than the distance of his first flight at Kitty Hawk. There were moments when he looked back wistfully to those long-ago days when flying was still a dream that he shared with his brother. He once said, “I got more thrill out of flying before I had ever been in the air at all – while lying in bed thinking how exciting it would be to fly.”
Newbery Medal Honor book
Olive's Ocean
by Kevin Henkes"Olive Barstow was dead. She'd been hit by a car on Monroe Street while riding her bicycle weeks ago. That was about all Martha knew."
Martha Boyle and Olive Barstow could have been friends. But they weren't -- and now all that is left are eerie connections between two girls who were in the same grade at school and who both kept the same secret without knowing it.
Now Martha can't stop thinking about Olive. A family summer on Cape Cod should help banish those thoughts; instead, they seep in everywhere.
And this year Martha's routine at her beloved grandmother's beachside house is complicated by the Manning boys. Jimmy, Tate, Todd, Luke, and Leo. But especially Jimmy. What if, what if, what if, what if? The world can change in a minute.
A Newbery Honor Book.
Lily's Crossing
by Patricia Reilly GiffThis year, as in other years, Lily has planned a spectacular summer in Rockaway, in her family's cozy house on stilts over the Atlantic Ocean. But by the summer of 1944, World War II has changed almost everyone's life. Lily's best friend, Margaret, and her family have moved to a wartime factory town, and worse, much worse, Lily's father is on his way overseas to the war.
There's no one else Lily's age in Rockaway until Albert comes, a refugee from Hungary, a boy with a secret sewn into his coat. Albert has lost most of his family in the war; he's been through things Lily can't imagine. But when they join together to rescue and care for a kitten, they begin a special friendship. For Lily and Albert have their own secrets to share: they both have told lies, and Lily has told a lie that may cost Albert his life.
Newbery Honor Book
The Family Under the Bridge
by Natalie Savage CarlsonThis is the delightfully warm and enjoyable story of an old Parisian named Armand, who relished his solitary life. Children, he said, were like starlings, and one was better off without them.
But the children who lived under the bridge recognized a true friend when they met one, even if the friend seemed a trifle unwilling at the start. And it did not take Armand very long to realize that he had gotten himself a ready-made family; one that he loved with all his heart, and one for whom he would have to find a better home than the bridge.
Armand and the children's adventures around Paris--complete with gypsies and a Santa Claus--make a story which children will treasure.
Newbery Medal Honor book
On My Honor
by Marion Dane BauerWhen his best friend drowns while they are both swimming in a treacherous river that they had promised never to go near, Joel is devastated and terrified at having to tell both sets of parents the terrible consequences of their disobedience.
Newbery Honor Book
The Mostly True Adventures Of Homer P. Figg
by Rodman PhilbrickIn this Newbery Honor-winning page-turner, twelve-year-old orphan Homer runs away from Pine Swamp, Maine, to find his older brother, Harold, who has been sold into the Union Army.
With laugh-aloud humor, Homer outwits and outruns a colorful assortment of civil War-era thieves, scallywags, and spies as he makes his way south, following clues that finally lead him to Gettysburg. Even through a hail of gunfire, Homer never loses heart--but will he find his brother? Or will it be too late?
With engaging wit and comical repartee reminiscent of Mark Twain, master storyteller Rodman Philbrick introduces us to the unforgettable character of Homer in his latest groundbreaking novel.
The Great Fire
by Jim MurphyA vertible cinematic account of the catastrophe that decimated much of Chicago in 1871, forcing more than 100,000 people from their homes. Jim Murphy tells the story through the eyes of several survivors. These characters serve as dramatic focal points as the fire sweeps across the city, their stories illuminated by fascinating archival photos and maps outlining the spread of fire.
1996 Newbery Honor Book.
The Tombs of Atuan
by Ursula K. Le GuinOne of the Time 100 Best Fantasy Books Of All TimeThe Newbery Honor–winning second novel in the renowned Earthsea series from Ursula K. LeGuin.In this second novel in the Earthsea series, Tenar is chosen as high priestess to the ancient and nameless Powers of the Earth, and everything is taken from her—home, family, possessions, even her name. She is now known only as Arha, the Eaten One, and guards the shadowy, labyrinthine Tombs of Atuan.Then a wizard, Ged Sparrowhawk, comes to steal the Tombs’ greatest hidden treasure, the Ring of Erreth-Akbe. Tenar’s duty is to protect the Ring, but Ged possesses the light of magic and tales of a world that Tenar has never known. Will Tenar risk everything to escape from the darkness that has become her domain?With millions of copies sold worldwide, Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea Cycle has earned a treasured place on the shelves of fantasy lovers everywhere, alongside the works of such beloved authors as J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis.
The Hundred Dresses
by Eleanor Estes and Louis SlobodkinAt the heart of the story is Wanda Petronski, a Polish girl in a Connecticut school who is ridiculed by her classmates for wearing the same faded blue dress every day. Wanda claims she has one hundred dresses at home, but everyone knows she doesn't and bullies her mercilessly. The class feels terrible when Wanda is pulled out of the school, but by that time it's too late for apologies. Maddie, one of Wanda's classmates, ultimately decides that she is "never going to stand by and say nothing again."
Newbery Honor book
Li Lun, Lad of Courage
by Carolyn TreffingerBanished to a mountaintop to learn to grow rice, Li Lun proves his courage as he fights the elements and his own loneliness to make his rice seedlings flourish where no one else has for generations.
A Newbery Honor book.
The Singing Tree
by Kate SeredyThis sequel to The Good Master continues the story of young Jancsi and his cousin Kate, as they take care of the family farm when Jancsi's father is called off to fight in the Great War.
A Newbery Honor book.
Bomb
by Steve SheinkinIn December of 1938, a chemist in a German laboratory made a shocking discovery: When placed next to radioactive material, a Uranium atom split in two. That simple discovery launched a scientific race that spanned 3 continents. In Great Britain and the United States, Soviet spies worked their way into the scientific community; in Norway, a commando force slipped behind enemy lines to attack German heavy-water manufacturing; and deep in the desert, one brilliant group of scientists was hidden away at a remote site at Los Alamos. This is the story of the plotting, the risk-taking, the deceit, and genius that created the world's most formidable weapon. This is the story of the atomic bomb.
Bomb is a 2012 National Book Awards finalist for Young People's Literature.
Bomb is a 2012 Washington Post Best Kids Books of the Year title.
Bomb is a 2013 Newbery Honor book.
Bomb is the 2013 Robert Sibert Information Book Medal winner.
Incident at Hawk's Hill
by Allan W. EckertSix-year-old Ben is very small for his age, and gets along better with animals than people. One June day in 1870, Ben wanders away from his home on Hawk's Hill and disappears into the waving prairie grass. This is the story of how a shy, lonely boy survives for months in the wilds and forges a bond with a female badger.
Newbery Medal Honor book
Claudette Colvin
by Phillip M. Hoose"When it comes to justice, there is no easy way to get it. You can't sugarcoat it. You have to take a stand and say, 'This is not right.'" - Claudette Colvin
On March 2, 1955, an impassioned teenager, fed up with the daily injustices of Jim Crow segregation, refused to give her seat to a white woman on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Instead of being celebrated as Rosa Parks would be just nine months later, fifteen-year-old Claudette Colvin found herself shunned by her classmates and dismissed by community leaders. Undaunted, a year later she dared to challenge segregation again as a key plaintiff in Browder v. Gayle, the landmark case that struck down the segregation laws of Montgomery and swept away the legal underpinnings of the Jim Crow South. Based on extensive interviews with Claudette Colvin and many others, Phillip Hoose presents the first in-depth account of an important yet largely unknown civil rights figure, skillfully weaving her dramatic story into the fabric of the historic Montgomery bus boycott and court case that would change the course of American history.
Claudette Colvin is the 2009 National Book Award Winner for Young People's Literature, a 2010 Newbery Honor Book, a Sibert Honor book, and a Jane Addams Honor book.
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
by AviAvi's treasured Newbery Honor Book now in expanded After Words edition!Thirteen-year-old Charlotte Doyle is excited to return home from her school in England to her family in Rhode Island in the summer of 1832. But when the two families she was supposed to travel with mysteriously cancel their trips, Charlotte finds herself the lone passenger on a long sea voyage with a cruel captain and a mutinous crew. Worse yet, soon after stepping aboard the ship, she becomes enmeshed in a conflict between them! What begins as an eagerly anticipated ocean crossing turns into a harrowing journey, where Charlotte gains a villainous enemy . . . and is put on trial for murder!After Words material includes author Q & A, journal writing tips, and other activities that bring Charlotte's world to life!
Joey Pigza Loses Control
by Jack Gantos"He was wired. No dougbt about it... Now I know what Mom meant when she said he was like me, only bigger. "
Joey Pigza really wants his six-week visit with his dad to count, to show him he's not as wired as he used to be, to show his dad how much he loves him. But Carter Pigza's not an easy guy to love. He's eager to make it up to Joey for past wrongs and to show him how to be a winner, to take control of his life. With his coaching, Joey's even learned how to pitch a baseball, and he's good at it. The trouble is, Joey's dad thinks taking control means giving up the things that "keep Joey safe." And if he wants to please his dad, he's going to have to play by his rules, even when the rules don't make sense.
Newbery Medal Honor book
The Dark-Thirty
by Patricia C. Mckissack and Brian PinkneyIn that special half-hour of twilight--the dark-thirty--there are stories to be told. Mesmerizing, suspenseful, and breathtakingly original, these tales make up a heart-stopping collection of lasting value, a book not quickly forgotten.
Newbery Honor Book
Winner of the Coretta Scott King Medal
Enchantress from the Stars
by Sylvia EngdahlEnchantress from the Stars is an independent, 290 page science fantasy novel first published in 1970 and written by the highly acclaimed Sylvia Engdahl. This edition contains a forward by Lois Lowry. The combination of magic, technology, and psychic powers in the novel is based on Engdahl's theory that civilizations evolve through three stages of belief and morality. The survey force of the galactic government is dedicated to the shielding of planets that have fledgling human cultures from anything that might interfere with their natural development. Elana and her father are sent on a mission to save the magic believing inhabitants of Andrecia, who are protected, from the primitive colonizing efforts of a neighboring star system, whose race is also protected.
The summary by Penguin Books reads as follows:
Elana is a member of a supremely advanced intersteller civilization on a mission to the medieval planet Andrecia. To her shock, she becomes the key to a dangerous plan to turn back an invasion by an aggressive, space-faring "Youngling" species. How can she possibly help the Andrecians, who still believe in magic and superstition, without revealing her alien origins? Apprentice Medical Officer Jarel knows that the Imperial Exploration Corps doesn't consider the Andrecians to be human, and he has seen the atrocious treatment the natives get from his people. How can Jarel make a difference, when he alone regrets the destruction his people bring?
Georyn, son of an Andrecian woodcutter, knows only that there is a dragon on the other side of the enchanted forest, and he is prepared to do whatever it takes to defeat it. To him, Elana is the Enchantress from the Stars who has come to test him, to prove he is worthy...
A NEWBERY HONOR BOOK
WINNER OF THE PHOENIX AWARD
Homesick
by Jean FritzThis heartwarming fictionalized autobiography tells the story of what it is like for a little girl to be growing up in an unfamiliar place.
While other girls her age were enjoying childhood in America, Jean Fritz was in China in the midst of political unrest. During this time, foreigners were becoming more and more unpopular, and evacuation at a moment's notice was imminent. Although Jean appreciated the beauty of China - the mountains, the countryside, the sea - she knew she belonged in America and longed to make her home there.
Newbery Honor Book
Winner of the National Book Award
The Great Wheel
by Robert Lawson"Your fortune lies to the west. Keep your face to the sunset . . . and one day you’ll ride the greatest wheel in all the world.” When Aunt Honora reads this fortune in his tea leaves, Conn Kilroy knows he is destined for greater things than his small Irish village can offer. A letter from his uncle Michael in America offering Conn a partnership in his New York contracting company sets Conn on his western adventure. Just a few short months later Conn’s Uncle Patrick lures him even farther west to Chicago, where they join the hardworking crew building what some called Ferris’s Folly—the first Ferris wheel—then the largest wheel in the world and the showpiece of Chicago’s 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition.
Newbery Medal Honor book
Princess Academy
by Shannon HaleMiri lives on a mountain where, for generations, her ancestors have quarried stone and lived a simple life. Then word comes that the king's priests have divined her small village the home of the future princess. In a year's time, the prince himself will come and choose his bride from among the girls of the village. The king's ministers set up an academy on the mountain, and every teenage girl must attend and learn how to become a princess.
Miri soon finds herself confronted with a harsh academy mistress, bitter competition among the girls, and her own conflicting desires to be chosen and win the heart of her childhood best friend. But when bandits seek out the academy to kidnap the future princess, Miri must rally the girls together and use a power unique to the mountain dwellers to save herself and her classmates.
Newbery Medal Honor book
The Perilous Gard
by Elizabeth Marie PopeIn 1558, while exiled by Queen Mary Tudor to a remote castle known as Perilous Gard, young Kate Sutton becomes involved in a series of mysterious events that lead her to an underground world peopled by Fairy Folk-whose customs are even older than the Druids' and include human sacrifice.
Newbery Medal Honor book
Hurry Home, Candy
by Meindert DejongThe dog was lost. He had no name, and no one to love him. He has only the silent, empty countryside, and a few crumbs and bare bones he could pick up. He had only himself, and he was afraid. Along the way, the little dog found a few friends, people who gave him shelter for a while, but always he moved on -- until he found a place he could call home forever.
Newbery Medal Honor Book
Abraham Lincoln's World
by Joanna Foster and Genevieve FosterOriginally published in 1944, Foster earned her reputation by her masterful display of "horizontal history" telling the story of world events in the geo-political sphere, while giving as much importance to advances in science, medicine, music, literature, and exploration.
Thus, while Abe Lincoln was a boy romping the woods of Kentucky, Thomas Jefferson was completing his eighth year as president, George III reigned in Great Britain and Napolean was about to meet his Waterloo. Beethoven and Sir Walter Scott were at the height of their creative powers, while Victor Hugo was staging plays at school. By the time Lincoln was old enough to help his father chop wood, other young boys and girls were being prepared for the future parts they would play. Harriet Beecher was reading anything she could get her hands on, Charles Darwin was collecting toads, crabs and shells, and the impoverished boy Dickens was working in a shoe blacking factory in London. When Lincoln opened his shop in Salem, David Livingstone was opening up deepest Africa, and thousands of Americans were opening up the West on the Oregon Trail. The spirit of freedom was moving around the globe as the abolitionist movement gained power in the States and serfdom saw its demise in Russia. Technologically the world was bursting with the invention of the telegraph, the railroad and the steamboat.
With her whimsical and informative illustrations and timelines Foster has magnificently captured a remarkable age and a remarkable man.
Newbery Honor Winner
Zlateh the Goat and Other Stories
by Isaac Bashevis Singer and Elizabeth ShubFrom two masters who need no introduction comes a handsome reprint of the classic Newbery Honor book Zlateh the Goat and Other Stories. With wit and whimsy, Maurice Sendak illustrates seven tales about the legendary village of fools, Chelm, written by Isaac Bashevis Singer. Silly, outrageous, and sometimes poignant, the stories (translated from the Yiddish) reflect the traditions, heroes, and villains of middle European folklore. The devil makes an appearance more than once, as do the ever-so-foolish yet highly revered Elders of Chelm. In "The Mixed-Up Feet and the Silly Bridegroom," four sisters wake one morning to discover that their feet have become mixed up in the bed they share. A wise Elder advises their mother to whack the bed with a big stick, thus causing each girl to grab her own feet in pain and surprise. When their feet are sorted out, he then recommends, the sisters should be married off as soon as possible, to reduce the possibility of similar mix-ups in the future. Of course, none of them count on the breathtaking stupidity of the first bridegroom. Another not-so-clever fellow stars in "The First Shlemiel." When this man's wife asks him to do three things for her, he promptly and accidentally proceeds to breach each one of his promises, resulting in a baby with a bump on his head, an escaped rooster, and an emptied pot of jam. Somehow, though, possibly because ignorance is bliss, fools always come out on top in these wonderful stories, making for terrific read-aloud, laugh-aloud fun for the entire family. (All ages) --Emilie Coulter