
And if the mean motel owner, Mr. Every day, while her immigrant parents clean the rooms, ten-year-old Mia manages the front desk of the Calivista Motel and tends to its guests. Number 2: Her parents hide immigrants. Will she be able to hold on to her job, help the immigrants and guests, escape Mr. Winner of the asian / pacific american Award for Children's Literature!* "Many readers will recognize themselves or their neighbors in these pages.
Kirkus reviews, starred reviewMia Tang has a lot of secrets. Number 1: she lives in a motel, not a big house.
The Parker Inheritance

Can they find the fortune and fulfill the letter's promise before the answers slip into the past yet again? And the fortune that awaits the person who solves the puzzle. So with the help of brandon, the quiet boy across the street, she begins to decipher the clues. Johnson writes about the long shadows of the past with such ambition that any reader with a taste for mystery will appreciate the puzzle Candice and Brandon must solve.
The new york times book reviewwhen candice finds a letter in an old attic in Lambert, South Carolina, she isn't sure she should read it. It's addressed to her grandmother, who left the town in shame. A mystery enfolding its writer. The challenge will lead them deep into Lambert's history, forgotten heroes, full of ugly deeds, and one great love; and deeper into their own families, with their own unspoken secrets.
An injustice that happened decades ago. A boston globe / horn book honor winner * Four Starred Reviews * Over Ten Best-of-Year Lists"Powerful.
The Bridge Home

Life is harsh in chennai's teeming streets, so when runaway sisters Viji and Rukku arrive, their prospects look grim. And while making a living scavenging the city's trash heaps is the pits, the kids find plenty to laugh about and take pride in too. Very quickly, eleven-year-old Viji discovers how vulnerable they are in this uncaring, dangerous world.
With two homeless boys, Muthi and Arul, the group forms a family of sorts. But when illness strikes, viji must decide whether to risk seeking help from strangers or to keep holding on to their fragile, hard-fought freedom. Fortunately, the girls find shelter--and friendship--on an abandoned bridge. After all, they are now the bosses of themselves and no longer dependent on untrustworthy adults.
Readers will be captivated by this beautifully written novel about young people who must use their instincts and grit to survive.
Amal Unbound

Then the unimaginable happens--after an accidental run-in with the son of her village's corrupt landlord, Amal must work as his family's servant to pay off her own family's debt. Handpicked by amazon kids’ books editor, Seira Wilson, for Prime Book Box – a children’s subscription that inspires a love of reading.
Saeed's timely and stirring middle-grade debut is a celebration of resistance and justice. Kirkus reviews, starred reviewThe compelling story of a girl's fight to regain her life and dreams after being forced into indentured servitude. Life is quiet and ordinary in amal's Pakistani village, and besides, but she had no complaints, she's busy pursuing her dream of becoming a teacher one day.
Saeed's timely and stirring middle-grade debut is a celebration of resistance and justice. Kirkus Reviews, starred review. Her dreams are temporarily dashed when--as the eldest daughter--she must stay home from school to take care of her siblings. When it becomes clear just how far they will go to protect their interests, Amal realizes she will have to find a way to work with others if they are ever to exact change in a cruel status quo, and if Amal is ever to achieve her dreams.
Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe

. Now mama's run off, and Cricket thinks the room might be the answer to getting her to come back. And one kid who won't give up. The compelling story of a girl's fight to regain her life and dreams after being forced into indentured servitude. I couldn't get enough of Cricket's adventures. Totally unputdownable.
Carrie ryan, new york times bestselling author of The Forest of Hands and Teeth Saeed's timely and stirring middle-grade debut is a celebration of resistance and justice. Kirkus Reviews, starred review. Surviving in the woods isn't easy. Thirteen clues. To really find your way. 2019 southern book award winner--children's category* "Told in the easy, Southern storytelling, laconic tone of good, Hackl's debut rolls off the tongue and into the heart easy as warm butter on a biscuit.
So with her daddy's old guidebook and a coat full of snacks stolen from the Cash 'n' Carry, Cricket runs away to find the room.
Stella Diaz Has Something to Say

Kirkus Reviews, starred review. Betta fish like to be alone, while Stella loves spending time with her mom and brother and her best friend Jenny. In her first middle-grade novel, award-winning picture book author and illustrator Angela Dominguez tells a heartwarming story based on her own experiences growing up Mexican-American.
Plus, she has to speak in front of her whole class for a big presentation at school! But she better get over her fears soon, because Stella Díaz has something to say!Stella Díaz Has Something to Say introduces an infectiously charming new character with relatable writing and adorable black-and-white art throughout.
Stella diaz loves marine animals, especially her betta fish, Pancho. The compelling story of a girl's fight to regain her life and dreams after being forced into indentured servitude. Trouble is, jenny is in another class this year, and Stella feels very lonely. When a new boy arrives in stella's class, she really wants to be his friend, but sometimes Stella accidentally speaks Spanish instead of English and pronounces words wrong, which makes her turn roja.
You Go First

In a starred review, school library Journal wrote that Erin Entrada Kelly can “capture moments of tween anguish with searing honesty. Twelve-year-old charlotte Lockard and eleven-year-old Ben Boxer are separated by more than a thousand miles. The compelling story of a girl's fight to regain her life and dreams after being forced into indentured servitude.
This engaging and character-driven story about growing up and finding your place in the world is for fans of Rebecca Stead and Rita Williams-Garcia. Saeed's timely and stirring middle-grade debut is a celebration of resistance and justice. Kirkus Reviews, starred review. They’re both experiencing family turmoil.
And they both sit alone at lunch. During the course of one week, charlotte and Ben—friends connected only by an online Scrabble game—will intersect in unexpected ways as they struggle to navigate the turmoil of middle school. Newbery medalist erin Entrada Kelly writes with an authentic, humorous, and irresistible voice.
The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle

The compelling story of a girl's fight to regain her life and dreams after being forced into indentured servitude. When calvin goes missing, Mason finds himself in trouble again. Fifteen months ago, mason’s best friend, Benny Kilmartin, turned up dead in the Buttle family’s orchard. An investigation drags on, and mason, honest as the day is long, can’t understand why Lieutenant Baird won’t believe the story Mason has told about that day.
. He’s desperate to figure out what happened to Calvin and, eventually, Benny. But will anyone believe him? national book award finalist * ala schneider family book award * 2019 alsc notable children’s book * publishers weekly best books of 2018 * 2019-2020 nebraska golden sower award * amazon best books of 2018 * kirkus best of children's 2018 * new york public library best books 2018 * chicago public Library Best of the Best Books 2018 * 2018 Nerdy Book Club Middle Grade Winner * South Carolina Junior Book Award Nominee * 2020 Colorado Children's Book Award Nominee * Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year 2019 9-12 * 2020 Grand Canyon Reader Award Nominee * 2020-2021 Missouri Association of School Librarians Mark Twain Readers Award Preliminary Nominee * 2020-2021 Indiana Young Hoosier Book Award Nominee * Saeed's timely and stirring middle-grade debut is a celebration of resistance and justice.
Kirkus Reviews, starred review. Both mason and his new friend, are relentlessly bullied by the other boys in their neighborhood, tiny Calvin Chumsky, so they create an underground haven for themselves.
Merci Suárez Changes Gears

So when bossy edna santos sets her sights on the new boy who happens to be Merci’s school-assigned Sunshine Buddy, Merci becomes the target of Edna’s jealousy. No one in her family will tell merci what's going on, so she’s left to her own worries, while also feeling all on her own at school. Saeed's timely and stirring middle-grade debut is a celebration of resistance and justice.
Kirkus Reviews, starred review. They don’t have a big house or a fancy boat, and they have to do extra community service to make up for their free tuition. For starters, roli, because she and her older brother, Merci has never been like the other kids at her private school in Florida, are scholarship students.
Things aren't going well at home, falling from his bike, Lolo, has been acting strangely lately — forgetting important things, either: Merci’s grandfather and most trusted ally, and getting angry over nothing. Winner of the 2019 newbery medalthoughtful, strong-willed sixth-grader Merci Suarez navigates difficult changes with friends, family, and everyone in between in a resonant new novel from Meg Medina.
Merci suarez knew that sixth grade would be different, but she had no idea just how different.
Walking with Miss Millie

Kirkus Reviews, starred review. A memorable and lovely debut. Kirkus reviews “walking with Miss Millie is full of subtle wisdom. Miss millie shares her family’s story with Alice, showing her the painful impact segregation has had on their town. Its ending is satisfying though sobering and there are elements of this story that stay with you long after the last page has been read.
Karen english, georgia—a too small, too hot, coretta scott king honor award authorA poignant middle grade debut about the friendship between a white girl and an elderly black woman in the 1960s South Alice is angry at having to move to Rainbow, dried-up place she’s sure will never feel like home.
Then she gets put in charge of walking her elderly neighbor’s dog. But clarence won’t budge without Miss Millie, so Alice and Miss Millie walk him together. Strolling with clarence and miss Millie quickly becomes the highlight of Alice's day and opens her eyes to all sorts of new things to marvel over.
Tamara bundy’s beautifully written debut celebrates the wonder and power of friendship: how it can be found when we least expect it and make any place a home.
Little Night/Nochecita

Booklist, reds, and pinks–are painted in flowing sweeps of color, starred review"Full-bleed spreads with luminous and rich hues of evening sky–blues, which illuminate and animate the glorious text. Find me now!"where could little night be? down a rabbit hole? In a blueberry field? Among the stripes of bees? Exquisitely painted and as gentle as Little Night's dress crocheted from clouds, this is a story to treasure.
They are juxtaposed with the dark earth tones of cherubic Little Night and Mother Sky, and the effect is dreamlike and peaceful. With a bilingual text in both english and Spanish, Little Night Nochecita by Yuyi Morales is a sweet story every child can enjoy. Award-winning author and illustrator yuyi morales is the author of caldecott honor and pura belpré Illustrator Medal-winning Viva Frida, Pura Belpré Honor Book Narrative Just In Case: A Trickster Tale and Spanish Alphabet Book, Rudas: Niño's Horrendous Hermanitas, stunning bilingual bedtime story Little Night/Nochecita, and other picture books for young readers.
A stunning bilingual story by award winning author and illustrator Yuyi Morales.