Angela Leeper

While his parents and older sister are being murdered by a sinister man called Jack, a toddler boy creeps out of his English home and ends up in the nearby cemetery. There, the spirits of the boy's parents ask two of the cemetery's residents, Mr. and Mrs. Owens, to care for their son. Childless in life and the few hundred years they've been dead, the Owens proudly accept the challenge in The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman's creepy, adventurous, yet poignant novel of Nobody "Bod" Owens' coming of age.

The cemetery inhabitants grant Bod "Freedom of the Graveyard," allowing him to drift through walls and see in the dark, just as the dead do. But as Mrs. Owens suggests, it will take a graveyard to raise the boy and protect him from malicious spirits and particularly from Jack, who still wants the original, murderous task completed. Although the graveyard is a constant source of escapades, from the blood-red nights beyond the terrifying ghoul-gate to the midnight dance that joins the living and the dead, Bod wonders about life beyond the cemetery. His curiosity is piqued when he meets Scarlett, first as a young boy when her parents bring her to the nature reserve portion of the cemetery and later at 14 when she returns to the English town after her parents' divorce. Before Bod can leave the graveyard and become fully human, however, he must face his demons—Jack and his ring of cohorts—form his own identity and give heartbreaking good-byes to his childhood caretakers.

While The Graveyard Book may appear to center on the dead, this original, witty novel is an affirmation of life. Bod accepts his graveyard companions for what they are, while the spirits are often amazed by the boy's infinite potential. Readers will be equally astounded by Gaiman's sharp, spine-tingling storytelling.

Angela Leeper is an educational consultant and writer in Wake Forest, North Carolina.

Alexa, age 9 ¾, and her group of friends are changed when a boy named Ahmet takes the seat at the back of the class. In this debut novel and British import, the classmates learn that this quiet boy is a refugee from Syria. Brendan the Bully and his gang try to terrorize Ahmet, other students spread rumors about him, and parents instill intolerance in their children by spewing disparaging remarks about him. Nevertheless, Alexa sets out not only to befriend this newcomer but also to understand what it means to be a refugee.

She starts with a list of questions, from why he had to leave his home country to what his favorite fruit is. But as Alexa learns more about Ahmet, including his arduous trek across countries and his separation from his family, she forms even more questions. And when Alexa discovers that England’s borders will soon close and Ahmet may never get to see his parents again, she gathers her friends to carry out “The Greatest Idea in the World,” a daring plan that involves contacting the queen for assistance.

Onjali Q. Raúf’s heartwarming story highlights the plight of young refugees around the world. To help children comprehend and empathize with Ahmet’s plight, the book offers additional information about refugees in the United States, refugee resettlement agencies and how refugees differ from migrants. Readers of all ages will appreciate the guided questions and discussion prompts to think about one’s own identity and place.

Her birth certificate says Roberta Briggs, but the 12-year-old who keeps a daily birding chart and leaves out strands of hair plucked from her brush for birds to make nests with is (fittingly) better known as Birdie. The last three years have been filled with changes since her firefighter father died in the line of duty and she and her mother moved from Philadelphia to live with her great-grandma Maymee. In Eileen Spinelli’s novel-in-verse, Birdie, this spunky tween has even more big changes ahead in her small town of Hadley Falls.

In Hadley Falls, life has a steady rhythm. Birdie hangs out with her best friend, Nina, and plays Scrabble with a boy named Martin on Saturdays. Birdie’s mother works days at a diner and spends evenings at home. Her quirky grandma Maymee plans the details of her own funeral. And through it all, Birdie keeps on smiling on the outside, even if her insides don’t quite match—and she still talks to her father’s photo at night.

Birdie has started to wonder if Martin could be her first boyfriend, but with the arrival of summer, suddenly Nina and Martin are a couple, her mother is dating police officer Fred, and even Maymee puts down her coffin catalogs and picks up curlers when a new gentleman arrives at church. Realistic verse expresses the disappointment, anger and fear Birdie experiences as she worries about losing her friends, her mother’s love and her father’s traditions. Yet with time, patience and community, the resilient girl learns that friends and family help the heart grow and that moving forward in life doesn’t mean forgetting the past.