As historical fiction goes, few do it better than Avi, winner of the Newbery Medal for Crispin: The Cross of Lead. And as a topic for his latest novel, he couldn’t have chosen a more engrossing one than the American Revolution. Avi uses a young female protagonist, who narrates Sophia’s War: A Tale of the Revolution in first person, to tell the thrilling story.

The story opens in 1776 in New York City, where 12-year-old Sophia Calderwood lives with her mother and father. Her older brother, William—a patriot and proud proponent of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense—has gone missing. When Sophia witnesses the hanging of Nathan Hale, she worries even more about the whereabouts of her brother and about the impending outcome of the war.

Fiercely (yet initially secretly) a supporter of the American cause, Sophia sets off to lend her support to the patriots—serving as a spy while she works as a housemaid for a commander of the British forces. With her life and her family’s at risk, she is determined to do anything possible to foil a treasonous plot that involves Benedict Arnold.

Extremely thorough and accurate research (as detailed in an author’s note) teams with creative license to weave a compelling tale. While many of the characters and situations described in the book are real, Avi invented Sophia as a bridge to tie all the elements together.

Today’s young readers may react with a bit of disbelief to Sophia’s bold spirit amid grueling and dangerous circumstances, like walking 50 miles through rough terrain or visiting an abominable British prison. Through it all, Sophia grows up, learning perhaps more than she intended along the way. Her riveting story also serves as an ideal introduction to some turning-point moments in the nation’s founding.

As anyone with a young son knows, pirates are fascinating and exciting. Many pirate stories, however, are too scary for a younger audience. In The High-Skies Adventures of Blue Jay the Pirate, Scott Nash has created an ideal world of pirate birds—sailing in ships through the air—and this helps distance the danger for a younger reader. There is plenty of action in the fighting scenes, but nothing more intense than found in current kids’ movies and books.

Blue Jay is the captain of a pirate ship, complete with a frightening reputation, but he and his crewmates are actually quite nice. Even though they do steal grain and treasure from other ships, they aren’t as violent as Blue Jay’s cousin Teach and his gang of crows.

Captain Blue Jay, like most real blue jays, loves shiny things, and his acquisition of unusually pretty eggs leads to a curious new crewmate: Gabriel the gosling. With Teach hot on their trail, the merry band of birds aboard Blue Jay’s Grosbeak must battle weasels and look for help from a star-nosed mole to bring peace to their world.

Nash’s illustrations are phenomenal and his love of birds is evident in detailed descriptions of each species—right down to their personality characteristics. The characters’ voices steer the story along at a pace sure to keep youngsters reading (though parents should be aware that the language includes pirate words like “damn” and “hell”). This thrilling book should not be missed.

Author Polly Horvath has brought back her lovable character Primrose Squarp from the Newbery Honor book Everything on a Waffle for another year of life in Coal Harbor, a fishing village in British Columbia. Having survived the earlier time when her parents were missing at sea, Primrose now finds herself at loose ends. In lieu of any better project, she makes it her mission to bring together her Uncle Jack and the lovely Miss Bowzer, even if it seems to be against their own intentions. In addition, Primrose decides she herself is in desperate need of a best friend.

Fortunately, her grown-up friends Bert and Evie become foster parents to a teenage boy named Ked who is also in need of a friend. Together they plan the next cookbook for the Fisherman’s Aid fundraiser and bike up to Mendolay Mountain to enjoy the scenery and the quiet. Just as everything in Primrose’s life seems to be settling in to an enjoyable routine, several upsetting things happen at once: Miss Bowzer’s old boyfriend returns to town loggers come to clearcut the mountain, and Ked is accused of stealing. Things go from bad to worse and Primrose is sure nothing will be right again.

As the heroine struggles, the reader is privileged to listen in on her first-person thoughts. Primrose’s observations about people and life in general are worth the reading on their own, and her inclusion of the recipes she gathers adds its own flavor to the tale. Horvath creates a world in which we can truly feel all that a smart 12-year-old girl can feel and leaves us wiser for having done so. You need not have read Everything on a Waffle to enjoy this book, but everything about One Year in Coal Harbor will make you want to.

Colorado anthropologist Jeannie Mobley shines a light on her native state in Katerina’s Wish, her debut novel about an immigrant Bohemian family in a Southern Colorado mining town at the turn of the 20th century. Katerina and her two younger sisters already know the drudgery of daily life as they help their mother with seemingly endless loads of laundry to supplement Papa’s wages in the mines. At the rate they are able to save, Katerina despairs that the family’s dream of having a farm of their own—a dream that brought them so far from home—will ever be a reality.

Katerina, who is almost 14, decides to take matters into her own hands. Her sisters may believe that wishes are granted by a magic fish in a nearby pool, but Katerina knows better. An entrepreneur at heart, she finds a way to grow cucumbers, raise chickens and circumvent the high prices of the only store in town to save money.

Then comes the day of the explosion in the mine. During tense days of waiting for news of the trapped miners, Katerina proves to her mother that she is growing up. It is not only Papa who is missing, but their best friends, Old Jan’s sons, Karel and Mark.

Just as Aaron Hawkins does in his delightful historical novel, The Year Money Grew on Trees, Mobley provides engaging details of Katerina’s creative exploits into gardening and running her own business. It’s also fascinating to see the relationship among the different immigrant groups in the town, and how Katerina finds a way to bring them all together.

Young readers, accustomed to heading out to the store or mall to get new “store bought” clothes at the start of the school year, might be surprised to learn just how hard Katerina and her sisters must work to buy cloth to make a dress. No lecture required: just hand them this thoroughly engaging story.

In this short illustrated chapter book, new readers will giggle along with Robot and Rabbit as they compromise their way through one of childhood’s milestones: the sleepover. Unlikely friends, these two have different ideas about spontaneity, food, games and sleep.

Rabbit is the host of the sleepover and he has made a thorough list and insists on following it, no matter what. The first order of business is to “Make pizza.” Easy enough, until it turns out that these two friends have very different taste buds. Rabbit prefers fresh veggies while Robot loves anything attractive to his magnet hands, especially the nuts and bolts that hold together Rabbit’s furniture. Watching TV is difficult when Rabbit cannot find the remote control, playing Go Fish is impossible when Robot loses power, and going to sleep is made more interesting (and funny) when Robot forgets his pajamas.

Illustrations, in gentle greens and purples, add to the story. When Robot’s magnet hands grab the pizza toppings, alert readers will notice something new in Rabbit’s ear. The thing is there for a few pages, unnoticed, until it is revealed to be the missing remote! Robot in pajamas is also calculated for humor. The pajamas are hooded, transforming the rectangular Robot’s head into a hilarious egg-shape.

An engaging, well-paced story, told with simple (but not too simple) vocabulary is tough to write, but Cece Bell has nailed Rabbit and Robot: The Sleepover. Let’s hope it’s the first of a series.

A burning witch, a girl celebrating her birthday, a master puppeteer and his two orphaned assistants, and a dark city half-drowned in fog animate Laura Amy Schlitz’s lushly written Victorian gothic tale, Splendors and Glooms.

It’s Clara Wintermute’s 12th birthday, and the Phenomenal Professor Grisini and his Venetian Fantoccini (puppets) perform at the Wintermute mansion. Later that evening, Clara disappears, and Grisini, “with his foreignness and his flamboyance,” is the prime suspect. His assistants, Lizzie Rose and Parsefall, come to realize that Grisini is not just a puppeteer but an evil magician who has kidnapped Clara.

Until now, Lizzie rose had thought that “magic spells—and evil magicians—They’re only in plays.” But she and Parsefall discover Clara’s horrible fate and soon find themselves en route to Venice, where the stories of Grisini, the children and the witch—Cassandra Sagredo—converge in a magical castle, complete with spells to keep the children from running away.

A challenging read for its intended middle-grade audience, the novel is expertly plotted and elegantly written, a dramatic Dickensian story of good and evil, the odd machinations of fate and the ever-present dripping fog of London. Schlitz animates her characters as adeptly as Grisini does his puppets, and readers may well notice that the fantoccini are not the only things manipulated by strings in this story: Spells, enchantments, desires, secrets and power pull strings of their own, as do—importantly for the fates of Parsefall, Lizzie Rose and Clara—loyalty and love.

Schlitz, author of the 2008 Newbery Medal-winning Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices From A Medieval Village, again demonstrates her storytelling prowess and love of the grand tale. Besides the rich language, setting and plot, Splendors and Glooms features an utterly delicious story that weaves its spell through the fortunes of innocent and not-so-innocent children, the cadaverous puppet master, a dying witch eager for revenge and dramatic action in a castle tower that will have readers as entranced as Grisini’s audiences.

Things are tough for Tommy Pepper. His mother has recently died, his sister refuses to speak, and his father is engaged in a desperate fight to keep their home from being torn down by an over-zealous real estate agent. In What Came from the Stars, the latest book by two-time Newbery Honor-winning author Gary D. Schmidt, Tommy finds his life very different from what it was only a few months earlier—and it only gets stranger when he finds a necklace in his lunchbox and puts it on.

Times are dark for the Valorim—the evil Lord Mondus is only hours away from taking control of the Ethelim, and dooming their race. In an act of desperation, the heroes of the Valorim bind their art and beauty into the Chain of the Valorim Art, and entrust Young Waeglim to protect it from Lord Mondus and his evil army of O’Mondim. Young Waeglim does the only thing he can and spirits it away, through the cosmos and galaxies, and on and on until it falls, unnoticed, into an Ace Robotroid lunch box in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

As soon as Tommy puts the necklace on, he begins drawing beautiful, detailed pictures of the twin suns of Valorim, and acquires a great deal of knowledge about what appears to be a nonexistent universe. However, none of this matters when Ouslim the Liar and one of the O’Mondim begin tearing Plymouth apart, looking for the Chain. Tommy must then protect his family, friends and city, as well as a world he has never seen.

What Came from the Stars is written with two parallel story lines—Tommy’s story in normal print and the Valorim’s story in italics—giving the book added depth and interest. This is a rich fantasy that draws the reader in from the first chapter and keeps hurtling along at a breakneck pace until the exciting and satisfying end. Perfect for fans of science fiction and adventure stories, What Came from the Stars is a fast-paced and thrilling journey that sees a young man grow beyond all expectations.

In Catherynne M. Valente’s first book for young readers, The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, the 12-year-old protagonist, September, had a unique and wonderful adventure in the world of Fairy and was brought home to Nebraska, safe and sound. For those of us who read the earlier novel and fell in love—with the writing, with the characters, with September—our desperate need for another trip to Fairyland has been as great as September’s own. With this second novel, Valente delivers another truly wonderful story.

Having vanquished the evil Marquess the first time around, September longed to return and enjoy the many marvels of what is now, surely, a peaceful kingdom. Once she finds another way back, however, she discovers that her very own shadow, the one she was forced to relinquish on her first visit, has been stirring up a good bit of trouble. She sets off  once again off to make things right and restore magic to Fairyland.

Valente’s rich prose is practically poetry. Her narrative voice is so immediate and revealing that we feel we know more about September than she knows about herself. The vocabulary is full and deep and continuously rewards the careful reader. As one character observes, “A book is a door, you know. Always and forever.” The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There is one of the best doors to choose: a completely satisfying read and a joy to revel in.

How far would you go to keep your family together? That’s a question 13-year-old Kathleen Star—better known as Pride—must find an answer to, and fast. In Sheila O’Connor’s Keeping Safe the Stars, Pride and her two younger siblings must learn to survive on their own when Old Finn, their grandfather and only living relative, gets sick. He is taken from Eden, where the Stars live, and transferred to the big hospital hours away in Duluth. Pride isn’t sure how she’s going to do it, but she vows to fulfill her mother’s wish to “keep safe the Stars.”

When Pride realizes they will need help from Old Finn, the Stars travel by themselves to Duluth to find their grandfather. Unfortunately, what they find there is nothing like what they expected.

Set during Richard Nixon’s resignation, Keeping Safe the Stars is a blend of adventure and history. Filled with just the right amount of tension, humor and love, this book grabs readers from the first page and pulls them, gently but firmly, all the way through to the satisfying conclusion.

This gem of a story, covering eight days in a sleepy small-town summer, has an unusual central character: a one-legged homing pigeon named Sherman who has gone missing from Mr. Mineo’s flock.

While on the lam, Sherman is spotted by many folks. Stella and her friend Gerald want a pet. Amos and Ethel Roper enjoy arguing about the bird. Mutt is enthralled that the silly pigeon seems attracted to his head and that everyone thinks he is making up the story. And the unnamed sweet brown dog only wants a friend.

All these stories twist and turn into each other like the footpaths of a small town. Where will it all end up? Just where it should: The brown dog finds a home (and a name: Harvey) with Stella, Mutt’s story is proved true, Sherman finds his girl pigeon and everyone has a soda at the bait shop.

Barbara O’Connor’s gift in storytelling is her restraint. Holding back allows the reader to fill in a bit, making the story more personal. Her talents make On the Road to Mr. Mineo’s an unforgettable trip.

Adam Gidwitz thrilled readers with his fairy tale retellings in A Tale Dark and Grimm. Both terrifying and humorous, the book landed on many "best of the year" lists in 2010 and marked Gidwitz, an elementary school teacher, as a writer to watch.
 
On September 27, readers can purchase In a Glass Grimmly, the follow-up novel to A Tale Dark and Grimm, starring Jack and Jill. Here on BookPage.com, take an exclusive sneak peek at the prologue and chapter one of this spooky tale. Click here for the file, courtesy of Penguin Young Readers Group [PDF].

In Fire in the Streets, Kekla Magoon picks up where her award-winning 2009 novel The Rock and the River left off, exploring the role of young people in the Chicago office of the Black Panther party during and after the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

Maxie, a 14-year-old girl who lives in the projects and is in an on-again, off-again relationship with Sam (whose older brother was killed in the first book), wants to be a full-fledged Panther. She is tired of babysitting the leaders’ children, filing papers and straightening out the office. Maxie is in that in-between stage between childhood and adulthood. She wants to be a grownup, but she still loves her best friends. She wants to have a boyfriend, but she is confused by Sam’s mood swings.

She worries about her mother and the parade of men through her house, and she also worries about having enough to eat and the money to pay for electricity and the phone. She wonders how her older brother manages to hold the family together.

After a violent attack on the Panther offices, it becomes clear that Maxie has what it takes to be a real Panther. She is observant and is asked to keep her ears and eyes open for a mole in the office. Someone is giving information to the police, and Maxie is determined to find out who that is. When she finally discovers the truth, Maxie is faced with a moral decision that changes many lives.

Magoon was wise to have Maxie tell her own story, as the first-person narrative allows the reader a front-row view of her angst, worry and nearly blind love for the Panthers. We understand the attraction that the Panthers had for many young people, and we further understand how far some will go to belong to the group. The moral questions of Fire in the Streets are many, and readers will be left to consider them for a long time. The historical backdrop adds a lot to the novel, but, in the end, it’s a powerful story of one young person trying her best to find her way in a complicated world.

You know that feeling when you settle into a book and the world fades away? That’s what happened when I snuggled up with Chickadee, the fourth book in Louise Erdrich’s acclaimed Birchbark House series. I had read some of the earlier books but I worried that it had been too long since I spent time with this 19th-century Ojibwe family and their people. That was a wasted worry—like an old friend who comes to visit, Chickadee drew me right back into the story.

Chickadee and his twin brother Makoons live a happy life with their family and neighbors. The only blots on their lives are Babiche and Batiste, the two adult sons of John Zhigaag, the tribe’s mean guy. When grandmother Nokomis ruins the bully’s hat and Makoons takes it one step further by purposely humiliating him, his sons hatch a plan of revenge.

In the middle of the night, Chickadee is stolen by the two oafs and his family begins a journey across the Great Plains to find him. While the thuggish brothers end up bearing more resemblance to the dull giants of fairy tales, and there is little doubt that our little hero will find his family again, Chickadee’s odyssey is a long and difficult one. He is often comforted by the words of his grandmother and namesake bird: “Small things have great power.” The chickadee gives the little boy a song that will summon the bird in case of danger and can also be used to heal people. Little does Chickadee realize how important that song will become.

As Chickadee moves to safety, relying on the kindness of strangers and the love of his Uncle Quill, his twin Makoons sinks into sadness and illness. The tension builds as the Chickadee’s journey is extended by fierce mosquitoes, a flooding river and slow ferries. The reunion, song and all, is sweet and just in time.

Erdrich’s realistic sketches and dandy map add much to this story. I loved flipping back and forth to see what she had depicted on the map and to discover what was to come. This warm family drama in a rich historical setting makes for a special reading experience.