Black by Popular Demand
We packed the list with YA, MG, and Children's this week!
We are sending you to Sunrise Bookstore of Portland for your holiday books.
Happy Reading!
Millie Magnus Won't Be Bullied
Millie Magnus has huge love for many things--her mom, her friends, her baby chicken, Extra Spicy, and even her hot pink rain boots. She loves school, too, and can't wait for Field Day, when her mom--the mayor of Washington, D.C.--will be her partner in the three-legged race.
Millie Magnus DOESN'T love it when Buckley, a boy from school, makes fun of her curly hair, or her name, or her friends. And she can't believe it when Buckley is assigned to compete against Millie and her mother at Field Day! But then things get even worse. When Millie's plan to talk to Buckley about his bullying is ruined, SHE ends up in the principal's office.
But Millie's can-do spirit is hard to keep down and her big feelings come in handy when she learns something new about Buckley. She may even find a way to call him a friend.
(Children’s)
My Fairy God Somebody
The way Clae's mom tells it, her dad took off when Clae was a baby, end of story. Ever since, it's just been the two of them, living in the coastal city of Gloucester, where Clae is one of the only few Black girls. But when Clae discovers clues about a mysterious person she calls her fairy god somebody, she's determined to know more.
Her chance comes when she's accepted into a summer journalism program in New York City, where her parents lived before she was born. With a couple of leads and a steel resolve, Clae leaves home for the first time to find out about her history.
New York is as full of magic as it is mystery, not to mention romance. From Brooklyn to Broadway, Clae and her new friends, Nze and Joelle, explore neighborhood haunts and hustles, discovering a family trail that someone's tried hard to bury. So who is the fairy god somebody? And can Clae use her sleuthing skills to find out the truth?
Set against one unforgettable NYC summer, this is the story of lies that run deep and patterns that are meant to be broken. Clae, Nze, and Joelle will stick with you and remind you that every girl deserves to write her own story.
(Young Adult)
Second to None
Every school has their number ones: the class president, the first chair in band, the spelling bee champion. And behind every high rolling high achiever? A kid in second place.
Twelve-year-old DJ has a reputation for being the go-to kid for solving just about any problem. Need help getting an unfair teacher or bully off your back? DJ is your guy. He knows the social order of Ella Fitzgerald Middle School like the back of his hand. So when the usual winners start losing -- all at the same time -- he knows something is wrong. Very wrong.
With the help of his usual crew, Audrey, Monty, and Connor, DJ is determined to get to the bottom of what's happening. Maybe it's all in his head. Or maybe there's a conspiracy at work. DJ and his friends will have to figure it out -- before the school saboteur comes for them.
(Middle Grade)
Andy Johnson and the March for Justice
Andy Johnson loves fighting battles. Especially when he has his favorite sword, the Destroyer, by his side. So when Dad announces that the Johnson family is heading to the city to join a march, Andy's ready to don his battle gear and be the best soldier!
Except this isn't a march to war . . . it's a march for justice.
Join Andy and the rest of the Johnson kids as they learn how we can answer God's call for justice and how marching is one way people can fight for a world that reflects God's love and compassion--from the civil rights era up to today.
(Children’s)
A Breathless Sky
As climate disasters wreak havoc, a sister and brother take opposing sides on the fate of the human race.
Syrah Carthan wants to save it. A tour guide for the Sequoia National Park, Syrah has an affinity for the millennia-old giants that extends to Rhiza, a subterranean world as ancient as Earth itself. Syrah is the reluctant heir apparent as its Keeper. Her duty is to maintain a balance between nature and humans. But Syrah's greatest adversary has his duty as well.
Romelo, Syrah's brother, wants humankind to get what it deserves. To protect the forests, he's already instigated one battle that ended in chaos and death. To reverse the near extinction of the magnificent trees, Romelo's next move is to conspire with the sequoias themselves. If all goes according to plan, it will leave human beings absolutely breathless.
The siblings are going to battle. In the worlds above and below, only one of them can emerge victorious.
(Fantasy)
Gordon Parks: Herklas Brown and Maine, 1944
In January 1944, Gordon Parks (1912-2006) photographed Herklas Brown--the owner of a general store and Esso gas station in Somerville, Maine. Parks traveled to the state under the auspices of the Standard Oil Company New Jersey (SONJ) to record their contributions to the war effort and document the home front in this crucial period. His photographs chronicled oil and gas facilities and workers, small-town Esso gas station owners, as well as people whose lives depended on fuel and other SONJ products.
Consistent with his work before and after, Parks prioritized getting to know his subjects as people, photographing Brown not only at his Esso station but also at home with his family. Despite the challenges he faced as a Black man traveling alone, Parks created a compelling documentary record of rural America. The images from this period offer crucial insight into the historic moment, as well as Parks' early photographic practice directly before he began his tenure at Life magazine. Published in conjunction with an exhibition at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Herklas Brown and Maine, 1944 features more than 90 previously unpublished photographs.
(Photography)
