New York City has to be one of the greatest places in America, if not the world. Luckily for us, many authors have chronicled The Big Apple's antics in a way just right for kids.

Here are some of the books available. This is not yet a complete list, but I'm adding books to the list daily. If you wish to purchase any of these books, click on either the title or the book cover to be directed to Amazon.com. As a warning, I have put up pictures of the book covers to give you somewhat an idea of the style of each book (I know, I know. "Don't judge a book by its cover") so the pages may load slowly, depending on the speed of your internet connection.

The categories below are sorted by approximate age group and topical categories. Feel free to browse around. The same links are located on the left side of your screen. To return back to this page, simply click on the "Welcome" link on the left.

If this website came up without frames, click here to see the complete "New York City Books for Kids" website with frames.

Other Pages of Interest:
Fiction & Historical Fiction: General Books About New York City (Nonfiction) | Fiction NYC Picture Books and "Easy Reader" Stories (Ages 4-8) | Fiction NYC Books (Ages 9-12) | New York Fiction for Young Adults | New York Historical Fiction (Colonial Period and Revolutionary War) | New York Historical Fiction (Ellis Island & Immigration) | New York Historical Fiction (Life in the 1800s) | New York Historical Fiction (Life in the 1900s)

NYC History: New York Biographies | Native Americans from New York (History and Historical Fiction) | New York History (Colonial Period and Revolutionary War) | New York History (Immigration and Ellis Island) | New York History (The 1800s) | New York History (The 1900s) | The World Trade Center and September 11, 2001 |

NYC Locations: The Statue of Liberty | The Empire State Building | Central Park | NYC Art Museums (Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art, etc.) | NYC's American Museum of Natural History | Harlem Books (Including books about the Harlem Renaissance) | Chinatown Books | Little Italy Books | The New York City Subway System | Brooklyn Books | The Bronx Books | Queens Books | Staten Island Books | Long Island Books | Upstate New York Books | New York State Books

Life and Travel in NYC: Thanksgiving in New York City | Christmas in New York City | New York Sports Teams and Players The NYC Fire Department (FDNY) and NY Police Department (NYPD) | General Books About Cities | New York City and New York State Test Preparation and Study Guides | New York Regents Review Books | Parenting in New York City | New York Travel Guides for Families with Children

NYC Toys, Puzzles, and Games (For Kids & Adults) | Amazon.com Coupon Codes

Fiction for Beginning Readers

Didi and Daddy on the Promenade By Marilyn Singer	Didi loves Sunday morning walks with Daddy on the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, and she's in a hurry to get there. There's plenty to see and do: "Dance! Jump! Bebop hop!" Playgrounds and activities beckon as Didi rushes Daddy along, until a storm threatens. Then it's Daddy's turn to hurry Didi--toward home. Both words and art, which shows Manhattan's skyline, delightfully capture a toddler's idea of a festive day as they celebrate a father-daughter relationship. The bubbly text is filled with a toddler's simple vocabulary and delightful rhyming word games to describe the sights. Gay's whimsical watercolor art, brightly colored and kinetic, abounds with expressive, happy faces, familiar objects, and charming details within the busy cityscape. Preschoolers and the adults who read to them will recognize and enjoy Didi's humorous enthusiasm (and Daddy's good-natured participation) as the walk brings anticipated joys and unexpected surprises. Description from Booklist With the Manhattan skyline in the background, and a bustling multicultural crowd, readers are taken on a whirlwind romp with rambunctious Didi. In typical New York fashion, the preschooler is in a hurry, and responds to her father's edict, "go slow," with a resounding "No!" The child and her dad swap observations. Didi spots a little yellow puppy, while her father zeros in on the big black dog. They encounter animals, musicians, and friends, before ending up at the playground, imitating sounds they hear along the way. As a spring shower bursts upon their play, the two dash for home, as Didi calls out, "Daddy, go slow!" and Daddy responds "No!" The rhythmic text flows smoothly, and the double-page, bright, pastel illustrations depict the light mood of the story. Use this book in conjunction with Amy Schwartz's A Teeny, Tiny Baby for a rousing New York (Brooklyn-style) storytime.- Description from School Library Journal
Mimmy & Sophie By Miriam Cohen	Mimmy and Sophie live in Brooklyn, New York, during the Great Depression. Like most sisters, they have a lot in common, but they're also different: Mimmy dreams of owning an Oldsmobile that she can fix with her own tools, and of growing up to be a trolley driver, while Sophie prefers to talk to her dolls. Sometimes Mimmy and Sophie are best friends, sometimes they aren't. But no matter what, they are always sisters. And although their family may not have enough money for a vacation, they can make a ride down Pitkin Avenue or a picnic on the Brooklyn Bridge seem just as much fun. These four irresistible stories unfold in fifty-eight picture frames, capturing the essence of time and place and sisterhood. Description from Publisher This is a lovely, old-fashioned picture book in four chapters that grandmothers especially will find hard to resist for reading aloud to their grand offspring. Set in Brooklyn during the Great Depression, the mini-stories are about two sisters, four and six or seven, and their prickly but loving relationship. It was a time when ice creams cost a nickel, automobiles were beyond the means of most families, and entertainment meant Sunday dinner with grandparents or an impromptu picnic on the Brooklyn Bridge. The author evokes the period without sentimentality, and the artist recreates a Brooklyn neighborhood as it must have looked in the days of trolley cars, safe neighborhood streets to play on, and autos with rumble seats. Children like realistic stories of "long ago", even more so when the grown-up reader can embellish the author's words with family stories from the past. A 1999 Parents' Choice® Recommendation. Description from Parents' Choice The place is Brooklyn, the time is the Depression, and Mimmy and Sophie share the push and pull that sisterhood brings. The action is divided into four vignettes, each sweeter than the next. In the first, Mimmy and Sophie are hopeful that one of them will have the lucky Popsicle stick worth a dream prize. Little Sophie's dream is to visit the imaginary Babyland. When her stick isn't lucky, she starts crying, and Mimmy comforts her--while both their treats melt. But they're lucky after all, because the ice-cream man gives them two free ice creams. In the second story, the girls try to make happy memories for their grandparents, who carry with them bad remembrances of czarist Russia. By the third vignette, Mimmy is tired of being Sophie's older sister, but when ostracized by a friend, Mimmy turns to Sophie. And last of all is the family "vacation" on the Brooklyn Bridge, where lack of money for a real trip doesn't preclude family fun. Yeszerski's blocks of pictures have an almost comic-strip look, but the watercolor-and-ink art is not cartoony: it has an old-fashioned feel, and its details re-create a special time and place. The story's familial elements, on the other hand, are timeless, and it is these constants that will attract today's kids. Description from Booklist
Flying over Brooklyn By Myron Uhlberg	A young boy trudges through deep snow in a neighborhood park. Suddenly a strong wind grabs his coat and lifts the child up into the air. Soon the boy is soaring high above his strangely silent, snow-covered neighborhood. As he flies over familiar sites-a bridge over a frozen river, a baseball field, and an amusement park-he gains a new perspective on the world around him. The boy's airborne adventure provides a magical-if temporary-escape from the routine of everyday life. In the end the boy returns to the safety of his home and family, but is left wondering: Was it all just a marvelous dream or did it really happen? Author Myron Uhlberg's story is based in part on his own childhood memories of the Great Blizzard of 1947 which blanketed Brooklyn and the surrounding area under several feet of snow. An author's note at the back of the book provides details about the snowstorm and places this fantasy in its historical context. Illustrator Gerald Fitzgerald two-page, gently softened illustrations beautifully evoke the story's nostalgia and dreamlike quality. Description from Publisher Everyone plays a role in bringing this story alive for any child who has ever dreamed of flying--and who hasn't? Before the story even begins, Gerald Fitzgerald has painted two pages of bootprints-in-the-snow, heading right up and off the page. Even the typesetter has let the words roll up and down the page as "I flapped my arms...I jumped from chairs..."--all in the effort to fly. Then suddenly it happens--"...as a fresh gust of wind billowed my coat, I sailed up through the snowflakes into the great gray sky." In warm billowy pastels, we see the Brooklyn Bridge, Ebbets Field, and Coney Island. There are touches of an earlier generation, when the author was actually a boy growing up in Brooklyn--old fashioned toys, ear flaps whipping in the wind. Flying Over Brooklyn offers a bit of history (there really was a blizzard of historic proportions in Brooklyn in 1947 with 25.8 inches of snow with 8 foot drifts), and a big burst of imagination. Description from Children's Literature
A Teeny Tiny Baby By Amy Schwartz	`I'm a teeny tiny baby and I know how to get anything I want.'' So begins an infant's hilarious narration of his many needs and pleasures. His loving family gladly complies with his desire to be jiggled, tickled, patted, burped, etc. After getting a tour of the apartment in the wee hours of the morning, he enjoys the outdoor life in the parks and playgrounds of Brooklyn, New York, along with many other places around town where Mom, Dad, and Grandma have to stop. Although he appreciates compliments and questions from the new people he meets, he takes exception to the big kid who comments on his lack of hair. A highlight is his list of when he prefers to nurse. The final series of illustrations shows his groggy mom carrying him (screaming) to the bathroom mirror, where he becomes progressively calmer and finally smiles at his reflection. Everyone who has had a baby in the family will respond to the gentle humor in Schwartz's gouache paintings. They invite readers into this child's secure and stimulating world, where responsibility for his care is shared by both parents. An excellent introduction for expectant siblings-and parents.- Description from School Library Journal A baby is taken on a tour of Brooklyn Heights in this book written for the older brothers and sisters of new arrivals. Older siblings will take gleeful delight in Schwartz's acknowledgement that infants know how to get anything they want and, with a single cry, can make hordes of relatives stampede to attend them. Yet they undoubtedly will also find themselves bemused afresh at the way a baby can be hypnotized by something as simple as a plant with a single drooping leaf, or the space ``right above'' Mom's face. The story is engagingly narrated by the baby itself, and the pictures that accompany each of the infant's statements are completely winning--from the baby's various sleeping poses to the weary young mother's tired, if happy, face. The power and grace in Schwartz's spare style and language lies in the fact that she never condescends to young readers--she just compares notes. Description from Kirkus Reviews
Big Jimmy's Kum Kau Chinese Take Out By Ted Lewin	Even before Kum Kau Chinese Take Out opens, there's so much to do. The deliveryman arrives. The cooks clean the kitchen from top to bottom. Then chop, chop, chop, they slice and dice the fresh meat and vegetables. But when the customers arrive, Kum Kau really comes alive. Woks sizzle. Pots steam. The cooks whip up tantalizing dishes for hungry patrons. A young narrator shares a behind-the-scenes look at the hustle and bustle of a busy Chinese take-out restaurant. Then it's time for his favorite dinner. Delectable tastes and savory smells will make mouths water as Caldecott Honor artist Ted Lewin takes us to a favorite Chinese restaurant in his Brooklyn neighborhood. Description from Publisher Irrepressible energy propels a young narrator through a day at his parents' Brooklyn restaurant (a real place), from early morning deliveries to dinnertime. Lewin's photo-realist scenes take viewers from quiet, sun-drenched sidewalks to the gleaming kitchen's busy nether reaches, all to a mouthwatering commentary: "Uncle Ming, Chung, and Wing work side by side, moving around each other like dancers in a ballet. Subgum Chow Mai Fun. Sam Gap Tai. Moo Goo Gai Pan.-Flip. Flip. Flip. Done!" After a day of greeting regulars, handing out menus, and chucking packets of condiments into bags of takeout, "It's time for my favorite dish-PIZZA!" Lewin himself puts in an appearance at the end, happily chowing down on his favorite dish, Buddha's Delight. Serve up this tribute to a neighborhood establishment with the likes of Alexa Brandenberg's Chop, Simmer, Season or Marissa Moss's Mel's Diner for a taste-tempting storytime. Description from School Library Journal In Lewin's latest, children look on during a fast-paced day at a popular family-owned Chinese take-out restaurant. The owners' young son is the guide, describing the hustle and bustle of the morning vegetable delivery, the finely orchestrated food preparations, and a hectic mid-afternoon lunch rush. He introduces Uncle Wing, who is slicing meat; Uncle Loong, who is chopping mountains of green peppers and broccoli; and his mother and aunty, who are taking orders over the phone. Children discover that the boy's job is to stuff each bag with the condiments and, of course, the fortune cookie. After a long day, the boy realizes he has worked up an appetite. What he has for dinner will be a surprise. The realistic watercolor paintings bring the action up close; kids can almost smell what's cooking in the kitchen. Description from Booklist
How to Get Famous in Brooklyn By Amy Hest	In the tradition of Harriet, Janie, the heroine of this picture book, is a spy, writing in her loose-leaf notebook (a part of the book's design) all that transpires in her Brooklyn neighborhood. Whether she's in Margie's Beauty Shop watching the women "Yak-yak" or buying notebooks and crullers at Mo's Candy or riding her hand-me-down bike through the neighborhood, Janie has a keen eye and a cocked ear. Sawaya's acrylic paintings use a primitive style to capture the energy of the city; they give the book momentum when the text occasionally drags. Kids will enjoy the dramatic ending in which a storm whips up and blows Janie's stories all over Brooklyn. The last page shows friends and neighbors reading her observations. "And that, for your information, is how you get famous in Brooklyn!" Description from Booklist Janie is a genuine Brooklynite. She has a keen eye for the details of her neighborhood and records them all in her spiral-bound notebook. She's up-front about the purpose of her work-spying! Through her eyes, readers go to school and the bakery, to the shoe store and the bay, to the newsstand and the grocery store. And how does she become famous? On a windy day her stories are blown about the streets, picked up by many people, and read in bed. Bright acrylic paintings depict an urban locale with faces of many colors. The text appears on the paintings and on lined notebook paper. Description from School Library Journal
Gowanus Dogs By Jonathan Frost	A mother dog and her three puppies live in a rusty mixing tank from an abandoned cement truck near the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, New York. A man in a stocking cap and a long coat lives close by, in a cardboard box under the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. The man and the dogs live parallel -- but mostly non-intersecting -- lives, until the day one of the puppies becomes sick, and the man comes to her aid. This simple act sets in motion a chain reaction of goodwill: a veterinarian gives the man a job, a friend at a local diner helps find a place for him to live with the puppy he rescued, and men who work along the canal give homes to the other two puppies. In striking black-and-white etchings, Jonathan Frost captures the energy, forms, motions, and mood of an urban industrial canal while telling a tale of simple human kindness acted out in a stark cityscape. Description from Publisher The setting is the story in this oversize picture book, and Frost's strong, detailed double-page black-and-white etchings capture the roaring power of the urban landscape near the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, New York. Living in a rusty cement tank under the teeming expressway is a family of wild, hungry dogs, and nearby is a homeless man: how these fragile living creatures help each other and find shelter together is a story of kindness and grace that sets the caring of a few people against the cruel indifference of the crowded city. In his first book, Frost brings together a pounding world of heavy machinery--with close-ups kids will love of a huge 18-wheeler truck, a steel crash gate, a swinging drawbridge. Just as powerful are the gentle scenes of people cuddling the eager puppies. Description from Booklist
Keats's Neighborhood: An Ezra Jack Keats Treasury By Ezra Jack Keats, Anita Silvey (Introduction)	Keats's Neighborhood: An Ezra Jack Keats Treasury pays tribute to the life and work of the celebrated children's book creator. An introduction by Anita Silvey puts his books in the context of their time; illustrators such as Jerry Pinkney and Simms Taback describe the influence of Keats's work on children's books in general or their own in particular; and the attractively designed volume concludes with a brief biography. The work offers 10 complete stories (the trim size slightly enlarged from the original) including the Caldecott Medal-winning The Snowy Day; Goggles!, a Caldecott Honor book; and other favorites, such as Whistle for Willie and Peter's Chair, plus sketches from The Turnip Seed, which Keats was working on at the time of his death in 1983. Photographs, original sketches and drafts round out the presentation. Description from Publishers Weekly Ezra Jack Keats is widely acknowledged as one of the first people to feature realistic, friendly, multi-ethnic urban settings in his picture books-forever changing the landscape of children's literature in the process. Now this beautiful collection brings together nine of his best-loved stories, including the 1963 Caldecott Medal-winning book The Snowy Day and Caldecott Honor book Goggles!, plus Whistle for Willie, Peter's Chair, Apt. 3, and others. Also included is artwork from an unfinished picture book, The Giant Turnip, published here for the very first time. An introduction by celebrated critic of children's literature Anita Silvey outlines Keats's career and inimitable contributions. In addition, five of the most important writers and illustrators working in the field today share their thoughts on Keats and the legacy he left behind. An afterword describes his incredible life, from his childhood in Brooklyn to children's book legend. Description from Publisher
Hattie and the Wild Waves: A Story from Brooklyn By Barbara Cooney	A young girl from Brooklyn, New York, enjoys her summer at the beach where she can paint and listen to the wild waves. Description from Publisher A portrait of an unconventional, questing child who quietly determines the course of her own future. Exquisite paintings reflect the solid comfort and cultivation of turn-of-the-century affluent life in Brooklyn. Description from Horn Book
Brooklyn Dodger Days By Richard Rosenblum	A nostalgic re-creation of the day Buddy and his gang spent at Ebbets Field watching a baseball game between the 1946 Brooklyn Dodgers and their longtime rivals, the New York Giants. The cartoonlike illustrations do nothing to recapture the magical experience of seeing the umsin the days they still played in Brooklyn. Description from Horn Book
Introducing Shirley Braverman By Hilma Wolitzer	The adventures of a sixth-grader growing up in Brooklyn during World War II.
Once upon a Shabbos By Jacqueline Jules	Bears don't live in Brooklyn, but both Shira and Jacob encounter one on their trip to the store to buy honey for Bubbe's Shabbos kugel. A whimsical fairytale to tickle the funny bones of old and young alike...and teach a few Yiddish words in the process. Description from Publisher In this fun picture book strewn with information about the Shabbos, one of the three bears strays from his forest home and threatens to spoil a woman's Shabbos dinner in Brooklyn. When Bubbe begins cooking her special kugel, she realizes she has no honey in the apartment. One by one, she sends her two grandchildren and her husband to fetch the missing ingredient and each returns empty-handed, having been accosted by the hungry bear. "Are you meshugah? There are no bears in Brooklyn," Bubbe remarks, and decides to confront the culprit herself. The result is a delicious Shabbos dinner, with one very furry guest at the table. Jules's use of repetitive fairy tale elements will have children giggling and guessing at what happens next. The preparations for Sabbath and Bubbe's Yiddish vocabulary will be familiar to many Jewish readers and provide enjoyable and enlightening reading for children of other faiths. Kahn's deep-hued paintings, featuring an enormous googly-eyed bear, sustain the playful, warm mood of fantasy. from Publishers Weekly
Mrs. Fitz's Flamingos By Kevin McCloskey	In a desperate attempt to enhance the view out her kitchen window, Mrs. Fitz covers the roof of a warehouse with a flock of plastic pink flamingos and wonders what she will do with them when the wrecking crew arrives to demolish the warehouse. Description from Publisher "There are many beautiful views in Brooklyn. The view from Mrs. Fitz's apartment window isn't one of them." This genial, white-haired lady decides to do something to brighten her bleak urban outlook. She buys two pink plastic flamingos at a sidewalk sale and brings them home to her fire escape. She keeps adding to the flock until the fire inspector tells her that her birds are violating a safety code, so she moves the burgeoning brood to a neighboring roof. Mrs. Fitz is seized with angst when a wrecking crew closes in on the site of her lofty aviary, but as their ball delivers its first blow, the wary flamingos take flight and head for (where else?) Florida. Aided by genial, cartoony artwork, a nice balance between nonsense and reality characterizes this goofy story. The sight of hot pink flamingos soaring over the rooftops of New York is curiously exhilarating. Description from Publishers Weekly
Mendel's Ladder By Mark Karlins	On the 61st rainless day of the summer, 7-year-old Mendel Moskowitz takes action to save his plants and vegetables. He builds a ladder to the clouds as his family and neighbors watch with amusement and disbelief. When he and his parents climb the ladder, they meet the disgusted Rainmaker, Maxwell Butterbarrel, who refuses to do his job until he is appreciated. Mendel saves the day (and the plants) by giving him a bag of candies. Then they all fly through the sky with ``sparkler wheels'' as the rain comes pouring down. The author has captured the speech and ambiance of Brooklyn's Jewish community, although the story is not specific to one ethnic group and has a wide appeal. The monoprint paintings are large, clearly defined, and add to the fanciful nature of the story. The double-page spread of lightning flashing over New York City is especially attractive. A wonderful read-aloud choice. Description from School Library Journal
We'll Ride Elephants Through Brooklyn By Susan L. Roth	"We'll ride elephants through Brooklyn when Grandpa gets better." All the unspoken anxiety and fear of loss when a beloved family member falls ill is in the background of this colorful and imaginative exercise in coping. A granddaughter with streaming yellow hair imagines what it will be like when Grandpa recovers and they romp through the city streets in celebration. She'll blow a whistle and beat a drum. Cascading petals from sunflowers will form a carpet on the street. A thousand balloons will rise as aunts and uncles dance the polka in festive clothes. All family differences will be put aside and cousins and cats will turn cartwheels with abandon. The boldly individual cut-paper collages build to a crescendo of color by the end of the book, when the girl's unasked, but ever-present, question is finally answered: the recurring "We'll ride elephants through Brooklyn when Grandpa gets better," is countered with "And we did!" This optimistic, fanciful book offers comfort and reassurance. Description from Publishers Weekly All the excitement of the parade that a little girl envisions will celebrate her grandfather's recovery is created in brightly colored collages. Description from Horn Book
Fancy Aunt Jess By Amy Hest	Becky loves and admires her mother's cousin, the beautiful woman she calls "Fancy Aunt Jess." She particularly loves sleepovers at Aunt Jess' Brooklyn apartment. Because Jess is beautiful and single, she is constantly fielding questions about her marriage plans. But to all questions she replies that she will only marry someone special, someone who gives her goose bumps. One Friday night when Becky goes to temple with her aunt, she spots a little girl much like herself, accompanied by a handsome man. This time the goose bumps are there; the last page shows Aunt Jess and the man being married, accompanied by two jubilant bridesmaids. The full-page color illustrations, done in Schwartz' typical flat style, lovingly detail Becky's world: the tiled suburban kitchen, the clean butcher shop, Jess' book-filled apartment, and the big old shul. Against softer toned backgrounds, Aunt Jess stands out vividly with her masses of golden curls and her bright stylish clothes, much as she stands out in Becky's life and memory. Although the illustrations and emphasis on marriage subtly evoke an earlier period, the story has a universal quality. This warm portrait of a special friendship will appeal to any child who has pondered the mysteries of adult romance. Description from School Library Journal

Fiction for Older Readers

Hey Kid, Want to Buy A Bridge? By Jon Scieszka	Joe, Sam, and Fred are really good at meeting people, making friends-and enemies-in all different places and times. But this time everything is completely different! It's Brooklyn, it's the 1880s, and some crazy guy's trying to build a bridge all the way across to Manhattan. Meanwhile, their great-granddaughters, who have inherited The Book are doing a little time-traveling of their own, and they need some help. The guys just want to get back to their simple, ordinary twenty-first century lives. But will they find a way out before things get too far out of hand? Description from Publisher Joe, Fred, and Sam, the Time Warp Trio, should know better by now than to mess around with The Book--a magical book given to Joe by his uncle. But this time they really think they have things under control... until Sam's latest invention, the Graphi-Sonic, accidentally interfaces with The Book, and the boys wind up traveling back in time to 1877. At least they recognize the turf--it's still their hometown of Brooklyn, minus the cars and skyscrapers. And plus one very addled Thomas Edison. Not to mention the trio's great-granddaughters from the future, who have (still with us?) inherited The Book. Now, all they have to do is find The Book (which is missing again) and skedaddle back to the future before the phonograph and light bulb and Edison's other inventions lose their chance of being invented. The many fans of Jon Scieszka's Time Warp Trio sequence (2095, etc.) will be thrilled to delve into another illogical, madcap, even slightly educational adventure with the hapless time-traveling lads. Description from Amazon.com This adventure finds the boys in New York City, perched on top of a Brooklyn Bridge tower. At first they believe that they have traveled into the future (complete with space aliens), mainly because they encounter their great-granddaughters once again. They discover, however, that they are visiting Brooklyn before the bridge was completed. In fact, it is 1877. "The Book" and Sam's invention, "a Graphic Sonic," have somehow combined to propel them into the past, leaving them in the precarious situation of trying to get back to their own time. They also meet a "zapped" Thomas Edison, who may or may not become a great inventor. How the trio, their great-granddaughters, and baseball set everything aright makes for a fun read. Another winning entry in the series Description from School Library Journal
Thank You, Jackie Robinson By Barbara Cohen	The story of a friendship between a fatherless white boy and an elderly black man who share an enthusiasm for the Dodgers and especially Jackie Robinson. When the old man lies dying, Jackie Robinson gives the boy an autographed baseball for his friend. Description from Publisher
The Chosen By Chaim Potok	A Reader's Catalog Selection: The 40,000+ best books in print Few stories offer more warmth, wisdom, or generosity than this tale of two boys, their fathers, their friendship, and the chaotic times in which they live. Though on the surface it explores religious faith--the intellectually committed as well as the passionately observant--the struggles addressed in The Chosen are familiar to families of all faiths and in all nations. In 1940s Brooklyn, New York, an accident throws Reuven Malther and Danny Saunders together. Despite their differences (Reuven is a secular Jew with an intellectual, Zionist father; Danny is the brilliant son and rightful heir to a Hasidic rebbe), the young men form a deep, if unlikely, friendship. Together they negotiate adolescence, family conflicts, the crisis of faith engendered when Holocaust stories begin to emerge in the U.S., loss, love, and the journey to adulthood. The intellectual and spiritual clashes between fathers, between each son and his own father, and between the two young men, provide a unique backdrop for this exploration of fathers, sons, faith, loyalty, and, ultimately, the power of love. Description from Publisher
The Promise	A Reader's Catalog Selection: The 40,000+ best books in print A superb mirror of a place, a time, and a group of people who capture our immediate interest and hold it tightly. Description from The Philadelphia Inquirer Young Reuven Malter is unsure of himself and his place in life. An unconventional scholar, he struggles for recognition from his teachers. With his old friend Danny Saunders--who himself had abandoned the legacy as the chosen heir to his father's rabbinical dynasty for the uncertain life of a healer--Reuvan battles to save a sensitive boy imprisoned by his genius and rage. Painfully, triumphantly, Reuven's understanding of himself, though the boy change, as he starts to aproach the peace he has long sought.... Description from Publisher
Last Summer with Maizon By Jacqueline Woodson	Margaret dangled her legs over the edge of the fire escape and flipped to a clean page in her diary. "Maizon took a test in May. If she passes, she's going to go to this big private school in Connecticut. Every night I pray she doesn't get accepted." Margaret and Maizon may not be family, but their bond feels a lot stronger than just friendship. They aren't exactly two peas in a pod-Maizon can be pretty flashy, while Margaret is more subdued-but they've done everything together since they can remember on their block in Brooklyn. After this summer, though, everything might change. Not only has Margaret's father been in the hospital a lot lately, but for the first time she and Maizon will be split up. Maizon is afraid to go to a school with hardly any black students, and Margaret is afraid of feeling all alone, even though she's the one staying home. Description from Publisher Eleven-year-old Margaret is devastated when her father dies and her best friend, Maizon, having won a scholarship to an exclusive boarding school, leaves her behind. With the help of several adults - all women - Margaret's difficult season becomes a time of growth and self-discovery. Several themes and plot elements are not developed, but the two girls are sympathetically portrayed, and the issue raised - that of education for the gifted and talented African-American child - is an important one. Description from Horn Book While this first novel prefers conversation over action, the best-friendship of two young black girls in Brooklyn is honestly portrayed, including the little swipes of meanness that jostle with the shared care and loyalty to makea bond. . . . Although underdeveloped, this story will appeal to readers who want 'a book about friends'; they will learn enough about this pair to wish them well. Description from Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Maizon at Blue Hill By Jacqueline Woodson	Maizon, 12, wins a scholarship to Blue Hill, an exclusive, girls-only academy in Connecticut. She reluctantly leaves her Brooklyn home for unfamiliar surroundings, apprehensive about being one of only five African American students at the school. She soon meets three older African American enrollees, who boast of their affluent backgrounds and isolate her from the other girls--including Pauli, the offspring of a mixed marriage, whom they detest for "assimilating." Maizon resents such manipulation, and the trio consequently shuns her. Erecting a shield against further hurt, the girl becomes achingly lonely. Maizon senses she's an oddity at the essentially all-white Blue Hill and in her frank and engaging narrative admits to resisting the place, where racial insults are often seen in innocuous remarks--yet in fact only the three African American girls indulge in obviously bigoted comments. This simply told, finely crafted sequel to Last Summer with Maizon neatly avoids predictability while offering a perspective on racism and elitism rarely found in fiction for this age group. Description from Publishers Weekly
Between Madison and Palmetto By Jacqueline Woodson	Maizon and Margaret are both living on Madison Street again, but somehow everything seems different. Maizon has changed since her semester at boarding school, and Margaret has become withdrawn since her father's death. Added into the mix is Caroline, a white girl who's new in town and threatens Maizon and Margaret's closeness, and Maizon's father, who left her as a baby but shows up unexpectedly just when she thought her life couldn't get any more mixed up. In the third book of Jacqueline Woodson's trilogy, we see how growing up makes Maizon and Margaret's lives-and their friendship-a lot more complicated. Description from Publisher In the third in the trilogy begun with Last Summer with Maizon, the two Brooklyn eighth-graders are attending a private academy. Though both still spend time with neighbors like Ms. Dell and her daughter Hattie, new friends and the pressures of growing up tend to divide the two best friends. Margaret, dismayed by her body's development, is drifting into anorexia (rather easily reversed by the concern of those who love her) and interested in Bo, who attends an all-black boys' school. Maizon is spending time with Caroline, a white girl new to the neighborhood, though in the end Caroline and Margaret form their own bond; and Maizon's father- -who left her as a baby with Grandma after her mother's death-- turns up to make friends with his unwilling daughter. In simple, delicately tuned language, each interaction is evoked in dialogue that explores the choices these thoughtful characters confront, while their close-knit community, made up of people who truly care about each other, comes nicely to life. Description from Kirkus Reviews Completing the trilogy begun with Last Summer with Maizon and Maizon at Blue Hill, Woodson revisits her heroines Margaret and Maizon as their close friendship is newly tested. Undergoing the transformations of adolescence, they also find their Brooklyn neighborhood changing, with new buildings erected and white people, such as Carolyn Berg, moving in. Lately, Maizon has been spending more time with Carolyn, and Margaret feels excluded. Developing physically, Margaret also feels overweight, a misperception that leads to symptoms of bulimia and a near-starvation diet. Maizon, meanwhile, struggles with the sudden appearance of her father, who has contacted her for the first time since he left her with her grandmother following her mother's death in childbirth. As in the previous novels, Woodson stresses the importance of friends and family, but the impact here is somewhat diluted by the movie-of-the-week problems that challenge the two girls. Her candid assessments of relations between blacks and whites are as searching as ever, however, and her characters just as commanding. Description from Publishers Weekly
In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson By Bette Bao Lord	Awards: Notable Children's Books of 1984 (ALA) Best Books of 1984 (SLJ) Notable 1984 Childrens' Trade Books in Social Studies (NCSS/CBC) Children's Books of 1984 (Library of Congress) 1984 Children's Books (NY Public Library) 1985 Jefferson Cup Award (Virginia Library Association) Shirley Temple Wong sails from China to America with a heart full of dreams. Her new home is Brooklyn, New York. America is indeed a land full of wonders, but Shirley doesn't know any English, so it's hard to make friends. Then a miracle - baseball - happens. It is 1947, and Jackie Robinson, star of the Brooklyn Dodgers, is everyone's hero. Jackie Robinson is proving that a black man, the grandson of a slave, can make a difference in America. And for Shirley as well, on the ball field and off, America becomes the land of opportunity. Description from Publisher In a story based in part on the author's experience as an immigrant, Shirley Temple Wong (a name she chose as her American name) arrives in Brooklyn and spends her first year in public school. Feeling an outsider at first; coping with a new language and new mores, and becoming a baseball fan; making new friends and earning money as a babysitter for obstreperous boy triplets, Shirley becomes integrated into her new life without ever forgetting her love of home and her pride in being Chinese. Description from Bull CentChild Books
Don't You Know There's a War On? By Avi	Brooklyn, New York, 1943: a time and place so remarkable that a mere five years later, Howie Crispers, wise at sixteen, can look back to record its fleeting intensity, already long behind him in memory. In 1943, Howie's pop is in the merchant marine, dodging Nazi U-boat wolf packs an the brutal North Atlantic sea. Denny, Howie's best friend, has a father in the Eighth Army, battling Nazi general Rommel in North Africa. Every day the boys face reminders of war -- scary headlines, blackouts, scrap collections, warstamp drives. Saturday mornings, Denny and Howie both leave their worries and responsibilities behind at the 25-cent kid movies. During the week, they depend on Miss Rolanda Gossim, their teacher. She may be strict, but she's kind and a lot prettier than any movie pinup. She occupies the boys' fantasies and makes the war bearable for Class Five-B at Brooklyn's P.S. 8. When Howie discovers she's about to be fired, he needs to find out why, and -- with the help of Denny and the rest of their class -- he makes plans to keep her on the job. By turns hilarious, sad, and surprising, Avi's latest tale is a touching story of innocent love and yearning that's rich with authentic Brooklyn voices and poignant memories of the early 1940s -- days when unexpected, even shocking events took place without warning, days when, no matter what happened, you could explain it all with a simple phrase: "Don't you know there's a war on?" Description from Publisher Sixteen-year-old Howie Crispers narrates Avi's (The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle) poignant, funny coming-of-age tale set in Brooklyn during WWII. For the facts, readers can consult Stephen E. Ambrose's excellent volume, but for a flavor of everyday life on the homefront, they will appreciate Howie's recollections of his experiences as a fifth grader during one pivotal week in March 1943. The hero juggles everything from failing math grades and air raid blackouts to a crush on his teacher and worries about his merchant marine father, criss-crossing the North Atlantic. Howie also suspects his principal of being a Nazi spy, and follows him into a brownstone one morning where he overhears plans to fire his beloved teacher, Miss Rolanda Gossim (he thinks of her at night when fear overtakes him: "She was my emergency brake, my life raft, my parachute, my own private rescue squad"). How he "saves" Miss Gossim makes for a smashing story enlivened by the added emotional texture of a boy dealing with wartime realities (particularly the death of his "bestest" friend Denny's father) and romance (Miss Gossim is actually married to a missing airman and pregnant). Howie's voice, firmly rooted in Brooklyn ("You'd feel worse than a Giants fan in Ebbets Field," he says of disappointing Miss Gossim), takes on the inflections and slang of the era. The novel ends on an upbeat note, with 16-year-old Howie celebrating the end of the war and still carrying a torch for Miss Gossim. Description from Publishers Weekly The war at home is both setting and story in this affectionate comedy told in the immediate voice of Howie Crispers, who looks back a few years to 1943 when he was 11 and living in Brooklyn, New York. Howie has a crush on his wonderful teacher, Miss Gossim, and he's horrified to discover, while spying on the hateful school principal, that Miss Gossim is to be fired. Howie and his best friend have always imagined that the principal was a Nazi spy, but they don't know why Miss Gossim has to go. The spying and the secrets add to the fun, but this is mostly a story about the daily life of kids on the home front. Every chapter begins with a page of dramatic newspaper headlines about the war, which provide context for Howie's worries about his dad fighting in Europe; Howie knows families who have lost loved ones. The times described are hard, but Avi keeps the storytelling light, with fast dialogue and lots of lively detail about a time when grown-ups went away and "it was kids who had the job of trying to keep things normal. Know what I'm saying?" Like Avi's Who Was That Masked Man, Anyway?, this is not so much about war as about ordinary life. Description from Booklist
Who Was That Masked Man, Anyway? By Avi	World War II is just background noise for Frankie Wattleson. His life revolves around action-packed radio dramas like "Buck Rodgers" and "The Lone Ranger." Suspense, heroism, thrills -- what more could an American boy want? Frankie's mom can't stand her son's hobby, though, and neither can his teacher, MissGomez. It all spells doomsday for Frankie -- unless he, disguised as radio detective Chet Barker, can cook up a plan to save the day. Tune in tomorrow to find out how this hilarious drama unfolds! Description from Publisher Sixth-grader Frankie Wattleson of Brooklyn, New York, tries to be a Master Spy, 'ruthless, clear-eyed, brave, and smartly dressed.' In the last chaotic months of World War II, Frankie's brother has come home wounded and depressed, school's a bore, and a lodger has taken Frankie's room. Only Frankie'sbeloved radio serials make any sense. He tries to transform his life into a script from 'Captain Midnight,' 'Superman,' and 'The Lone Ranger.' Description from Booklist
Brooklyn, Bugsy, and Me By Lynea Bowdish	In a first-person narrative filled with wry humor, Bowdish delivers life lessons on adjusting to personal loss and the disruptions caused by moving. In 1953, nine-year-old Sam moves from his beloved West Virginia to what seems the most alien and hostile spot on the planet: Brooklyn. Sam thinks his mother is peculiar (she gives updates to the urn containing the remains of his father), his grandfather mean, and Brooklyn awful. Sam's journey from despair to reengagement with life moves in small, credible steps--from the front stoop of the apartment building to a tiny park a block away and from a drugstore where he discovers egg creams to the ocean, where his grandfather takes him fishing. His guide to Brooklyn is a skinny kid named Tony, who urges Sam out of himself and into new interests that are "different, but great" --stoopball, stickball, fishing for coins in the sewer. Pictures by Nancy Carpenter add a nice touch to this funny and touching chapter-book retake on Brooklyn in the 1950s. Description from Booklist Sam begins his story on the train from his home in West Virginia headed to New York, with his mother and the urn containing his father's ashes. His dad died in World War II just after Sam's birth, but his wife has never fully accepted his death. After losing her job, she decides to move with her nine-year-old son to her father's apartment in Brooklyn. The boy fears that he'll miss the great outdoors and be beaten up by a gang, and he's especially worried about getting along with Gramps, who seems gruff and unapproachable. Slowly, Sam's eyes open to the possibilities for friends, fun (stoopball, stickball, egg creams), and even fishing in the ocean. He gains a new point of view about Brooklyn, and about "Bugsy"-as his grandfather is affectionately known in the neighborhood. Sam's introspective voice rings true for his age and background. His mature understanding of his mother's situation as well as the 1950s setting give this beginning chapter book a slightly sophisticated tone. Bowdish includes many period details, which are reinforced by Carpenter's frequent black-and-white illustrations. An excellent choice. Description from School Library Journal
All the Way Home By Patricia Reilly Giff	Though worlds apart, city girl Mariel and Brick, a farmer's son from upstate New York, have a lot in common. They're both strong-willed, fiercely independent, and fervent Brooklyn Dodgers fans. Their divergent paths merge when Brick's family's orchard is destroyed by fire, and his parents send him to stay with Mariel and her adoptive mother in 1941 Brooklyn. Though excited by the chance to see his beloved baseball team play in person, Brick can think of little else but getting back to Windy Hill and saving what's left of the apple trees. Unexpected help comes in the form of Mariel, whose big heart cannot always overcome the weakness of her polio-stricken legs. Determined to help Brick and discover the identity of her birth mother, Mariel finds a way to get them both to Windy Hill--where Brick's trees and the hospital where Mariel was born await--one shaky step at a time. Author of the much lauded Lily's Crossing, Patricia Reilly Giff has written another lovely work of historical fiction that perfectly evokes a long-past time and place. Here, we can't help but smell Brick's apples and hear the cheers of hopeful Dodgers fans in Ebbets Field. A wonderful story of friendship and personal triumph for the preteen set. Description from Amazon.com The year is 1941; the Dodgers are vying for the pennant, and Mariel lives just blocks from Ebbets Field. Though she is happy with her "almost mother" Loretta, she is preoccupied with who her birth mother was. Hospitalized in Windy Hill with polio at age four, she was lovingly nursed back to health by Loretta, a nurse who subsequently adopted her. Now Brick, Loretta's friend's son, is coming to stay with them because a fire has destroyed his father's apple orchard, forcing his parents to find work elsewhere. Unhappy as the boy is to be sent away, he is further tortured because he helped Claude, a grandfatherly neighbor, save his orchard while his own family's trees burned. Though Brick is determined to get back to his town 200 miles away to help Claude harvest the apples before winter, he and Mariel become fast friends, and he is not bothered by her legs that curve "like the pretzels." The children run off to save Claude's apples and solve the mystery of Mariel's past. Claude invites Brick to stay on and gives him a sizable orchard of his own. Mariel, finally at peace with herself, returns to Brooklyn. Children will understand the protagonist's self-consciousness about her misshapen legs and her wish to be like the other kids. They will applaud her spunk and admire Brick's loyalty and determination. Giff's writing is filled with wonderful details that appeal to all of the senses. Readers experience the treacherous fire just as realistically as they cheer when Mariel catches a fly ball. A compelling story of two unforgettable youngsters, their strength, and their friendship. Description from School Library Journal Newbery Honor novelist Giff (Lily's Crossing) brings together two appealing young characters in this story of friendship, family and finding where one belongs. When fire destroys the apple crop on his family's upstate New York farm in 1941, Brick's parents must find work elsewhere and send their son to live temporarily in Brooklyn with Loretta, an old friend. Loretta, a nurse, years before adopted a young polio victim, Mariel, whom she had cared for in a hospital located near Brick's family's farm. Though she loves Loretta, the girl is determined to find her birth mother, of whom she has faint memories. Mariel is drawn to the likable Brick, yet initially her embarrassment at her polio-scarred legs (which, in her mind, "curved like the pretzels in Jordan's candy store") prevents her from talking to him. But when he shares his resolve to return home to help a beloved elderly neighbor harvest his apple crop, Mariel encourages him to make the journey. Impulsively, she decides to accompany him and to visit the hospital where she was taken when stricken with polio, hoping to find clues to her mother's identity. The pieces of the plot snap together a bit too easily and snugly as Giff solves each youngster's dilemma. More credible is the emotion that runs high and affectingly throughout the narrative, as well as the many period details. Description from Publishers Weekly
The Kid from Tomkinsville By John Roberts Tunis	Young Roy Tucker enters the major leagues as an unsophisticated country boy and quickly learns that he faces a great deal of hard work if he wants to pitch for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Just as Roy begins to prove himself, a freak accident dashes his hope of ever pitching for the team. Yet, he summons up enough determination to find another place for himself on the team. Description from Publisher The first in a series of recently reprinted novels from the 40's following Roy Tucker and the Brooklyn Dodgers without all the mythmaking. Written for a younger age group, but a cut above the usual kid's fare Description from The Reader's Catalog
The Summer of Oz By Rita E. Piro	The Summer of Oz tells the story of Tessie DiMartino, a twelve year-old Italian-Catholic girl living in Brooklyn, N.Y., who learns the importance of faith, family and friends when she befriends a Jewish girl whose family recently escaped Nazi Germany. Set during the summer of 1939, the backdrop to the story, and the impetus for the book's title, finds Tessie and her friends eagerly awaiting the opening of The Wizard of Oz, as well as the results of a contest which they have all entered whereby the winner will get to meet the star of the film, Judy Garland, then the nation's top female teen idol, at a special party to be held at the Empire Room at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. While the characters are all fictional, the 1939 background setting is based upon actual historical/newsreel events, including the opening of the film The Wizard of Oz at NYC's Capitol Theatre on August 17, 1939, as well as the contest to meet the star of the film,Judy Garland. But these are not the only historical touches to the book. The Summer of Oz accurately recreates the day to day existence of 1939 Brooklyn, New York and the rest of the nation, complete with actual stores, movie houses, fashions and fads, radio shows, movies, actors and actresses, commercial brands, prices, as well as local and national events as they were. Included is a nostalgic description of the 1939 Worlds Fair and its then astounding look into the future. 1939 was one of the most pivotal years of the 20th Century. The Depression was coming to an end, mainly because of increasing war production, and the economy was on the upswing. The Worlds Fair had just opened in April, Hollywood was churning out more movies than ever before, Swing ruled the airwaves, Americans were being exposed to all sorts of new gadgets and inventions, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was enjoying tremendous popularity. Most of all, the conflict in Europe was heating up, and as Hitler's invasion of Poland grew increasingly likely and reports of Nazi atrocities filled the papers, Americans could no longer maintain an isolationist attitude. The summer of 1939 would ultimately be the last summer of peace for a long time and everyone was affected by the events taking place in Europe. The Summer of Oz is the first in a series of books featuring the adventures of Tessie DiMartino as she grows up in Brooklyn, New York during World War II. The books will cover the period from 1939 until the end of the war in 1945. Tessie and her friends will have gone from eighth grade to high school graduation and each book will feature a specific theme. Description from Publisher
The Streets Are Paved With Gold By Fran Weissenberg	Awards: Sydney Taylor Manuscript Award Deborah Gold chronicles her eighth-grade year in this poignant coming-of-age novel. Debbie's Jewish immigrant family lives simply and traditionally, but though the girl cherishes her heritage, she desperately wishes to be like the modern American children in her school. Debbie struggles to achieve a delicate balance as she confronts first love, new friendships and familial responsibility. She begins to understand the vital connections between her home life and the everchanging world outside. Authentic dialogue and precise details bring 1920s Brooklyn vividly to life, while Debbie's first person narration lends immediacy and emotion to her experiences. The integrity and generosity of the Gold family will impress readers young and old. Weissenberg provides a glossary of Yiddish terms so that no reader will feel excluded. Description from Publishers Weekly
Brooklyn Doesn't Rhyme By Joan W. Blos	A Newbery Medal-winning author returns to early Americana. Eleven-year-old Rosey is worried about her school writing assignment. How can she write interestingly about her ordinary life in Brooklyn. As Rosey writes her stories, a vivid and heart-touching picture emerges of life in a Jewish-American community in the early years of the 20th century. Description from Publisher Rosey Sachs, 11, narrates these loosely connected stories about a Polish Jewish immigrant family in New York City in the early 1900s. Her voice is gently upbeat, with an authentic Yiddish idiom ("He bought for us a house"), evoking the warmth of the extended family that celebrates the old ways even as it eagerly tries to become part of America. Like Blos' Newbery winner, A Gathering of Days, the focus is on the small events of daily life. The account of the family's move to a new house is a marvel of affectionate comedy. The story "Momma and the Vote" personalizes history with wit and verve. There's a touching episode about two brothers who can only go to school alternate weeks because they share a pair of shoes. Unfortunately, much of the material reads like bits and pieces of anecdote and local color, with characters that come and go too quickly to hold our interest. As Rosey comes to realize, there's a difference between something that happens and making it a story. This is family folklore, and in fact, that's the way the book will be best used: in writing classes to encourage kids to find their own family stories, whether the immigration was many generations back or is happening right now. Description from Booklist "Knowing about your family will help you to know yourself." That's what Miss Edgecomb, Rosey Sachs's sixth grade teacher, says when she asks her students to write stories about their families. But, Rosey wonders, what can possibly be interesting about her immigrant parents, her small Brooklyn house, and the everyday lives of her friends and relatives in New York in the early twentieth century? Then Rosey starts remembering things she hasn't thought about since they happened, and she realizes she does have stories to tell: about Momma and Papa, about her big brother Arnold and her baby sister Sadie, about her uncles and aunt and cousins, and about Itzy Carnitzky, Arnold's best friend, who might just turn out to be Rosey's friend as well. And Rosey discovers that Miss Edgecomb was right. Description from Back Cover
Marisol and Magdalena: The Sound of Our Sisterhood By Veronica Chambers	Their mothers grew up together in Panama, but longtime best friends Marisol and Magdalena, both 13, were born and still live in Brooklyn and know very little Spanish. Their relatives and others in the expatriate Panamanian community in Brooklyn are constantly trying to make the two girls understand and appreciate their heritage. But the girls plan to "rule Roberto Clemente Junior High" when they enter eighth grade in the fall; then Marisol's single, working mother, who also attends nursing school, decides to send Marisol to Panama to spend a year with her grandmother. An apprehensive Marisol prepares for the trip, unhappy as she sees Magdalena pulling away from her but consoled by the thought that she might find the father she's never known. In Panama, Marisol is immediately comfortable with her grandmother, makes a new friend in Ana, is welcomed at her new school, and finds her first boyfriend in Ruben, who tutors her in Spanish. As Marisol's shyness fades, she begins to feel, in some ways, more comfortable in Panama than in New York, even adjusting to the fact that her father may never surface in her life. Marisol's vibrant first-person narrative flows smoothly, incorporating Spanish words and phrases in a way that non-Spanish speakers can easily comprehend, and conveying a well-realized sense of the Latino-black experience. YAs of any background will readily be able to identify with Marisol and the test placed on her friendship with Magdalena. Description from Booklist
Quinceanera Means Sweet Fifteen By Veronica Chambers	Marisol and Magdalena are making plans for their quinceanera parties, their fifteenth birthday celebration that they've been waiting for their whole lives. They've promised each other that they will be the dama de honor at each other's quince. But quinceaneras are expensive, and Marisol's mother doesn't know if she can afford a party at all, especially not one as extravagant as Magdalena's. And while Marisol was away in Panama, Magdalena became friends with two girls Marisol can't stand. Marisol wonders if her year in Panama changed her - maybe she isn't cool or rich enough anymore to be Magda's friend. Description from Publisher In this lively sequel to Marisol and Magdalena, the two best friends find their lifelong closeness jeopardized when the romantic dreams of their quinceaneras materialize into unpleasant realities: Marisol's mother may not be able to afford a quinceanera, and Magdalena snubs Marisol for two wealthy, troublemaking friends. Narrator Marisol, a decent person with a kind heart, will elicit genuine compassion from readers, who will root for her to have the celebration that she both wants and deserves. At the same time, Magdalena makes a believable, multifaceted supporting character who pays dearly for her mistakes. This sense of justice is achieved without affectation, and dramatic incidents and themes of family unity and personal integrity come through clearly without seeming contrived or manipulative. In addition to telling an appealing story, Chambers immerses her readers in Panamanian and Latino culture; there's at least one Spanish term or phrase on almost every page, unobtrusively supported by context clues so that even non-Spanish-speaking readers can comprehend every term. Description from Booklist
I Should Worry, I Should Care By Miriam Chaikin	I Should Worry, I Should Care is the first in a series of five novels for young readers that won critical acclaim and awards for Miriam Chaikin. All five books are about Molly and her family and friends in a Brooklyn neighborhood around the time of World War II. Molly and her friends play out their young girl interests against the background of those troubled times. Description from Publisher
Getting Even By Miriam Chaikin	Molly, a young Jewish girl growing up in the Brooklyn of the 1940's, explores the power of friendship and jealousy. Description from Publisher There is lots of warmth here and plenty of color in Chaikin's evocation of an early 1940s Brooklyn neighborhood. Molly is hurt and angry when her best friend Tsippi seems to avoid her in favor of playing with Big Naomi. To get back at Tsippi, Molly lets it be known that Tsippi's parents are Communists, a fact that both embarrasses Tsippi and causes schoolmates to call her parents spies Description from Booklist
Friends Forever By Miriam Chaikin	As news of German victories and Nazi atrocities against the Jews comes over the radio, Molly faces important decisions as she and her Brooklyn friends prepare to enter junior high school. Description from Publisher
A Child's Christmas in Brooklyn By Frank Crocitto	Revised Edition includes holiday recipes Christmas enthusiasts young and old will enjoy Frank Crocitto's nostalgic, near-magic realist take on Christmas in the hazy recesses of the mid-20th century, A Child's Christmas in Brooklyn. Evoking the breathless, wide-eyed wonder of childhood, Crocitto (Insight Is Better Than Ice Cream) describes the interminable wait throughout the fall, homework in November, parents and grandparents' delightfully suspicious preholiday behaviors and the incomprehensibly somber Christmas Eve service. While it offers little new in terms of holiday spirit (following in the stylistic and thematic footsteps of A Christmas Story, though less comical), readers will be pleased by the classic, cozy quality of this reminiscence. Description from Publishers Weekly Frank Crocitto's A Child's Christmas in Brooklyn is a wonderful memoir of growing up in Brooklyn in the 1940s. What is particularly striking is not just the wonderful anecdotal stories but the way they are physically and visually laid out for the reader in a line-on-the-page format that is almost lyrically poetic in its presentation. A Child's Christmas in Brooklyn is marvelous reading for any Christmas season and a delight for anytime of the year - especially for that 'window in time' feeling taking us back on a nostalgic tour of Brooklyn through a child's eyes. Description from Midwest Book Review
The Trees Kneel at Christmas By Maud Hart Lovelace	Written by the author of the well-loved Betsy-Tacy books, this Christmas story originally appeared in 1951. Today, with new artwork, it is historical fiction that brings to life the immigrant experience. Lovelace portrays an extended family that treasures its Lebanese traditions, takes pride in its adaptation to American ways, and celebrates religious faith as its guiding principle. After seven-year-old Afify and her younger brother, Hanna, hear a story about the trees kneeling down to worship on Christmas Eve, Afify decides they will go to their Brooklyn park to see the trees bow down. Praying to be worthy of seeing the miracle, Afify tries to be saintlike all day, though she finds the going rough. Finally, after their relatives have left for midnight mass, Afify takes Hanna to the park, where they find their special trees, heavy with ice, bowing down. Their parents are upset, but when Afify and Hanna tell of the miracle they've seen, the whole family draws together in the grace of that moment. What shines here is the mystery of religious experience and the notion of religion as the central guiding principle of a family's life. While some aspects of the story would undoubtedly be told differently today (the family's veneration of the father, two uncles smoking a water pipe, the idea of leaving children alone at night), the book seems true to its time. Better yet, Lovelace's ability to portray children, their thoughts, emotions, and, in this case, their faith, has a timeless quality that makes this a refreshing Christmas story. Description from Booklist
Behind the Mountains By Edwidge Danticat	Launching the First Person Fiction series of immigrant coming-of-age stories, Danticat's (Breath, Eyes, Memory, for adults) debut novel for young people follows Celiane's journey from her mountain village in Haiti to join her father in Brooklyn. The narrative opens in October 2000 and unfolds as a journal, in which 13-year-old Celiane recounts events in a charming, innocent voice ("I must go soon, sweet little book, to prepare for Manman's return from the market"). Daily activities (e.g., preparing for market, listening to cassettes her father sends) give way to mounting political tensions as the presidential election approaches. Oddly, however, Celiane's childlike hopefulness persists even after she and her mother are injured by a pipe bomb ("Dear, sweet little book, if I could hold onto you so tightly that you are now here with me, why couldn't I have done the same for Manman?"). In December, Celiane, her mother and brother rejoin her father, who left five years before due to economic pressures. Through Celiane's spare if somewhat simplistic narration, the author captures the color and texture of Haitian life as well as the heroine's adjustment to New York. While readers may want to hear more about her experiences in Brooklyn, they will appreciate the truthfulness of the family's struggle to reconnect (even if the presentation of some of the historical information seems clunky). Danticat details her own departure from Haiti as an afterword. Description from Publishers Weekly As the best student in the class, Celiane is given a "sweet little book" in which she decides to keep a journal. Her entries date from October 2000 to March 2001, and chronicle the family's departure from their homeland of Haiti to join her father, who had immigrated to New York City five years earlier. In graceful prose, Danticat seamlessly weaves together all that such a decision involves: the difficulties of rural life on the island and a longing for an absent parent combined with a fondness for her tiny mountain village with "the rainbows during sun showers- the smell of pinewood burning, the golden-brown sap dripping into the fire"; and the excitement and violence of Port-au-Prince where Celiane and her mother are injured in bombings before the elections. When Celiane, her mother, and her 19-year-old brother are finally approved to enter the U.S., the teen knows everything will be all right as soon as she sees her father, but there are the unavoidable frictions among family members, fueled not only by the separation and adjustment to a new country, but also by the natural maturing process that the children undergo. In this gem of a book, Danticat explores the modern immigrant experience through the eyes of one teen. Description from School Library Journal In award-winning author Edwidge Danticat's first novel for young readers, it is election time in Haiti. Bombs are going off in the capital city of Port-au-Prince, and Celiane Esperance and her mother are nearly killed, giving them a fresh resolve to join Celiane's father in Brooklyn, New York. The harsh winter and concrete landscape are a shock to Celiane, who witnesses her parents' struggle to earn a living, her brother's uneasy adjustment to America, and her own encounters with learning difficulties and school violence. Description from Publisher
Keystone Kids By John Roberts Tunis	Spike and Bob Russell are baseball-playing brothers, toiling in the minor leagues. While playing for the Nashville Volunteers, they get the call they've been dreaming about -- a promotion to the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Major Leagues. But their excitement proves short-lived as they are embroiled in a contretemps surrounding Brooklyn's new Jewish catcher, Jocko Klein. This excellent story, with a subplot of prejudice, discrimination, and their ultimate resolution, written by perhaps the foremost children's sports author of his generation, is sure to captivate young readers. Description from Children's Literature
Spellbound By Janet McDonald	In her first book for young adults, McDonald (Project Girl, for adults) uses a chorus of highly authentic, lively young voices to convey heartbreaks and dreams reverberating in a Brooklyn ghetto. From the outside, Raven appears to be just another "housing project girl," whose prospects are as bleak as those of her best friend, Aisha. Both teens are high school dropouts, unwed mothers and virtually unemployable but, unlike Aisha, Raven is not content to rely on "the system" for support. Her chance to gain independence and to carve out a better life for herself and her son comes in the form of a spelling bee. If Raven wins the contest, she will be able to enter a college prep program, then go on to college on a full scholarship. Offering balanced portions of humor and drama, the novel traces how Raven gradually gains confidence in herself and her future as she prepares for the spelling bee. McDonald paints Raven's path to success as realistically rocky, obstructed by such complications as the reappearance of her baby's father and the disturbing news that Aisha is pregnant again. If the story's resolutions seem a little too pat, the heroine's passionate determination remains admirable. Her ability to turn her life around defies the notion that girls like her and Aisha are stuck on a dead-end street. Description from Publishers Weekly Sixteen-year-old Raven, a once-promising student in spite of her impoverished home and single mother's limited education, has been derailed by the birth of a baby conceived during her first sexual encounter. The father of her child was a stranger to her when they met at a party and doesn't know the extended ramifications of their meeting. Raven finds herself teetering on the brink of forgoing any life beyond her Brooklyn-project apartment, the baby, the only sort of job open to a high school dropout, and her best friend's brash "welfare recipient" influence. Then Raven's older sister hears about a college prep and scholarship program and goads her into studying for the spelling bee through which program participants are identified. In spite of the baby, in spite of a fast-food job, in spite of her best friend's loud mocking, and in spite of the reemergence of the baby's father into her life, the African-American teen decides to learn to spell so that she can compete, so that she can win. McDonald has created a vital cast of characters, giving them authentic voices and motivations. Even while cheering for Raven, readers will understand her best friend's hesitancy. The baby's father is depicted in both his lack of maturity and his desire to get beyond his parents' prejudices. Raven's mother is strong and reliable, clearly able to cope with the crises life hands her and hers. Among the shelves of novels about teenage girls dealing with unplanned babies, this is a standout. Description from School Library Journal
The Rose Horse By Deborah Lee Rose	It's 1909 in New York and Lily's little sister, Rose, is born prematurely. Rose and her mother are sent to Dreamland on Coney Island, to a world-famous clinic that will allow the child to be cared for properly. While they are there, Lily's mother finds that she can nurse more than her own child, and literally saves at least one tiny baby's life. And Lily gets to explore Coney Island and ride on the beautiful palomino her uncle has created. To help keep track of the six weeks until her mother comes home, Lily's aunt uses a Jewish calendar, brought from Russia. Some discussion of Jewish customs and the pogroms that forced the family to leave Kishinev add to the drama. This is a fascinating look at a vanished time and place. Description from Children's Literature Kids ages 8-12 will appreciate this story of Lily's early Coney Island experiences, as she helps her father and cousin in their carousel shop and rides the Rose Horse. Black and white line drawings by Greg Shed illustrate the gentle story of a premature sibling's struggle to survive. Description from Midwest Book Review
Samuel's Choice By Richard J. Berleth	Fact and fiction are woven together seamlessly to create this richly textured story of a 14-year-old black slave during the early days of the American Revolution. Samuel works from dawn to dark in the Brooklyn flour mill owned by the stingy, strict Isaac van Ditmas. When ferrying his master's wife and daughter to Staten Island, Samuel gazes at the soaring seagulls and wonders what it would be like to be free. A very effective parallel emerges as Samuel and van Ditmas's other slaves hear the sounds of drums, fifes and cannons driftng across the water from Manhattan, signaling the colonists' determination to win their freedom from England. Samuel seizes an opportunity to come to their aid, and performs a heroic act that enables General Washington's weary troops to escape from the victorious British after the Battle of Long Island. Samuel's first-person narrative is at once affecting and informative, making this a history lesson that readers will absorb with their hearts as well as their minds. Filled with the strife of wartime, Watling's dramatic paintings enhance the story's power. Description from Publishers Weekly Berleth describes in simple, undramatic language the story of Samuel, a black 14-year-old who belongs to a Dutch Tory in 1776 Brooklyn and whose life is one of heavy labor. He longs for freedom, and his flagging courage is renewed by his fiery friend Sana, a fellow slave. Samuel watches as Washington's ragged army marches forth to engage the British on Long Island. In the midst of a furious storm he makes the decision to take his owner's boat across the East River, dragging a rope to guide the army across to Manhattan, and the rebels escape. Thus, this dark low point in American history is transformed into a triumph, as Samuel earns his freedom. Watling's watercolors on almost every page give chilling life to a despairing rebel army. Samuel's initial uncertainty and his later resolution are beautifully portrayed. If students say history is boring, give them this book. Description from School Library Journal
Two Cents and a Milk Bottle By Lee Chai'ah Batterman	Twelve-year-old Leely Dorman has a big problem. She knows the right thing to do, but getting it done seems impossible. How can Leely, the child of Russian immigrants living in Brooklyn during the Great Depression, find the money to pay back a debt to her friend-especially when the Dorman family can barely afford to put food on the table for themselves? In this charming first novel, author Lee Chai'ah Batterman introduces readers to Leely, her brainy fifteen-year-old sister Evy, and Arnie, her tag-along brother, as they face a new neighborhood, a new school and new friends. Over the course of the novel, Leely becomes a faithful friend, an entrepreneur and the first girl in the neighborhood to study to become a Bat Mitzvah. The contrast of Leely's Jewish background and her best friend Francy's Italian heritage adds an especially colorful twist to their sweet friendship. But it is Leely's moral dilemma-and her poignant and often humorous efforts to resolve it-that draws readers into this beautifully written tale of adolescent tribulations and family cohesiveness. There is a life lesson to be learned in every chapter of Two Cents and a Milk Bottle, from developing humane values and intercultural friendships to confronting sickness and death. And Leely proves herself a wonderfully capable teacher for young adults and their parents alike. Description from Publisher
The Hessian's Secret Diary By Lisa Banim	It's 1776, and young Peggy Van Brundt chafes at her mother's warning to stay out of the woods near their Brooklyn, New York, farmhouse. She disobeys and stumbles upon a dangerous secret: a wounded Hessian is hiding there. By helping the man, Peggy jeopardizes her family's welfare, but all ends well. Fast paced and mildly suspenseful, this short chapter book offers a believable story set against a colorful historical backdrop. The full-page pencil-and-wash artwork illustrates the story effectively. The book ends with several pages of "historical postscript," making the setting more meaningful by filling in the background of time and place and allowing readers to place Peggy's adventures within a broader context. Description from Booklist With the Red Coats swarming around the Van Brunt family's farm and her brothers off to battle for the Americans, young Peggy Van Brunt is anxious to be a part of the action. She sneaks outside, against her parents' orders, and finds herself on the trail of a wounded soldier who has dropped a small diary while fleeing from her. Is he a Red Coat or a Patriot? And who is he hiding from?. Lisa Banim's The Hessian's Secret Diary is a truly riveting story based on 1776 "The Battle of Long Island" and is very nicely illustrated in black-and-white by James Watling. Description from Midwest Book Review
The Jetty Chronicles By Leonard Everett Fisher	Fisher (Anasazi) admits to some fictionalizing of the details, but this brief memoir of a few adolescent, preWW II years in Brooklyn has the authenticity that comes from well-chosen details, lovingly and honestly observed. With no attempt to turn this into an autobiography, Fisher finds some metaphors for living in the ``immortal'' jetty from which, in his youth, he watched ships come and go from New York City's waters. From an old professor comes a geology lesson, from an artist a lesson in painterly verisimilitude, from a buff young man a lesson in false pride, and from a poor, delusioned soul, a lesson in--among other things--the abuse of religion. That the war is coming hangs over many paragraphs, that Fisher would become an artist and storyteller all but hidden. The volume, with so many speakers expounding on various topics, may be more suited to Fisher's admirers than to readers unfamiliar with his work; he sticks to a particular reference--the jetty and the people around it--and a particular time, and makes it utterly palpable. Description from Kirkus Reviews Fisher returns to his boyhood home in this novel based on his reminiscences from 1934 to 1939, set in the wake of a manmade jetty in southwestern Brooklyn. Built in 1907 to prevent erosion of a small sandy beach, the jetty is in itself a fascinating hulk of a character. While it seems massive and certain to last forever, it is now barely visible at low tide. From the jetty, the young Fisher could watch the world go by. All manner of vessels passed through his "front yard." Colorful fictional characters include an elderly geologist; a nameless ex-convict; an artist; and a radical newspaper vendor hell-bent on getting into the exclusive Sea Gate with his message of miracles, salvation, and eternal damnation. The best of the bunch, though, is the story of a pretty-boy Olympic hopeful. Rumors (that he successfully started) are so strong, that Horace Monash begins to believe that he might just be a powerful swimmer. His unmasking has all the elements of a Greek tragedy. The grim specter of World War II haunts this story. Newspaper headlines and adult conversations overheard foretell the future evil to come. This is a piece of Americana, an antidote to Norman Rockwell, portraying a real place and time that no longer exists. A place of power and majesty reclaimed by nature.-- Description from School Library Journal
Allegra Maud Goldman By Edith Konecky	This comic novel, first published in 1976, about a feisty Jewish girl child growing up in a wealthy bourgeois Brooklyn family in the 1920s is evoked by a conciousness witty, authentic, and memorable. Alone, Allegra must learn about what it means to be female, about sex, and about death. She must reconcile the bigotries and limitations of her difficult family, and give and receive love however she can. There are memorable scenes in school and summer camp, with friends, and with older girls and women. Throughout, the voice of Allegra remains compellingly defiant and lovable--and, as Tillie Olsen says, "braided with laughter." Description from Publisher "Allegra Maud Goldman. There's a whole plot in that name...I knew from the beginning that I would never fit that name." For Allegra, growing up is challenging on every front. Her father is rarely happy, her mother is rarely home, and her older brother just wants to practice the piano. Grandma stays in the background, except at Passover - then she is in the kitchen. Allegra questions everything, coming up with her own answers to what she sees through her young eyes, and her observations are fun and refreshing. She is the kind of child who drives her parents and teachers crazy: she's not bad, she's not mean, people call her precocious. But as Allegra observes: "...they never said it as though it were anything good to be." When she is forced to take home economics, she remembers her teacher as "a large, jolly-looking woman with a heart of stone." Her friend Melanie wonders about the home economics course: "if they're preparing us to be housewives and mothers, why don't they teach us something really useful like sexual intercourse?" To which Allegra remarks: "That's the kind of girl she was. Brainy." By the end of the novel, through Allegra's laughter and tears, we feel excitement for her future and realize she does indeed fit her name. Description from 500 Great Books by Women
Earthly Astonishments: A Novel By Marthe Jocelyn	Meet Rosa, the Bearded Lady! Charley, the Albino Boy! See them all for yourself at R. J. Walters' Museum of Earthly Astonishments! In 1883, there is no better place in the world to see exotic attractions than Coney Island, New York. Josephine lives in a little dot of a town called Westley. But her parents still can charge a penny to any visitor who wants to gawk at her. They also can sell her for an even better price to the MacLaren Academy for Girls, where Josephine scrubs and fetches and withstands mocking torment from the fine young ladies of the school. One day Josephine takes four gold dollars from the schoolmistress and runs away. But she trades her freedom to belong to the famous R. J. Walters' "Natural Curiosity" show on the Coney Island boardwalk. He gives her a new name and a new identity--Little JoJo of Bohemia--but the crowds and the newspaper articles can't satisfy the hunger she has for a real family and a real home. In this beautifully evoked, wonderfully readable adventure story, an incredibly versatile writer creates a marvelously believable heroine from a time and place filled with many wonders. Description from Publisher A small but plucky and resourceful heroine stars in this novel, set in the era of P.T. Barnum and his extraordinary exhibits, from Jocelyn (Hannah and the Seven Dresses). Josephine, only 22 inches high, is sold by her own parents to a young ladies boarding school, with a headmistress who makes Sara Crewe's Miss Minchin appear angelic. The place is a horror, for Miss MacLaren uses the tuition money to line her own pockets, spending little on her students and less on the house and help. Josephine escapes to the city, to become part of the Museum of Earthly Astonishments along with Charley, an albino boy, and his mother, the kindly Nelly. Josephine learns her part and plays it well, a living doll dressed in historical costumes; Charley and Nelly become her family. But Miss MacLaren tracks her down, of course, a development that leads to more daring escapes, vivid newspaper stories, and touching friendships. Set in and around Coney Island and the Lower East Side of New York City in the 19th century, the novel is full of historical color while focusing on a tiny person whose courage and inner fortitude are very large, indeed. Description from Kirkus Reviews
Bright Lights By Sarah Mountbatten-Windsor York (Sarah Duchess Of York Ferguson)	Princess Amanda is thrilled to visit her look-alike friend, Emily Chornak, in New York City. The girls are scheduled to tour all the sights of the Big Apple by limousine, and what's especially exciting is that they'll have the chance to hear their favorite band perform at a benefit concert. At an elegant party before the concert, Emily and Amanda overhear a plan for a robbery. They know they must stop the crime, but what can two eleven-year-old girls do? And how can they help their new friend, a homeless boy, get off the streets of New York? Description from Publisher
Fresh Girl By Jaira Placide	This ambitious first novel traces the coming of age of a 14-year-old Haitian-American girl, forced to grow up too fast. To some kids at school, Mardi seems quite naeve. She wears outdated clothes, spends more time studying than socializing, and is not allowed to stray very far from her Brooklyn apartment. But Mardi knows more about the dangers of the world than most people her age. Placide plants clues along the way to the secret Mardi harbors: while living in Haiti with her grandmother she experienced a life-changing event during the 1991 coup, too horrific and personal to share with anyone, even her family and closest friends. Now, rejoined with her parents in New York, Mardi wants to forget the past and blend in with her American peers. Yet memories of Haiti continue to surface, causing her to feel bitter and to act "fresh." The author peels away the tough exterior of her protagonist layer by layer to expose a frightened and vulnerable young woman who has ambivalent feelings for her loving, yet over-protective mother, the classmates who taunt her and an attractive, unattainable boy. Although several subplots begin and end abruptly (Mardi's friendship with the wealthy Janille, her uncle's relationship to a boy orphaned in the refugee camps, etc.), the heroine's growing courage to voice her unspeakable truth sustains the novel. Description from Publishers Weekly Haunted by nightmares that play back variants of her final days in Haiti, running and hiding from the soldiers, fourteen-year-old Mardi worries, "What if I wake up dead?" Being alive in Brooklyn with her family is occasionally not much better: Mardi hides from her family at home and is harassed at school as an outsider, an island girl. Mardi's world is thrown into turmoil with the announcement that her uncle Perrin-a revolutionary and the only member of the family who stayed in Haiti-will join them in America. From page one, Placide shares hints of the remembered horror Mardi both keeps to herself and from herself; it is a horror Mardi believes Perrin should have prevented. Still, Mardi's love for Perrin and his unfailing support begin to dissolve her anger against him and the rest of her family and finally allow her to tell her terrifying story of sexual violence. Placide's vivid, controlled first-person narrative traces Mardi's credible reclamation of her own goodness and self-worth. Description from Horn Book
Will Somebody Please Marry My Sister? By Eth Clifford	Living with his family in a crowded apartment, all Abel Stoner wants is a room of his own--someplace to set up his ham radio, do his homework, and escape all the women in the household. The only way he sees this happening is if he can concoct a plan to get his oldest sister married. A comic adventure set in 1920s Brooklyn. Description from Publisher An able chronicler of other times and places turns out an average preteen problem novel with an overlay of period pictures--the streetcar, the corner grocery--intended to provide historical context. It's 1925 and Abel wants his sisters married and out of the apartment so that he can have a room of his own. While Annie, the middle child, is eager to marry Bruce, she is kept waiting by her grandmother's belief that the older daughter, Ruth, must be wed first. To speed his sisters' departures, Abel allies himself with Hilda, the pesty daughter of a local matchmaker, and they invite a stream of potential husbands to dinner. Description from School Library Journal
Rhoda, Straight and True By Roni Schotter	In this tale, a young girl discovers that different is not necessarily bad. Set in Brooklyn in 1953, this story chronicles 12-year-old Rhoda's summer, which begins with the Royal Wedding of Princess Elizabeth and ends with the truce in Korea. Rhoda and her friends Hattie and Mary Jane start the summer by trying to find out if Mr. and Mrs. Rose are really Russian spies, as everyone says. Certainly the Roses don't act like anyone they've ever metMr. Rose doesn't even have a regular job. Then there are the terrible Mancys, all 13 of them, from strange Fig, who's in Rhoda's class, to vicious Baby Nicotine. But as the summer progresses Rhoda finds herself drawn to the mysterious Fig, leaving her at odds with her old friends. Fig is not Rhoda's only surprise, as she discovers not only the truth about the Roses but about others as well. The moral is a little obvious and heavyhanded, but the sense of locale is nicely-drawn, with original characters and humor rounding out a pleasant story. Description from Publishers Weekly It's June, 1953, and Princess Elizabeth is about to be crowned Queen. The Cold War is in full bloom, replete with school air raid drills and suspected spies. Rhoda's sixth-grade year is drawing to a close, and she and her neighborhood gang are eager for the long, lazy summer vacation spent on their Brooklyn blocks. There's so much to dothere are ramshackle buildings to explore, and there's always a poor, undesirable Mancy kid (there are 13 of them!) to fight with or laugh at. Rhoda's natural inclination to let her gang do her thinking for her is put to the test one day when, playing at a forbidden site, she has an accident. When her friends run off and leave her, it's classmate Fig Mansy who rescues her. Drawn to the warmth, remarkable resilience, and resourcefulness of Fig's large, poor family, Rhoda begins to think things out for herself. In an upbeat ending, she figures a way to show her gang how special the Mansys really are and, incidentally, to clear the names of suspected neighborhood spies. This is a nicely satisfying, old-fashioned novel with an appropriately simple resolution, peopled with interesting characters, that teaches rather than preaches a lesson about thinking for oneself. Description from School Library Journal

Nonfiction

Brooklyn Pops Up By Brooklyn Public Library	New York's Brooklyn is a wondrous composite of legends and history. Settled in 1636, Brooklyn has attracted a wide variety of ethnic groups over the centuries, and the resulting diversity in style and culture gives Brooklyn a flavor all its own. Brooklyn Pops Up was created to celebrate the special spirit of this place. From the Brooklyn Bridge to the Grand Army Plaza to Coney Island, a dozen illustrators and paper engineers such as Maurice Sendak, Robert Sabuda, Carla Dijs, and David A. Carter bring the magic of Brooklyn to vibrant life. Giant green leaves in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden fold back to reveal happy frolicking critters--a honey-sucking bee, a nut-nibbling squirrel, and several hide-and-seeking children. The Prospect Park Carousel bursts out of the pages, with ecstatic children riding marvelously decorated horses. Even the cover boasts an interactive scene by Sendak; readers slide a flap from side to side to make famous Brooklynite Walt Whitman emerge from his own book, while two children clutch it affectionately. Each two-page spread includes a few paragraphs about the subject at hand: Learn the strange, ill-fated history of the building of the Brooklyn Bridge. Discover how the beautiful, quintessential Brooklyn brownstones came into existence. Whether from Brooklyn or Borneo, readers will enjoy lifting flaps and popping open pages in order to visit this city of stories. Description from Amazon.com Anyone interested in Brooklyn can find here a wealth of information about its brownstones, the Grand Army Plaza and Public Library, the Museum of Art and Children's Museum, The Botanical Garden, Prospect Park and its Carousel, the Brooklyn Bridge, and Coney Island. The facts, including history and description, are detailed along the bottom of seven double pages. But it is the pop-ups that greet us as we turn the pages that make this book really special. Each one is designed by a different artist or artists, with a special Sendak that includes Walt Whitman on the cover. And each uses devices that happily contribute to the feel of the site, for example the flipping leaves in the garden, or Sabuda's stunning Museum facade. What a great way to discover or rediscover Brooklyn. Description from Children's Literature Sample Page:
Teammates By Peter Golenbock	Awards: 1990 Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies The moving story of how Jackie Robinson became the first black player on a major league baseball team and how on a fateful day in Cincinnati, PeeWee Reese took a stand and declared Jackie his teammate. Description from Publisher The event occurred during Jackie Robinson's first season with the Dodgers. Listening to the hatred that spilled out of the stands, Pee Wee Reese left his position at shortstop, walked over to Robinson at first base, put his around Robinson's shoulder, chatted for a few moments, and then returned to his position. The crowd was stunned into silence. Bacon has illustrated the book with an effective blend of photographs and drawings. Golenbock briefly but clearly describes the background of Robinson's entry into the National League, as well as Reese's background as a southerner and as the player with the most to fear if Robinson were successful--both men were shortstops (although Robinson would ultimately play second base). There have been several recent books about Robinson for young readers, such as David Adler's Jackie Robinson: He Was the First and Jim O'Connor's Jackie Robinson and the Story of All-Black Baseball, but none of them have the style or dramatic impact of Golenbock and Bacon's work. This is a wonderful and important story, beautifully presented Description from School Library Journal
Brooklyn Bridge By Lynn Curlee	A wonderful picture book that tells the history behind the bridge and its construction, complete with the engineering facts and the human-interest anecdotes as well. Using full-color illustrations and diagrams, Curlee explains why the bridge was needed, why the engineering behind it was so important and innovative, and what the bridge has meant to those living in New York. The book's most important features include careful diagrams and descriptions showing how construction was conceived and executed. A map shows the bridge's location and a cross-section drawing delineates the caissons, supply shafts, air locks, etc. The narrative opens with New York City after the Civil War, explains the financing and final decision to build the bridge, and describes the roles of John A. Roebling and, later, his son, Washington, as Chief Engineer. A list of the bridge's specifications and a time line are appended. While not as complex as Elizabeth Mann's The Brooklyn Bridge, this title will appeal to audiences looking for report information and to those looking for an exciting story. Description from School Library Journal When the Brooklyn Bridge was completed in 1883, its stone towers were the most massive structures on the continent, its cables and deck were among the first constructions of a metal called "steel" and its span was the longest of any bridge in the world. It was called a true "eighth Wonder of the World." Curlee brings the same concise text and lively portrayal of the people and problems involved that he used so effectively in Liberty!. His unfussy acrylic paintings seem based on archival photographs and have an engineer's love of the precise line and depiction of the inner workings of the project. The genius behind the bridge was John A. Roebling, whose son Washington carried on after Roebling lost his life to a gangrenous foot. The story is not without disasters, deaths and even a final scare when a week after the bridge opened, someone cried that it was falling and the resulting stampede crushed a dozen people. Curlee's eye for detail, his timely diagrams, cross-sections and maps (which come along just as the reader wants them), and the ending pictures of the bridge from several cross-sectioned perspectives show the reader how marvelous this construction was—and is. As one architect pointed out, this bridge is likely to be our most durable monument to posterity and "it is a work of bare utility; not a shrine, not a fortress, not a palace, but a bridge." Description from Children's Literature
The Brooklyn Bridge: A Wonders of the World Book By Elizabeth Mann	This brief, informative history effectively conveys the human drama of the fourteen-year construction of the magnificent suspension bridge and provides lucid explanations of the technology and the building phases. The handsome pictorial format employs historical prints and photographs as well as original paintings and diagrams. Two fold-out diagrams and a concluding aerial view of the finished bridge emphasize the dimensions of the immense project. Description from Horn Book This truly inspiring book tells the story of the dedication that was required to build the Brooklyn Bridge. The bridge was the brainchild of John Roebling, a gifted engineer who immigrated to the United States from Germany. It took a number of years for him to convince officials that his idea for a suspension bridge would work. A freak accident took his life just as the construction was to begin. His son and daughter-in-law played major roles in the 14-year construction project. Illustrations, archival prints and old photographs, including numerous illustrations of all phases of construction accompany this elegant publication. Description from Children's Literature
The Brooklyn Bridge By Elaine Pascoe	Chronicles the entire story of one of America's most famous bridges, from design to choosing a site, to building the structure from the ground up. Sidebars on John Roebling (designer and chief engineer), bridge design and construction, Boss Tweed, wire cablemaking. Weaves the history and politics of the era around the story. Description from Publisher Illustrated with black-and-white and color photos, these books effectively trace the histories of building two American architectural landmarks. Gresko details how the Grand Coulee was built to harness the water resources of the Columbia River for generating electricity and supporting agriculture. Pascoe emphasizes the roles of businessman (and spiritualist) John Roebling and his engineer son Washington in designing and constructing the Brooklyn Bridge. Description from Horn Book
Rescuing a Neighborhood: The Bedford-Stuyvesant Volunteer Ambulance Corps By Robert Fleming	Readers follow the work of the Bedford-Stuyvesant (NY) Volunteer Ambulance Corps through one shift, witnessing what an ambulance corps does and what it can mean to an inner-city community. The narrative combines issues of poverty, crime, and the ability of an individual to improve conditions when the larger societal structures aren't working. The text is objective and realistic and engenders respect for the people depicted. Illustrated throughout with black-and-white photographs, this success story has the potential to motivate readers to seek solutions to societal problems, to consider emergency medical service as a career, or to get involved in helping organizations on a volunteer basis. The dedication and experience of these emergency workers offers food for thought in everyday life. This uplifting book is full of drama and interesting, real-life characters who provide positive role models in harsh circumstances. A solid choice for curriculum use as well as for general reading. Description from School Library Journal Two veterans of New York City's Emergency Medical Services were determined to do something to improve emergency response time and care in their crime-and-poverty-ravaged Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. Running on foot to crisis calls in 1988, these men built their volunteer efforts into a corps that now owns five ambulances and responds to more than 300 calls each month. By documenting the volunteers' interventions on one Saturday night, this brief book gives insights into the nature of their neighborhood and their dedication to providing quality emergency aid to its people. Sometimes graphic photographs illustrate this focus on volunteerism at its utmost. Description from Booklist

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