2021 Newbery Medal: When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller
Newbery Honor books:
The Museum of Fine Arts is offering online art classes for kids during the February vacation week. Check here to see if any interesting classes are open for registration!
Book suggestions:
Felix Rannells and Benji Porter were never supposed to be field-trip partners. Felix is a rule follower. Benji is a rule bender. They're not friends. And they don't have anything to talk about. Until . . .
They find a wallet. A wallet that belongs to tech billionaire Laura Friendly. They're totally going to return it-but not before Benji "borrows" twenty dollars to buy hot dogs. Because twenty dollars is like a penny to a billionaire, right?
But a penny has value. A penny doubled every day for thirty days is $5,368,709.12! So that's exactly how much money Laura Friendly challenges Felix and Benji to spend. They have thirty days. They can't tell anyone. And there are LOTS of other rules. But if they succeed, they each get ten million dollars to spend however they want.
In the future, robots have eliminated humans, and 12-year-old robot XR_935 is just fine with that. Without humans around, there is no war, no pollution, no crime. Every member of society has a purpose. Everything runs smoothly and efficiently.
Until the day XR discovers something impossible: a human girl named Emma. Now, Emma must embark on a dangerous voyage with XR and two other robots in search of a mysterious point on a map. But how will they survive in a place where rules are never broken and humans aren’t supposed to exist?
Caldecott Winners 2021
Be sure to check out the district-wide library website! Caldecott winners will be announced on Monday, February 1st along with Brookline's Mock Caldecott results. Library website
Kids' Magazines -- Now in Overdrive
A new feature in Overdrive (through the public library) is their magazine section! Scroll through 70+ international magazines for kids. You can read them on an iPad or other device-- no wait list for any of the issues! The section includes everything from Minecraft magazines to The Week Junior, a weekly news magazine for kids. Check it out! You'll need your public library card number to view the magazines of your choice.
Inaugural Poet
Winter book suggestions
It’s wintertime at Greenglass House. The creaky smuggler’s inn is always quiet during this season, and twelve-year-old Milo, the innkeepers’ adopted son, plans to spend his holidays relaxing. But on the first icy night of vacation, out of nowhere, the guest bell rings. Then rings again. And again. Soon Milo’s home is bursting with odd, secretive guests, each one bearing a strange story that is somehow connected to the rambling old house.
With gorgeous photo illustrations, award-winning author April Pulley Sayre sheds sparkly new light on the wonders of snow. From the beauty of snow blanketing the forest and falling on animals’ fur and feathers to the fascinating winter water cycle, this nonfiction picture book celebrates snowfall and the amazing science behind it.
The holidays are coming and Humphrey is unsqueakably excited. He loves to hear about all the different ways his friends in Room 26 celebrate and to watch them make costumes and learn songs for the Winter Wonderland pageant. (He even squeaks along!) But with so much to do, will the holidays go according to plan?
In 1942 the Downs family was returning home to Texas from South America by ship. It was dangerous to travel by sea at that time. World War II was going on and German submarine crews were out searching for large ships to torpedo-- in fact German submarine captains were competing to see who could destroy the largest number of ships. The ship the Downs family was on was torpedoed and all four family members ended up in the freezing water floating on bits of the ship and pieces of wood. They had to contend with sharks, hypothermia, and sunburns. This is an amazing story of a family caught up in World War II, a story of adventure and ultimately, survival.
Savannah Riddle is lucky. As a daughter of an upper class African American family in Washington D.C., she attends one of the most rigorous public schools in the nation--black or white--and has her pick among the young men in her set. But lately the structure of her society--the fancy parties, the Sunday teas, the pretentious men, and shallow young women--has started to suffocate her.
Then Savannah meets Lloyd, a young West Indian man from the working class who opens Savannah's eyes to how the other half lives. Inspired to fight for change, Savannah starts attending suffragist lectures and socialist meetings, finding herself drawn more and more to Lloyd's world. This historical fiction book tells of Washington DC in 1919.
MCBA 2021: Students in grades 4 -6 may read and vote on their favorite book from this list chosen by the Massachusetts Children's Book Award at Salem State. We will vote in March. We own many of the titles as print books and/ or e-books and audiobooks. Please reach out if you'd like more information! kathleen_moriarty@psbma.org
This award winning picture book tells the true story behind Martin Luther King Jr's "I Have a Dream" speech. Gorgeous illustrations contribute to the stirring tale.
