Isabella Crawford leads a double life. At home she is the daughter of her white father, a Marine killed in action and her Puerto Rican mother, who ekes out a living as a nurse's aide, moving her family from place to place.
Now the family resides in Virginia where Izzy has received a scholarship to attend a prestigious Catholic high school and sing with the school's premier vocal group. She has her father’s green eyes and can "pass" at school, borrowing clothing from her best friend to supplement her meager wardrobe. She informs classmates that her mother is a nurse.

This is a story of bread. But it's more than bread. Much more. This is a story of family. Of tradition. Of Native American pride.

Kevin Noble Maillard, member of Seminole Nation, Mekusukey Band shares a long-standing Indigenous special food: fry bread. Recipes for fry bread are as diverse as the numerous Native nations.

The sentence stem "Fry bread is..." introduces this delightful cultural staple. By turns it is food, shape, sound, color. flavor, time, history, place, nation, everything. Written in free verse, each concept fills the entire two-page spread. Replete with information and symbolism, each fry bread attribute is also a metaphor for Native Americans.

Fry Bread brings back warm memories. When I was a college freshman, one of my roommates, Norma, was a Navajo from Arizona. She was very proud of her nationality and delighted in sharing Navajo culture with her roommates. She loved to sing, but not the hit songs playing on the radio. She sang traditional Navajo songs, with distinctive tonal patterns, and language. In my mind, I can still hear her singing. She was gentle and patient with us, helping us appreciate the Navajo Way.

There are traditional youth organizations with badges, bake sales, and award ceremonies. But what about those who don't fit neatly into a group structure?  is there a place for them?

Meet four girls who appear to have little in common. Lane DiSanti, artist and instigator, lives with her wealthy grandmother while her parents work out an impending divorce. Ofelia Castillo, aspiring journalist  struggles under the watchful eye of over-protective Cuban American parents.  Cat Garcia feels pressure from her close-knit family to participate in a local contest. She'd rather spend her time birdwatching. Gourmet chef Aster Douglas lives with her African American grandfather, a researcher and retired college professor.  Her widowed mother is overseas.

Bold graphic design. Vibrant color. Strategically placed traditional symbols.  Chinese New Year Colors is a visual treat. Take a look inside:
​The left-hand page splits to display a color word written three different ways: English, Chinese in the Latin alphabet,  and Chinese characters, inverting the color scheme on the bottom half of the page.

Bilingual alphabet book in ​English, Mandarin Chinese in the Latin alphabet, and  Chinese characters.

Written and illustrated by Rich Ho, young readers learn about Chinese opera and the value of persistence.

Thirteen-year-old Patricia "Sweet Pea" DiMarco is experiencing some significant changes. Her parents have agreed to an amicable divorce and will live on the same street in similar houses to minimize their daughter's discomfort with this new family dynamic.
She is simultaneously negotiating a falling-out with her former best friend and the repercussions from thoughtlessness toward her new best friend. This girl is headed for a world of hurt.
Then there's her neighbor, the eccentric advice columnist Miss Flora Mae who leaves town and asks Sweet Pea to forward advice requests and then deliver the answers to the newspaper editor. Sweet Pea succumbs to temptation and reads letters addressed to Miss Flora Mae. She decides to dispense her own advice and sets up an elaborate scheme to impersonate Miss Flora Mae in print. Sometimes the plan works. Sometimes it doesn't. How she extricates herself from a situation of her own making, salvages damages friendships, and rebuilds trust makes for a humorous, heartwarming tale.

Stacey Lee addresses racism, worker's rights, immigration, and women's suffrage from a unique perspective: a Chinese girl living in Atlanta Georgia in the late 1800s.
​Seventeen-year-old Jo Kuan loses her job as a milliner and must return to the demeaning life of a lady's maid for the cruel daughter of one of the wealthiest men in Atlanta. She and immigrant Old Gin secretly live in a tunnel beneath a newspaper printer's shop. She faces discrimination on several fronts. She’s an orphan, female, and Chinese .

An intelligent and resourceful young woman, she is determined to protect Old Gin and rise above her current circumstances. She finds a way, pseudonymously penning a local newspaper's advice column "Dear Miss Sweetie." Many questions are of the mundane sort: unruly children, troubled marriages, making a hat fit properly. She doesn’t stop there. Under the cloak of anonymity, she speaks out forcefully on racial and gender inequality. Her column is a success and newspaper subscriptions skyrocket.

Diwali, a five-day Hindu festival, commences with the new moon on the darkest night of fall. The picture book Shubh Diwali! introduces young readers to this festival of light.

A multigenerational family dressed in western clothing prepare and decorate their home in anticipation of the holiday. Observance includes wearing new traditional clothing, telling stories, ringing bells, and lighting lamps.

Chua's illustrations feature wide-eyed family and friends who have a variety of skin tones and manner of dress. Included are depictions of individuals with disabilities.

A complementary color palette that is predominantly various shades of gold and purple accentuate the night sky and contrast with the dazzling fireworks and lamp light. Interior scenes in warm yellows and golds reinforce the warmth and closeness of family and friends.

Wide-eyed wonder of the children's illuminated faces on the cover is particularly striking.

​Shrikhand (Strained Sweet Yogurt)

​Shrikhand is a creamy yogurt-based dessert from western India made simply by straining yogurt and sweetening it. The yogurt is traditionally strained by pressing it between newspaper (to soak up extra whey), but if you can find thick, full-fat Greek yogurt at the grocery store, then the process is even simpler: Hang it in a mesh strainer over a bowl for a day, and let the excess whey drip out. You can substitute slivered almonds for pistachios, if that's more your speed, or even skip the nuts altogether for a smooth shrikhand flavored only with sugar, cardamom and a celebratory sprinkle of saffron threads.

INGREDIENTS

• 32 ounces plain full-fat Greek yogurt
• 1 ½ cups loosely packed confectioners’ sugar
• 1 cup roasted unsalted or lightly salted pistachios, roughly chopped, plus ⅓ cup for garnish, roughly chopped
• 1 teaspoon saffron threads, finely chopped, plus a pinch for garnish, finely chopped
• ¼ teaspoon cardamom powder

Nina Soni’s life just got more complicated. She accidentally destroys her best friend's art project. Nina fears that Jay will no longer be her friend. She is stymied when her teacher assigns a Personal Narrative Project. She has nothing to write. Her life is as boring as plain rice.
​Then she discovers an interesting phenomenon that will be the basis for her person narrative. To her dismay, she learns that her idea is the same experiment used by  Jay at last year's science fair. She is discouraged.

When her sister's birthday party plans fall through, Jay and Nina come together and develop a clever solution to the birthday dilemma. Upon reflection, Nina realizes that retelling events of the past twenty-four hours will make an interesting writing project. 

Reynolds has penned a novel comprised of interconnected stories. Read independently they are insightful vignettes, zeroing in on the ten city blocks students attending Lattimer Middle School traverse each day. Collectively the stories reveal the hearts of those bound together by geography. The lives of these unique individuals intersect in unexpected ways.

In the push and pull of everyday life, we meet students affected by life-altering events such as sickle cell anemia, cancer, dementia, incarceration, and gay-shaming.

These ten blocks are jam-packed with a rich assortment of sensory details.

Sorell's cumulative verse begins beneath a hickory tree at the base of a mountain. The scene zooms in to reveal a cabin beneath the spreading branches of the tree. Stepping inside the cabin, readers see a simple yet welcoming home. Generations of Cherokee women watch as a grandma picks up fibers and weaves a pattern. She is intertwining more than strands of colored wool. She is weaving together a family, bound by love and tradition. 
Her threads extend beyond the walls of the cabin and encompass a family member far away.
A pilot flying far away in war-ravaged skies senses the influence of her grandma's songs and prayers. It is a prayer is for peace and a safe return.

An Author's Note explains that while this story fictional, it is based on the service of one Native American woman, Ola Mildred "MIllie" Rexroat an OgLaLa Lakota pilot. 

It is interesting to view the cover art for the three books in Tracey Baptiste's Jumbies series. The Jumbies, features a frightened young Corinne moving cautiously through a dark wood, ominous-looking eyes following her. Rise of the Jumbies depicts Corrine submersed in water, body entangled in the coiling tail of Mama D’Leau.

Corinne’s island is experiencing a rare occurrence: torrential rains accompanied by vicious lightning strikes. This is not normal. Corrine suspects that jumbies are the cause of this destruction. She learns to her surprise that this is not the work of Mama D’Leau.  

Huracan, a Mayan mythological entity, is the force behind the devastating storms. This god of lightning, wind, storm, and fire is out for revenge and is intent on destroying all of the island’s inhabitants.

It is up to one girl to save everyone on the island.
​She must negotiate mountain rockslides, avoid underwater volcanoes, and face a killer whale. She resolves to free Mama D’Leau who is trapped underwater. She must find her aunt Severine and return her to the island.   Several of these tasks require Corinne to take mermaid form. In the process, she risks losing her memory and even her life in order to save her family and friends.