Wonder World Book Cafe'

Cuba, 2018. Soleida, 16, is growing up in a place where art is illegal and sea levels are rising. Her family of artists hides their sculpture garden, but it's discovered during a hurricane which leads to the arrest of her parents leaving Soleida on her own. She ends up in a Costa Rican refugee camp where she meets Dariel, a Californian, who endures all too frequent wildfires. Together they want to find her parents, protect the environment, and explore the budding romance, until Soleida discovers he's a rich boy with famous parents who will never understand a girl like her.

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It's 1996. 13 year-old Sarai is a first generation Puerto Rican who's trying to grow up with her Mami and older sister in Bushwick, a borough in Brooklyn, New York, a  neighborhood riddled with drugs and crime. Sarai grapples with her Puerto Rican identity, hunger, poverty, frequent moves and looming neighborhood gentrification. Yet, Sarai is curious and questions the here and now and her future. Situations that seem insurmountable are juxtaposed with Sarai’s curiosity, resiliency, and hopeful spirit.

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Sixth grader Ziggy lives in New Mexico with his dad and sister. When Ziggy was a baby, his mom vanished, a tragic all-too-common occurrence among Native American females. Since nobody is looking for his mom anymore, Ziggy and his friends venture into the desert one night looking for any clue that will lead them to his mom. During this fantastical night, they meet talking animals who have much to teach Ziggy if he will listen. This is a wondrous tale rich with Cherokee history, language and culture juxtaposed with a tragic modern day issue. 

🌟Cheers to 60 episodes!

17 year-old Lilah is born to hearing parents who aren't interested in learning sign language, but Lilah wants to improve hers. She can do this by being a summer counselor at Camp Gray Wolf, a place she attended and loved as a child. Not expecting to meet Isaac, romance was the last thing on her mind. Aside from enjoying Isaac’s attention, camp fires, and lake visits, Lilah is busy and worried: high spirited young campers keep her busy and the camp’s financial woes worry her. This story sheds light on the nuances of the Deaf community. 

In this middle grade graphic memoir, Mexikid, readers will love Pedro whose family of 11 is leaving their home in Watsonville, California to travel to Jalisco, Mexico in Apa's Winnebago where they'll pick up Abuelito and bring him back to CA. Their 2,000 mile journey is adventurous, hilarious, historic, and heartwarming. Pedro and his siblings are entirely relatable to a wide audience.

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Through 12 year-old Nat's perspective about synchronized swimming and life, Barely Floating offers several jumping-off points for rich conversations: body positivity, dealing with big emotions, activism, acceptance, and challenging societal "norms".

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Read The Probability of Everything and learn what happened when a family is faced with an asteroid that is on track to collide with the world. You'll meet and adore 11 year-old science and probability loving Kemi, but this book is far more than a book about science and asteroids.

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Twelve-year old Adnan lives for table tennis. In this sport, it doesn’t matter that he is left handed, color-blind, or even on the small side. He’s good. He’s competitive. He does not like to lose. Come along on a journey where Adnan, his family, and community face a loss far greater than a table tennis match.

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Sixth graders April and Zee are best friends though more like family. They are inseparable until Zee pursues his dream of being first chair in the Boston Symphony. This means a new school for Zee and gives April an opportunity to act on her drumming dreams. While he and April miss being at the same school, they are handling it until a tragic event occurs, and now April must live without Zee forever. Grief and hope... written lyrically in verse.

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Sixth grader, Andy Zhou agrees to bleaching his hair, joining the dance club, befriending a bully, navigating the culture gap with his grandparents who've just arrived from Shanghai, and being a good son and grandson to please everybody. Add in racial microaggressions, intentional and unintentional, and this causes us to feel deeply for Andy.

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