In August 1999, 12-year-old Michael Rosario is preparing for possible disaster with the turn of the new century (Y2K) when he meets Ridge, a teenager who’s time-traveled from 2199.
Book of the Week
Let’s Go! / haw êkwa!
“Cacussh! Cacussh! Cacussh!!” A young Cree boy watches from his window as a skateboarder goes by. “haw êkwa! Let’s go!” His mom brings home her old skateboard and he begins to learn to ride.
The Fastest Drummer: Clap Your Hands for Viola Smith!
When Viola Smith first played the drums, “She lost the beat, made a terrible racket, and had more fun that she’d ever had before!” Born in 1912, Viola grew up in Mount Calvary, Wisconsin, where she and her sisters had a family band, the Smith Sisters Orchestra.
49 Days
In Buddhist tradition, a person is in a transition state called bardo for 49 days after death. This graphic novel opens on “Day 1.” Korean American Kit wakes in a lonely landscape of rocks and water with a map, a distant destination marked by an X.
Safiyyah’s War
In Nazi-occupied France, Safiyyah and her family (Algerian French) live in an apartment in the Grand Mosque of Paris, where her father, Baba, and uncle, Ammo Kader, work. The presence of German soldiers in the city streets has everyone on edge, but Baba is particularly tense. His efforts with the Resistance—hiding injured Allied soldiers and making fake identity papers for Jews, saying they’re Muslim—puts his family at great risk.
The Mochi Makers
Emi is making mochi with Obachaan. As the rice cooks, Obachaan tells her granddaughter about bringing the recipe she learned from her mother and grandmother when she came to America from Japan.
Poetry Comics
A collection of original poems full of quiet surprises and small moments of pleasure is presented in comic format. Organized around the seasons, many of the short poems explore familiar scenes and subjects (e.g., nature, swimming, back to school, snow), but offer the delight of the unexpected in moments of reflection, fresh observation, and wondering.
With a Little Luck
High school junior Jude has a big, loving family; a supportive, insightful best friend in talented songwriter Ari; a love of drawing and creating D&D adventures for his friends; and a fear of asking out Maya, whom he’s had a crush on since 7th grade. Why set himself up for rejection?
Ferris
Emma Phineas Wilkey, 11, born beneath a Ferris wheel on the county fairgrounds, has been “Ferris” ever since. “Every good story is a love story,” says Ferris’s grandmother, Charisse, who delivered her. But Charisse has heart problems and is spending more and more time resting, which worries Ferris. Charisse is also communicating with a ghost.
The Blue Pickup
Ju-Girl (Black) loves spending time with her granddad, who runs a garage. “I help him fix radiators, switch out batteries, and even change a car’s oil.” Her favorite thing is organizing Granddad’s socket wrench set. When they take a break, they sit on the gate of his old Blue Pickup, where she drinks Ting and listens to Granddad’s stories of when he—and the truck–were both younger, and he drove to jobs around the island.