The False Prince

The False Prince
By Jennifer A. Nielsen

California Young Reader Medal
2014-2015 Middle School Winner!

I had a hard time putting this book down once I'd started it--and the twists and turns in the story really surprised me!

Four similar-looking orphan boys, selected and purchased by a wealthy and powerful nobleman, are forced to compete with each other to be the new--false--prince who will be installed on the throne. The royal family has been disappeared, the kingdom is on the verge of war, and the dubious noblemen has a bizarre plan that may prevent war...or maybe he's just planning his own path to power...?

Kepler's Dream

Kepler's Dream
by Juliet Bell

Unhappy Ella, 11 years old, is moving from California to New Mexico for the summer to live with a grandmother she's never met (or maybe she met her once, as a baby, who remembers?). Ella's mom has cancer, and needs a very serious blood treatment in Seattle, so Ella will be on her own--since her dad is pretty much never around.
While in her eccentric grandmother's isolated house, Ella learns a lot about a special, old book that her grandfather loved--he was an astronomer who died during a fishing accident when Ella's father was a young boy. When the book, Sonmium, written in 1608 by Johannes Kepler (!) goes missing, Ella is determined to unravel the mystery along with a new friend, Rosie.

Harlem Hellfighters

Harlem Hellfighters 
by J. Patrick Lewis and Gary Kelley

This gorgeous and intense picture book tells the true story--in free-verse poetry--of the 369th Infantry Regiment during World War I.
In 1917 a brave group of 2,000 black Americans enlisted and  became known as the Harlem Hellfighters; some of these young men played instruments in a famous band that brought the music of Harlem, New York, straight into the war raging in France.
Faced with racism in the United States, the Harlem Hellfighters returned victorious when the war was over, helping to make progress towards equal rights for all African Americans--that were still a long time coming.



Below, Lt. James Reese Europe, famous jazz
band leader, back with the 369th Regiment.
More photos and information about the Harlem Hellfighers at: www.archives.gov/education/lessons/369th-infantry