Art of Protest: Creating, Discovering, and Activating Art for Your Revolution

Written by: De Nichols, Diana Dagadita, Molly Mendoza, Oliver Twist, Saddo, and Diego Becas

Why you should read this book: Inviting young readers to explore the world of activism through the lens of visual art, this detailed but accessible book explores the historical and functional roles of the graphic medium as an element of social movements. With striking illustrations from the past and present, it showcases the power of art as it pertains to creating the change you wish to see in the world and teaches readers how to understand and use powerful symbols. In addition to teaching the history of various movements, it also discusses art techniques that kids can use to start their own protests and spread their own messages and encourages them to speak out for what they believe. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: This book is not for fascists.

Out of This World: Star-Studded Haiku

Written by: Sally M. Walker and Matthew Trueman

Why you should read this book: Exactly what it says it is: a short collection of short poems and splashy paintings that describe our knowledge of the celestial world. Stars, planets, the Big Bang, the robots on Mars, and other cosmic concepts get the 5-7-5 treatment. Includes 6 additional pages of historical, factual, and scientific details about the subject matter, along with a glossary, reading list, and links to relevant websites.

Why you shouldn't read this book: I think, to enjoy this book, you have to be really into space and really into haiku.

The World of Emily Windsnap 1: Emily's Big Discovery

Written by: Liz Kessler and Joanie Stone

Why you should read this book: This is an easy reader retelling of the first part of the first novel in the popular Emily Windsnap series, in which a little girl who is not allowed to swim, despite living on a boat and regularly being made to hang out on the beach, discovers that she is a mermaid. The first time she tries to swim, she's frightened by the strange sensations in her body, but intrigued enough to try again. Once she enters the ocean, grows a tail, and realizes she can breathe underwater, Emily meets another young mermaid, learns some mermaid slang, and makes a friend for life.

Why you shouldn't read this book: I'm sorry, but are we supposed to believe that Emily Windsnap went 11 years without taking a bath?

Find out about Animal Babies

Written by: Martin Jenkins and Jane McGuinness

Why you should read this book: This short, sweet nonfiction picture book explains that all animals have babies, but that their babies are all different. Using thirteen different kinds of animals as examples, the text highlights some basic dichotomies, such as animals whose babies look just like them, like lizards, and animals whose babies don't, like butterflies. A satisfying look at animal babies for young readers.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're some kind of monster who does not wish to find out about animal babies. 

Love in the Library

Written by: Maggie Tokuda-Hall and Yas Imamura

Why you should read this book: Tama, like most of the Japanese-Americans interned in the Minidoka Incarceration Camp during World War II, is not happy with the circumstances of her life surrounded by desert dust, barbed wire, and guard towers. Every day she goes to work in the camp library, even though she knows nothing about being a librarian, and every day, George, a Japanese-American man her age comes to the library to read, check out books, and smile. Tama has nothing to smile about until George comforts her in a low moment and she realizes that the thing he has been smiling about the entire time is her, Tama; the story ends with them getting married and giving birth to the author’s uncle while still in the camp.

Why you shouldn't read this book: This book mentions truths about American history that some people would rather not deal with.

The Woman in the Woods and Other North American Stories: A Cautionary Fables and Fairy Tales Book

Edited by: Kel McDonald, Kate Ashwin, and Alina Pete

First line: Excuse me...Do you tell stories.

Why you should read this book: While it's a bit shorter than the other volumes in this series, there's still much to love in this book of Native American mythology, which features stories from the distant and not-so-distant past. One tale showcases the concept of "two-spirit," and discusses the acceptance of transgendered people in many indigenous cultures, while others show humans befriending monsters or tricksters getting tricked. Eight different nations are represented in this book.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're a transphobe. 

Aristotle's Poetics

Written by: Aristotle

First line: In studying the "art of poetry" our task will be to treat of: (1) the intrinsic nature of poetry, (2) its various kinds, (3) the essential "function and potentiality of each, (4) the kind of plot-construction requisite to a good poem, (5) the number and nature of a poem's constituent parts, and anything else that falls within the scope of the inquiry.

Why you should read this book: It's pretty much the first manual explaining how to write well, and while not every line of thought is still relevant today, quite a bit of this little lecture, written well over two thousand years ago, remains relevant. What Aristotle meant by "poetry" translates more accurately to "storytelling" as we think of it in the twenty-first century, but his discussions of basic concepts such as "beginning, middle, and end" provide information that is essential to students of literature. A great many excellent pieces of advice for constructing plot, writing believable characters, and using language effectively make this book a valuable resource for writers of all levels.

Why you shouldn't read this book: Even the best translations can feel a bit dense: unless you have a special interest in Greek literature or writing stories, you may not get much out of it.

The Nixie of the Mill-Pond and other European Stories: A Cautionary Fables & Fairy Tales Book

Edited by: Kel McDonald and Kate Ashwin

First line: Come on, at least try to look presentable.

Why you should read this book: While many of the stories in this book will likely be familiar to western readers, they are presented in novel ways, sometimes with surprising twists. Things do not always end well, for example, with the people of Hamelin refuse to pay their debt, although Jack still manages to get away with robbery. It a fun exploration of familiar themes, accessible for modern readers. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: Some pieces of it might be a bit intense for young readers, such as the part where a cheating wife gets her nose bitten off.

Sukey and the Mermain

Written by: Robert D. San Souci and Brian Pinknet

First line: A girl names Sukey lived with her ma and step-pa in a cabin with a sagging porch and a roof so rickety it let in sunshine or rain, depending on the weather. 

Why you should read this book: A top notch writer and a top notch illustrator team up to create this sensational fairy tale about a little girl who escapes her troubles through a dalliance with a mermaid called Mama Jo. Sukey moves back and forth between her world on the surface and Mama Jo's ocean but chooses the world of men in the end. Inspired by and constructed from various pieces of African-American folklore likely handed down through the oral tradition all the way from Africa, this book introduced the idea of a Black mermaid to the public over thirty years ago.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You are already het up about the validity of a Black mermaid.

The Night Marchers & Other Oceana Stories: A Cautionary Fables and Fairy Tales Book

Edited by: Kel McDonald, Kate Ashwin, and Sloane Long

First line: Family. Always respect them. No matter what.

Why you should read this book: It's a delightful collection of "cautionary fables and fairy tales" appropriate for young readers, collected from the continent of Oceania (mostly Hawaii and the Phillipines). As the series subtitle suggests, these stories offer examples from mythology of what people should and shouldn't do, explaining superstition, ranging far into the past and even into the future to show the consequences of poor actions. There are gods and monsters, princesses and talking animals, everything you would expect from fairy tales, but stories you probably haven't heard before unless you hail from these cultures. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: Two of the comics are inexplicably not in English and not translated.