Karate Girl

Author: Mary Leary

First line: My brother, Eli, can be a pain sometimes, but I am patient with him.

Why you should read this book: Frustrated with her inability to help her little brother handle a group of bullies, a young girl listens to her best friend and begins attending karate class. Along with meditation, katas, blocks, punches, and kicks, she also learns self-confidence, and the lesson that karate is not to be used to show off or pick fights, but rather as a last resort, when fighting is unavoidable. With her new skills, she uses nonviolent confrontation to handle the bullies, and explains, "when you bow to the universe, the universe bows back."

Why you shouldn't read this book: You think violence solves everything.