Wonder World Book Cafe' Susan
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In this cafe, I serve up books written mostly for middle school students and young adults. But, even though they’re written for our youth, you’ll find joy in these stories, too. Books written for these audiences are very often compelling for readers of all ages.
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79. Top Story Kelly Yang
Mia Tang is back in book 5 of the Front Desk Series. Readers will enjoy Mia at 13 years old while she explores San Francisco’s Chinatown and attends journalism camp.
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78. Keeping Pace Laurie Morrison
What does it mean to win? Explore this with Grace and Jonah, two highly competitive students, on their way to high school. Keeping Pace has plenty of relatable woes and joys, and heartbreaks and happinesses when it comes to friendships and first love.
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77. Hope in the Valley Mitali Perkins
Join 13 year-old Pandita as she adapts to MANY changes while honoring her ma's memory and attempting to right a wrong in her community. Set in the 1980s in California's Silicon Valley, a community is divided over affordable housing.
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76. Turn the Tide Elaine Dimopoulos
Seventh-grader Mimi loves living on a beautiful island in Florida, but is appalled at all the plastic and styrofoam she finds on the beach. Inspired by the true story of the Wijsen Sisters of Bali (Bye Bye Plastic Bags), Mimi is determined to ban plastic bags in her community, but frustratingly discovers how many people, locally and online, don't support her.
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75. Across So Many Seas Ruth Behar
✨✨Welcome to Season 5! ✨✨
Written with so much heart, this middle grade novel, Across So Many Seas, spans more than 500 years and follows four girls from generations of Sephardic Jewish families. Incredibly woven together, each girl's story is part of hundreds of years of family history, heartbreak, and so, so much love.
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74. An Impossible Thing to Say Arya Shahi
YA. Written in verse. Persian American, Omid, speaks Farsi and English and LOVES words, but he can't seem to find the right ones when he needs them, yet. A new found interest in listening to and writing Rap music (with a little help from Shakespeare) makes it possible for Omid to talk about his first crush, communicate with his Iranian grandparents, and share what it's like living in Arizona right after 9/11.
YA fans of poetry, rap, Shakespeare, and stories written in verse, here's to you!
Transcript here
Customer Reviews
Wonder World Book Cafe is a wonder!
This is a wonderful podcast for anyone with any interest in Kidlit. Well informed, friendly, inspiring, and educational… these bite-sized reviews are perfect for people looking for their next book to fall in love with!
Little treasures, each one
As a teacher, I really appreciate these pleasant little episodes that highlights wonderful books for young readers. Susan does a fantastic job introducing each book and pulling you into the plot without any spoilers! It’s great podcast for teachers, parents, and young readers alike!
Excellent resource for middle- and high-school teachers
This podcast is such a gift to me, a new ELA teacher, as I build my classroom library. Each episode contains valuable information about the author, text, age appropriateness, and most helpfully, a list of potential trigger points for young readers. It begins with a quote from the book followed by a brief summary. Such a great resource. I’m working through past episodes as I build my library. Thank you!