Anastasia Suen

March 24, 2025March 22, 2025

Twist, Tumble, Triumph

Twist, Tumble, Triumph: The Story of Champion Gymnast Ágnes Keleti
by Deborah Bodin Cohen (Author), Kerry Olitzky (Author), and Martina Peluso (Illustrator)
@ Amazon | Bookshop

Booktalk: Doing gymnastics, Ágnes Keleti feels free-until the day her coach tells her there’s a new law in Hungary barring Jewish athletes from the gym. Once Germany sends soldiers into Budapest, they are impossible to ignore and Ágnes hatches a plan. With identity papers from a Christian woman, she goes into hiding in a small farming village. She does housework for a family who support the Nazis, but she never stops dreaming of the day she will be able to compete at the Olympics.

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Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

March 17, 2025March 16, 2025

Girls to the Front

Girls to the Front: 40 Asian American Women Who Blazed a Trail
by Niña Mata (Author / Illustrator)
@ Amazon | Bookshop

Booktalk: Learn about forty amazing Asian American women who have changed the course of history in this middle grade book. Readers will meet: Mary Tape · Umpeylia “Sugar Pie” DeSanto · Susan Ahn Cuddy · Sunisa “Suni” Lee · Zarina Hashmi · Cristeta Comerford · Anna May Wong · Grace Lee Boggs · Christine Ha · Kimora Lee Simmons · Vicki Manalo Draves · Amy Tan · Dr. Chien-Shiung Wu · Tammy Duckworth · Lucy Liu · Gyo Fujikawa · Kalpana Chawla · Helen Zia · Ny Sou Okon · Vera Wang · Geena Rocero · Patsy Mink · Gabriella Wilson (H.E.R.) · Dr. Erika Lee · Chloe Kim · Margaret Cho · Maya Lin · Yuri Kochiyama · Kristi Yamaguchi · Tye Leung Schulze · Ali Wong · Dr. Kazue Togasaki · Merritt Moore · Nicole Ponseca · Miyoshi Umeki · Joy Cho · Dorothy Toy · Ruby Ibarra · Dr. Mabel Ping-Hua Lee · Kamala Harris

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Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

March 10, 2025March 16, 2025

The St. Patrick’s Day Alphabet

The St. Patrick’s Day Alphabet
by Liz Saunders (Author) and Lindsay Dale-Scott (Illustrator)
@ Amazon | Bookshop

Booktalk: Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with this picture book introduction to all things Irish as you hunt for the leprechauns hiding throughout the book.

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Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

March 3, 2025February 28, 2025

Rebel Girls Rock

Rebel Girls Rock: 25 Tales of Women in Music
by Harriet Webster, Jess Harriton, Sarah Glenn Marsh, and Sydnee Monday (Authors)
@ Amazon | Bookshop

Booktalk: From Lizzo to Olivia Rodrigo, this collection features 25 tales of talented women who have rocked the world with their music. Each mini biography is paired with full-page portrait. The book also includes a foreword by iconic rocker Joan Jett and activities curated by Gibson Guitars.

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Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

February 24, 2025February 23, 2025

Janie Writes a Play

Janie Writes a Play: Jane Yolen’s First Great Story
by Heidi E. Y. Stemple (Author) and Madelyn Goodnight (Illustrator)
@ Amazon | Bookshop

Booktalk: Janie Yolen loves to read, write, dance, and sing. So when her teacher announces Janie’s elementary class will perform a play, Janie is thrilled. There’s just one problem . . . the play is boring. With the support of her teacher and classmates, Janie rewrites the play, resulting in a hit class musical.

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Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

February 10, 2025February 9, 2025

Spotlight on Stepping (Just Dance)

Spotlight on Stepping (Just Dance)
by Mel Hammond (Author)
@ Amazon | Bookshop

Booktalk: Get ready to stomp, step, and clap! Discover stepping from its beginnings in Black communities to how people perform and celebrate this type of dance today. Then try it yourself!

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Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

February 3, 2025February 1, 2025

Stokes

Stokes: The Brief Career of the NBA’s First Black Superstar
by Ty Chapman (Author), John Coy (Author), Lonnie Ollivierre (Illustrator)
@ Amazon | Bookshop

Booktalk: In a 1958 game against the Minneapolis Lakers, Stokes, went down hard and hit his head, losing consciousness. At the time, there was no concussion protocol, and Stokes went back into the game. A few days later, he went into a coma and woke up unable to move his body from the neck down. Players did not have any sort of financial support in situations like this, and Stokes’s teammate Jack Twyman worked with other players and Milton Kutsher to put on a benefit game during the summer at Kutsher’s hotel in the Catskills. This game became an annual tradition, and Stokes was eventually able to travel and watch the game.

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Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

January 27, 2025January 26, 2025

Motorcycle Queen

Motorcycle Queen
by Janie Havemeyer (Author) and Jean Claverie (Illustrator)
@ Amazon | Bookshop

Booktalk: A woman riding a motorcycle was shocking enough to Americans in the 1930s, but one who performed stunts and traveled cross-country by herself was practically unheard of! Ever defying expectations, Bessie Stringfield made an indelible mark as the “Motorcycle Queen,” but her story has often been overlooked. (In 1941, she even served her country on a blue Harley-Davidson driving across Europe in World War II.)

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