June 2021 Reading Challenge - Kids' Book Spotlight - Juvenile Collection

Did you know you can complete more than one reading challenge this summer? 

FCPL's June Reading Challenge is to "Read a Book By or About Someone with a Similar Background to Your Own". 

The Read Your World challenges include a diverse range of characters! Reading diverse books allows readers of all ages to see themselves in a story. If these challenges are not about a background similar to yours, that's ok because next month's challenge is to read about someone with a different background from yours! 

Here are some diverse books from our Juvenile collection to get you started!

Beginning Chapter Books (Grades 1-3)

Read a Book by a South Asian Author

Astrid and Apollo and the Fishing Flop

by V.T. Bidania 

Hmong-American twins Astrid and Apollo are on their very first fishing trip, but while Astrid catches three fine fish, Apollo's line keeps snagging on non-fish things, and when a summer storm brings the trip to a sudden end Apollo admits he is disappointed with the experience--until he gets a look at the funny pictures their dad has taken.

Read a Book by a Black Author

Sadiq and the Bridge Builders

by Siman Nuurali

A young Somali American and his classmates design a model city to withstand floods, using river walls, floodgates, gutters, and rain gardens.

Read a Book by a Latin American Author

13th Street: Battle of the Bad-Breath Bats

by David Bowles

Cousins Malia, Ivan, and Dante are visiting their aunt Lucy for the summer. But on their way to Gulf City's water park, they get lost on 13th Street. Only it's not a street at all. It's a strange world filled with dangerous beasts! Will the cousins find their way back to Aunt Lucy's?

Chapter Books (Grades 3-5)

Read an Award Winner Featuring a Diverse Character

The House That Lou Built

by Mae Respicio

Longing for an escape from her extended Filipino family, Lou plans to build a tiny house on land she inherited from her father, but difficulties quickly arise.

(APALA Honor Award in Children's Literature- 2019)

Read a Book Featuring a Character on the Autism Spectrum

We Could Be Heroes

by Margaret Finnegan

Fourth-graders Maisie and Hank, who has autism, become friends as they devise schemes to save a neighbor's dog, Booler, from being tied to a tree because of his epilepsy.

Read a Book about Poverty or Homelessness

Worse Than Weird

by Jody J. Little

Hoping to ditch two months of chicken coops, kale, and her parents’ antiscreen rules, Mac MacLeod sets out to win a citywide food cart scavenger hunt and the money she needs for the summer coding camp of her dreams. But Mac discovers more than just clues during her cross-city sprint—like how her weird parents might not be the worst thing compared to the circumstances of those around her.

And don't forget Summer Reading Fun! You can count these books towards your reading goal as well!

Stephani Lindsey

Youth Specialist

Sharon Forks Library

#WeKnowBooks