June 2021 Reading Challenge - Kids' Book Spotlight - Teen 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 Teen collection to get you started!

Teen Middle (Grades 6-8)

Read a Book by a South Asian Author

Red, White, and Whole

by Rajani LaRocca

Reha feels torn between two worlds: school, where she's the only Indian American student, and home, with her family's traditions and holidays. But Reha's parents don't understand why she's conflicted--they only notice when Reha doesn't meet their strict expectations. Reha feels disconnected from her mother, or Amma, although their names are linked--Reha means "star" and Punam means "moon"--but they are a universe apart. Then Reha finds out that her Amma is sick. Really sick. Reha, who dreams of becoming a doctor even though she can't stomach the sight of blood, is determined to make her Amma well again. She'll be the perfect daughter, if it means saving her Amma's life.

Read an Award Winner Featuring a Diverse Character

Hurricane Season

by Nicole Melleby

Eleven-year-old Fig enrolls in an art class to better understand her father, a composer and pianist whose mental illness she tries to conceal from classmates, neighbors, and social services.

(Skipping Stones Book Award- 2019)

Read a Book about Poverty or Homelessness

The Dollar Kids

by Jennifer Jacobson

Twelve-year-old Lowen Grover, a budding comic-book artist, is still reeling from the shooting death of his friend Abe when he stumbles across an article about a former mill town giving away homes for just one dollar. It not only seems like the perfect escape from Flintlock and all of the awful memories associated with the city, but an opportunity for his mum to run her very own business. Fortunately, his family is willing to give it a try. But is the Dollar Program too good to be true? The homes are in horrible shape, and the locals are less than welcoming. Will Millville and the dollar house be the answer to the Grovers' troubles? Or will they find they've traded one set of problems for another? 

Teen High (Grades 9-12)

Read a Book Featuring a Character on the Autism Spectrum

Things I Should Have Known
by Claire LaZebnik

Chloe Mitchell's older sister, Ivy, is on the autism spectrum. Chloe decides Ivy could use a boyfriend, and already has someone in mind: Ethan Fields, a sweet, movie-obsessed boy from Ivy's special needs class. Ivy and Ethan aren't comfortable going out on their own so Chloe and his brother David have to tag along. Soon Chloe, Ivy, David, and Ethan form a quirky and wholly lovable circle, bonding over frozen yogurt dates and movie nights. Chloe is forced to confront her own romantic choices-- and the realization that it's okay to be a different kind of normal.

Read a Book by a Latin American Author

Running

by Natalia Sylvester

When fifteen-year-old Cuban American Mariana Ruiz's father runs for president, Mari starts to see him with new eyes. A novel about waking up and standing up, and what happens when you stop seeing your dad as your hero--while the whole country is watching.

Read a Book by a Black Author

Not So Pure and Simple

by Lamar Giles

High school junior Del Rainey unwittingly joins a Purity Pledge class at church, hoping to get closer to his long-term crush, Kiera.

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