VCL Young Adult Reading Suggestions: Explore New York (Tweens Summer 2018)

Leo Filmore, who lives in the basement of an old hotel in New York City, investigates the mysterious disappearance of the hotel’s owner.

Thirteen-year-old Nate Foster travels to Manhattan from his small town in Pennsylvania to audition for a Broadway musical based on the movie E.T. The author is a Broadway performer and director.

Now on Broadway as second understudy for E.T., Nate keeps in close contact with his best friend, Libby, as he faces his nemesis, Jordan Rylance, and his own insecurities as the cast member with the least training and experience.

Sam Gribley's great-grandfather owned land in the Catskill Mountains that had been uninhabited for years. Tired of living in the hustle and bustle of New York City, teenager Sam runs away to the Catskills in search of that land.

Ten-year-old Albie has never been the smartest, tallest, best at gym, greatest artist, or most musical in his class, as his parents keep reminding him, but new nanny Calista helps him uncover his strengths and take pride in himself as he transitions from private to public school in New York City.

In a slightly magical world where everyone has a Talent, orphan Cady has a phenomenal Talent for cake baking. Now fate has led her to a mysterious address in Poughkeepsie, NY, that houses a lost luggage emporium, an old recipe, a family of children searching for their own Talents, and a Talent Thief who will alter her life forever.

Paris Richmond, a biracial eight-year-old, goes to a loving foster home in New York while her ten-year-old brother Malcolm is sent to a boys’ home. Paris must make a difficult decision when her birth mother wants to reunite the family.

In Kalamazoo, Michigan, eight-year-old Derek Jeter, who dreams of playing for the New York Yankees, learns what it takes to be a champion on and off the field.

Rose Howard is a highly-functioning autistic fifth-grader who is obsessed with homonyms. When a storm creates a flash flood in her rural New York town, and her dog Rain is caught out in it, Rose must step outside of her comfort zone to look for her beloved pet.

Auggie Pullman was born with severe facial deformities and wasn’t expected to survive. But now, at 10-years-old, he’s entering school for the first time in Manhattan. He learns to deal with his fear of his classmates and their taunting while trying to be just any other kid.

Having lost his mother and his hearing, 12-year-old Ben leaves his Minnesota home in 1977 to seek the father he never knew in New York City. At the Museum of Natural History, he meets Rose, who is also looking for something. (Ben’s story is told in words; Rose's in pictures.)

WATCHER. SHADOW. FUGITIVE.Harlem is home to all kinds of kids. Jin sees life passing her by from the window of her family's bodega. Alex wants to help the needy one shelter at a time, but can't tell anyone who she really is. Elvin's living on Harlem's cold, lonely streets, surviving on his own after his grandfather was mysteriously attacked.When these three strangers join forces to find out what happened to Elvin's grandfather, their digging leads them to an enigmatic artist whose missing masterpieces are worth a fortune-one that might save the neighborhood from development by an ambitious politician who wants to turn it into Harlem World, a ludicrous historic theme park.

The story of two girls, one on September 11, 2001 and one “now”, and how one boy connects them.

As Bridge makes her way through seventh grade on Manhattan's Upper West Side with her best friends, curvaceous Em, crusader Tab, and a curious new friend--or more than friend--Sherm, she finds the answer she has been seeking since she barely survived an accident at age eight: "What is my purpose?”

As a fourteen-year-old who just moved from Long Island to upstate New York, with no friends, an abusive father, and a louse for an older brother, Doug has everything stacked against him until he finds Lil, a friend and ally. Together, they find a safe haven in the local library, inspiration in learning about the plates of John James Audubon's birds, and an adventure on a Broadway stage.

Seventh-grader Georges must adjust to moving from a house to an apartment in Brooklyn while his father attempts to start a new business and his mother takes on extra shifts as a nurse. Moreover, he is picked on at school and confronted by a boy who wants his help spying on another resident of their building.

It’s Christmas Eve in Harlem, but twelve-year-old Lolly Rachpaul and his mom aren’t celebrating. They’re still reeling from his older brother’s death in a gang-related shooting just a few months earlier. Then Lolly’s mother’s girlfriend brings him a gift that will change everything: two enormous bags filled with Legos. Lolly’s always loved Legos, and he prides himself on following the kit instructions exactly. Now, faced with a pile of building blocks and no instructions, Lolly must find his own way forward.

Crossing Manhattan en route to a sailing outing off Long Island, Timothy and Jessamyn are riding in Timothy’s family’s sailboat when it becomes detached from the family’s truck. The sailboat ends up falling through a gaping construction site hole, beginning Timothy and Jessamyn’s adventure beneath Manhattan.

After half-heartedly joining his church youth group's project at a homeless shelter near his Brooklyn middle school, Reggie McKnight is inspired to run for school office on a platform for making a real difference in the community.

Twelve-year-old Addie tries to cope with her mother's erratic behavior and being separated from her beloved stepfather and half-sisters when she and her mother go to live in a small trailer by the railroad tracks on the outskirts of Schenectady, New York.

Writing in the notebook her teacher gave her, thirteen-year-old Celiane describes life with her mother and brother in Haiti as well as her experiences in Brooklyn after the family finally immigrates there to be reunited with her father.

To earn money for a coveted motorbike, young Joe Pedersen joins the Mexican laborers who work on his father's farm in upstate New York and soon discovers racism and romance while learning to see the world in a whole different way.

Ryder searches for his lost father with the help of a New York City Firefighter, a signed baseball, and a letter.

Ma moves the family of Tess and her deaf brother from Texas to Schenectady, New York, where she uses their savings to open an ice cream shop in winter. (The book incorporates fun facts about ice cream.)

Fourteen-year-old Zach learns he has the same special abilities as his father, who was the President's globe-trotting troubleshooter until “the Bads” killed him, and now Zach must decide whether to use his powers in the same way at the risk of his own life.

Jazmin is growing up during hard times in 1960s Harlem. She expresses hope for her future as she observes life around her neighborhood.

Twelve-year-old Aislinn should be enjoying her summer, but instead she is relegated to full-time baby-sitter and housekeeper for her family, barely allowed to have any fun at all. Set in Troy, NY, this semi-autobiographical book is at times heart wrenching, but ultimately heartwarming due to Aislinn’s indomitable spirit and her hopeful plan to get her father to stop drinking.

Orphaned Roo Fanshaw is sent to live with her uncle in the Thousand Islands and becomes determined to solve the mystery of the secret room she discovers in his strange home. A modern version of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s classic coming-of-age tale The Secret Garden.

Two 15-year-olds, Jeremiah (Miah) who is black, and Elisha (Ellie) who is white, meet during their first year at an exclusive New York prep school and fall in love. The teenagers must deal with the subtle and not-so-subtle bigotry that they are subjected to as a mixed-race couple.

A fictionalized account of the sixteen-year-old girl, trained to handle a musket, who rode alone over forty miles in New York to bring out the militia before the Battle of Ridgefield.

Sisters Isabel and Ruth are young girls who are promised freedom after the death of their slave master. Instead, they become property of a New York City couple. Isabel soon catches Revolution fever after meeting a young boy named Curzon who encourages her to spy on her owners. Together Isabel and Curzon strive for their personal freedom and the freedom of New York and their country.

It’s 1951, and Pete Collison is a just regular kid in Brooklyn, who loves detective books and radio crime dramas. But when an FBI agent shows up at Pete’s doorstep, accusing Pete’s father of being a Communist, Pete is caught in a real-life mystery.

Maks is a newsboy in 1893 New York City, facing some big challenges. Not only is there someone out to take control of all newsies in the city, but now his sister has been wrongly accused of a crime. The reality of tenement life in New York City clearly comes through in this story about the life of immigrants.

A vivid portrait of the home front in World War II, where a young American girl befriends a Hungarian refugee during the summer of 1944 in Rockaway Beach.

In March of 1887, Rocco, an eleven-year-old from an Italian village, arrives in New York City where he is forced to live in squalor and beg for money as a street musician, but he finds the city's cruelty to children and animals intolerable and sets out to make things better, whatever the cost to himself.

In this follow-up to Black Radishes (Delacorte, 2010), Meyer continues the story of a French Jew named Gustave, now 12, who emigrates with his parents who safety in the United States during World War II. Based on memories from the author’s father, the story rings true as Gustave starts school at the Joan of Arc Junior High in New York City. His challenges learning English and navigating American culture make for a difficult start for the protagonist, along with worries about his best friend, Marcel, whom he left behind in France to an uncertain fate.

Eight-year-old Steve Satlow is thrilled when Jackie Robinson moves into his Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn in 1948, although many of his neighbors are not, and when Steve actually meets his hero he is even more excited--and worried that a misunderstanding over a Christmas tree could damage his new friendship.

In 1899, 13-year-old Elsie Lutz is changed forever when her father is jailed for a crime he did not commit. Now alone, Elsie must fend for herself in turn-of-the-century New York. Tides change when she befriends Grin, a teenage newsboy with a kind heart and a mysterious past. Elsie soon finds herself wrapped up in the newsboy strike of 1899, a sweeping act of social activism led by children.

Set in New York City circa 1979, sixth grader Miranda begins to receive mysterious notes about the future; notes that are eerily reminiscent of her favorite novel A Wrinkle in Time.

Four kids from different parts of the country are dealing with life, as they know it, before it all changes. And then it changes...and we travel with these characters as they deal with the attacks.

In 1970 Queens, N.Y., Julian Twerski struggles to write an essay as punishment for an act he did not commit; worries about Beverly, the girl he likes; prepares for his bar mitzvah; and tries to cope with the serious illness of one of his closest friends.

Sixteen-year-old Noah Daniels wants nothing more than to fight in George Washington’s Continental Army, but an accident as a child left him maimed and unable to enlist. He is forced to watch the Revolution from his family’s hard scrabble farm in Upstate New York—until a violent raid on his settlement thrusts him into one of the bloodiest battles of the American Revolution, and ultimately, face to face with the enemy. A riveting coming of age story, this book also includes an author’s note and bibliography.

In 1943 Manhattan, Linus Muller works at the family grocery store in the east 70s. When his oldest brother, Albie, leaves to fight in World War II, Linus takes over the grocery deliveries. One of his customers is an artist from somewhere in Europe who arranges to have a crate of oranges delivered every other week. Over the course of these deliveries, an intimacy develops between Linus and the man, whom he knows only by the name he gives him, Mister Orange.

In 1936, three children meet at the Mercy Home for Negro Orphans in Elmira, New York. They're not all orphans, but all are dealing with grief and loss and following the boxing career of Joe Louis.

After her father is killed in Europe, Sarah and her mother immigrate to America--but when her mother dies before they get through Ellis Island, and the authorities want to send her back, Sarah hides in the torch in the Statue of Liberty.

This is the story of the Nolan family, including daughter Francie, and life in the Williamsburg slums of Brooklyn during the early part of the 20th century.

In 1869, a farmer discovered the 10-foot-tall body of a man buried on his land in upstate New York. The Cardiff Giant, as it came to be called, became a national sensation and generated a buzz of epic proportions.

Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson learns he is a demigod, the son of a mortal woman and Poseidon, god of the sea. His mother sends him to a summer camp for demigods on Long Island where he and his new friends set out on a quest to prevent a war between the gods.

When Magizoologist Newt Scamander arrives in New York, he intends his stay to be just a brief stopover. However, when his magical case is misplaced and some of Newt's fantastic beasts escape, it spells trouble for everyone… Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them marks the screenwriting debut of J.K. Rowling, author of the beloved and internationally bestselling Harry Potter books.

"The pleasures of the novel go far beyond the crackling, breathless plot and the satisfaction of watching the puzzle fall into place. The book is shot through with humor, both laugh-out-loud and subtle." --New York Times Book Review

Alistair is a good kid growing up in Thassaly, New York in 1989. When his neighbor Fiona asks him to write her biography, things start getting strange. According to Fiona, there is an alternate universe in her basement and a creature there is stealing the souls of children.

When Alex’s mother, an Egyptologist at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, uses the Lost Spells from the Egyptian Book of the Dead to bring her son from the brink of dying, she also brings back five Death Walkers, leaving Alex and his best friend to find his mother and save the world. First in a series.

Get the complete story of the Yankees, from Babe Ruth to Derek Jeter—with twenty-seven World Championships in between—in this home run of a middle grade adaptation of Pinstripe Empire.

Brown presents a chronological look at the events on the morning of September 11, 2001, in watercolor illustrations.

In the summer of 1941, New York Yankee Joe DiMaggio and Boston Red Sox Ted Williams set records that still stand today.

As a boy, Hooper knew exactly what he wanted to be when he grew up: on the cover of his pencil box, he wrote “Edward Hopper, Would-Be Artist.” He traveled to New York and to Paris to hone his craft. And even though no one wanted to buy his paintings for a long time, he never stopped believing in his dream.

A biography of famous New York artist Andy Warhol, flashing back and forth from his fame in New York City in the 1960s and his upbringing in Pittsburgh.

This memoir chronicles Michaela DePrince’s remarkable journey from orphan in war-torn Sierra Leone to principal dancer with the Dance Theatre of Harlem.

Details archaeological findings about slavery in America as revealed by the discovery of 13 skeletons in upstate New York that were identified as 18th-century African-American slaves who once worked at the nearby Schuyler Farm.

The story of the creator of Tumblr, David Karp who dropped out of school at age fifteen and lived in Tokyo by himself at age seventeen before returning to the United States to start his company.

A regiment of African-American soldiers from Harlem journeys across the Atlantic to fight alongside the French in World War I, inspiring a continent with their brand of jazz music.

The Statue was a gift from the French to pay tribute to all that is best about America. But it took years of planning, fundraising, and building to become a reality.

On March 25, 1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City burst into flames. One-hundred-forty-six people— mostly women—perished; it was one of the most lethal workplace fires in American history. This is a story of immigration and hard work to make it in a new country, as Italians and Jews and others traveled to America to find a better life.

An illustrated look at the history of Times Square and the iconic building that gave it its name, from the space's origins as part of a farm next to a dirt path that would become Broadway, to the renowned intersection of today.

When Esquire magazine planned an issue to salute the American jazz scene in 1958, graphic designer Art Kane pitched a crazy idea: how about gathering a group of beloved jazz musicians and photographing them? He didn't own a good camera, didn't know if any musicians would show up, and insisted on setting up the shoot in front of a Harlem
brownstone. Could he pull it off? In a captivating collection of poems, Roxane Orgill steps into the frame of Harlem 1958, bringing to life the musicians' mischief and quirks, their memorable style, and the vivacious atmosphere of a Harlem block full of kids on a hot summer's day. Francis Vallejo's vibrant, detailed, and wonderfully expressive paintings do loving justice to the larger-than-life quality of jazz musicians of the era. Includes bios of several of the fifty-seven
musicians, an author's note, sources, a bibliography, and a foldout of Art Kane's famous photograph

What do you do when you have a dream and your father is firmly against it? If you are Leonard Bernstein, you rise to the level of the premier composer and conductor of 20th century America.

By the mid-1800’s, New York City was already a bustling center of business and commerce, glamour and excitement. But with all of this hustle and bustle came an incredible crush of horse-drawn traffic and noise. City streets were so clogged that it would take hours just to travel a few blocks. Native New Yorker Alfred Ely Beach was an entrepreneur and inventor, and he developed a plan: build tunnels under the city and install a pneumatic railway to carry passengers to their destinations.

Few know that Benedict Arnold was one of the greatest war heroes: reckless, heroic, and driven. Packed with first-person accounts, astonishing battle scenes, and surprising twists, this is a gripping and true tale.

Read about the “Cowboys of the Sky,” the Mohawk ironworkers who risked death to construct some of the most famous bridges and buildings in the world, including the Empire State Building.

This memoir-in-verse recounts the childhood of Brooklyn author Jacqueline Woodson and what it was like to grow up as an African-American girl during the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s and 70s.
2014 National Book Award, Young People’s Literature Winner
2015 Coretta Scott King Author Winner
2015 Newbery Honor
2015 Robert F. Sibert Honor

Ten stories of the first-responders who risked their lives on September 11, 2001.