Spending the summer in Last Chance, Minnesota, where her grandparents run the Golden Palace Restaurant, was not what Maizy Chen had hoped for. She and her family are the only Asian-Americans in this small midwestern town. During her poker-playing sessions with her dying Grandpa (Opa), Maizy learns about the historical challenges that have faced Chinese immigrants - and that are still on-going. When Bud, the restaurant’s iconic bear statue, is stolen and then vandalized with hate speech, Maizy finds unexpected friends in Last Chance as she investigates the crime. This story reminds us that a caring community can overcome the hateful words and actions of a few - and that there’s always room for food and celebration.

Orphaned Safia Haziz, who is blind, is taken in by her aunt, Lady Whimsy - a.k.a. the World’s Greatest Adventurer - who has been turned into a blue-furred, wolf-like monster by a mysterious curse. When Lady Whimsy’s arch-nemesis, Pineapple Tart, resurfaces, Safia and Aunt Whimsy set off to track her down via ocean cruise and jungle exploration. This vivid and colorful graphic novel is a delightful romp.

Meet Resilience - Res for short - a Mars Rover. His designers, including Middle Eastern

roboticist Rania, don’t realize that there’s more to Res than expected: he experiences emotions,

appreciates music, makes friends with other robots, and most importantly, decides the fate of his

own mission. The story is told through journal-like entries and letters to Res from Rania’s

daughter, Sophie. Be prepared to fall in love with this hilarious and sweet Rover, and his

sidekick, the helicopter drone Fly.

Diplomat and inventor Benjamin Franklin, visiting France, relies on his young butler, ten-year-old Emile, to handle his household. After discovering an unlikely spy in the house, Emile is swept up in a swashbuckling cross-country adventure. Allied with the legendary Sheep, Rooster, and Duck, veterans of the Montgolfiers’ first hot-air balloon flight, and daring Aeronaut Sophie, Emile reluctantly joins the fight to keep Benjamin’s inventions from falling into dangerous hands. Graphic novel fans will adore this perilous (and hilarious) romp through 18th-century France.

After starting a new school in southern Florida, Bree learns that the only physical-education elective that fits into her schedule will require her to face her biggest fear: the swimming pool. With the help of a spunky senior-citizen neighbor and a new group of friends, Bree discovers a new passion. Along the way she learns about the struggles people of color have had to endure in order to compete in a sport where they were not always welcome.

Victory. Stand! is the graphic memoir of athlete and activist Dr. Tommie Smith.

Even as a child, one of fourteen born to a sharecropping family in rural Texas, Smith was a

competitive runner. As a teen, he was recruited by prestigious colleges willing to offer him a

place on their team, but not the privileges or even basic necessities offered to other students. To

compete in the 1968 Olympics, Smith and his fellow black athletes faced death threats and

violence – and they would return home to poverty and oppression. All leads up to the iconic act

of resistance that took place on that year’s Olympic podium and the price Smith and teammates

paid for taking their stand. This gripping story serves as a call for continued work toward racial

justice.

Peter is looking forward to a summer of adventures with his best friend Tommy, recording nature finds in their discovery journal and searching for the elusive manatees that are said to inhabit the canals near his Florida home. Peter’s plans take a hit when he is given the responsibility of caretaking his increasingly forgetful grandfather while his mother works - and discovers that Tommy is moving away. Despite Peter’s new normal, he manages to discover a manatee close to his home. When the manatee is injured by a speed boat, Peter embraces the role as her protector and begins a fight that will impact him and his community for years to come.

Mischievous and inquisitive Odder spends her days in the Pacific waters off the coast of Monterey Bay, California. When one of her adventures leads to trouble, Odder must rely on the human scientists at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Center for help. This gentle tale based on the real Monterey Bay Aquarium Center Otter Rehabilitation Program will have readers falling in love with Odder as they learn about her resilient species and the steps being made to ensure their survival.

The story of the World War II incarceration of Japanese-Americans in internment camps is told through the eyes of three very different photographers: Dorothea Lange, who opposed the camps; Toyo Miyatake, a professional photographer and camp inmate; and Ansel Adams, who favored the Japanese-American imprisonment. This creatively designed book combines the original photographs with drawings, quotations, text, and reproductions of historical documents.

Twelve-year-old Lark Heron-Finch and her blended family visit Swallowtail Island off the shores of Lake Erie for the summer. While there - with the help of nonagenarian Dinah,

Swallowtail’s oldest resident - Lark uncovers clues connected to a decades-old boat accident,

revealing secrets about the island’s inhabitants and Lark’s own family. This compelling mystery

will hook readers with its letters, reports, art, and maps.

Andréa Hernández-Baldoquín comes from a family of spies, but not just any spies. Her parents are part of an organization that specifically protects people of color. At fourteen, Andrea is finally given the opportunity to take the lead on a mission of her own. Her assignment: to go undercover as a white girl and befriend the son of a white supremacist. Soon, however, complications arise as Andrea tackles issues of romance, friendship, and racial history and identity. A great spy novel that asks the reader to think about the systemic racism that exists in our country.

Maggie, who suffers from a debilitating stutter, is sent to stay with her grandfather Fred in Cornwall – though, her father warns her, if her speech doesn’t improve, she’ll next be sent to the intimidating Granville Place boarding school. Then, in nearby Wildoak Forest, Maggie finds Rumpus, a frightened and abandoned snow leopard cub. Told in the alternating voices of Maggie and Rumpus, this is a wonderful story of compassion, conservation, and ultimately, hope for the future.