Topical Guides

A look into the concept of gratitude driven by the story of Sarah Josepha Hale. Hale, a widowed mother with no formal education, campaigned for the holiday of Thanksgiving to receive national recognition at a time the country was at war with itself. With a supporting cast of Abraham Lincoln, Sojourner Truth, Walt Whitman, and Norman Rockwell, Kiernan shows readers how strong-willed people in difficult times can create lasting legacies.

It’s off-season in Sokcho, a South Korean beach town near the DMZ. A French Korean woman working in the town meets a foreigner keen to learn the “real” Korea. He entices her into taking excursions to snowy mountaintops and risky trips to the North, far from the neon-lit streets she is used to. Through her interactions with the foreigner, she appreciates her strength, intelligence, and independence.

Ivy Perkins is looking for changes in her life. Recently divorced, she purchases a farmhouse sight-unseen. Amongst the clutter left from the previous owners, Ivy discovers an old Santa suit with a handwritten note wishing for a father’s safe return from the war. Determined to figure out if the man ever returned, Ivy searches for answers as she discovers her new home.

Presents a guide that includes 500 diverse contemporary fiction and memoir recommendations for preteens and teens, with the goal of inspiring greater empathy for themselves, their peers, and the world around them.--Baker & Taylor