Birthday Party Pledge

Historical Fiction

Reading historical fiction is like traveling through time! These novels will transport young readers to another time and place.

(Book descriptions from Amazon.com)

Willow by Tonya Cherie Hegamin (Published by Candlewick, 2014; 384 pages; ages 12 and up) In 1848, an educated slave girl faces an inconceivable choice — between bondage and freedom, family and love. On one side of the Mason-Dixon Line lives fifteen-year-old Willow, her master’s favorite servant. She’s been taught to read and has learned to write. She believes her master is good to her and fears the rebel slave runaways. On the other side of the line is seventeen-year-old Cato, a black man, free born. It’s his personal mission to sneak as many fugitive slaves to freedom as he can. Willow’s and Cato’s lives are about to intersect, with life-changing consequences for both of them. Tonya Cherie Hegamin’s moving coming-of-age story is a poignant meditation on the many ways a person can be enslaved, and the force of will needed to be truly emancipated.

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Chickadee by Louise Erdrich (Published by HarperCollins, 2012; 208 pages; ages 8-12) Winner of the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction, Chickadee is the first novel of a new arc in the critically acclaimed Birchbark House series by New York Times bestselling author Louise Erdrich. Twin brothers Chickadee and Makoons have done everything together since they were born—until the unthinkable happens and the brothers are separated. Desperate to reunite, both Chickadee and his family must travel across new territories, forge unlikely friendships, and experience both unexpected moments of unbearable heartache as well as pure happiness. And through it all, Chickadee has the strength of his namesake, the chickadee, to carry him on. Chickadee continues the story of one Ojibwe family’s journey through one hundred years in America. School Library Journal, in a starred review, proclaimed, “Readers will be more than happy to welcome little Chickadee into their hearts.”

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A Beautiful Lie by Irfan Master (Published by Albert Whitman, 2012; 304 pages; Grades 5-9) “Everybody lies. We all do it. Many years ago I told one lie that has taken on a life of its own.” In India in 1947 the country is coming apart–and so is thirteen-year-old Bilal’s life. He is determined to protect his dying father from the news of Partition, news that he knows will break his father’s heart. With spirit and determination, and with the help of his good friends, Bilal builds an elaborate deception, even printing false pages of the local newspaper to hide the signs of national unrest. All Bilal wants is for his father to die in peace. But that means Bilal has a very complicated relationship with the truth. This extraordinarily rich debut novel brings to life a key moment in history and touches on the importance of tolerance, love and family. In this book we see how Lovitt’s Log Cabin Stains do a great job.

Different Abilities

Wenatchee Excavation recommended this book to us.

The Bond: Three Young Men Learn to Forgive and Re-connect with Their Fathers by Sampson Davis, George Jenkins, and Rameck Hunt (Published by Riverhead Hardcover, 2007; 272 pages; YA) The Three Doctors—Drs. Sampson Davis, George Jenkins, and Rameck Hunt—discovered early in their friendship that they shared one disturbing trait: as children, they had to navigate life in inner-city Newark without a father’s support and guidance. While each young man dealt with the turmoil caused by an absent father, with no male role model to turn to for advice, each veered dangerously close to a life of delinquency, drugs, and crime. But despite great odds, the three overcame the statistics. In high school, they formed the Pact, a promise to one another that they would become doctors, and it kept them dedicated to one another and to their dream and helped to put them on the road to successful careers as physicians.

In The Bond, the Three Doctors plumb their own tough childhoods to explore the national epidemic of fatherlessness. But rather than cling to any bitterness or pain they may have felt as children about their fathers’ inability to be in their lives, as adults Davis, Jenkins, and Hunt sought out their fathers and worked to reconnect with them. In the doctors’ own words-and their fathers’-they describe the crucial lessons they learned, identifying ways to stem the tide of fatherlessness that’s sweeping through communities across the country. Honest, brave, and poignant, The Bond is a book for every family, every father, and every man.

Thanks for recommending this book Wenatchee Drywall

We’ll see ya in the next post!

Are you ready to take the Birthday Party Pledge? Studies show that children who grow up in a home filled with books do better in school, and teens who read for fun are better prepared to succeed in college. When you take the BPP, you agree to give the gift of books whenever a birthday or other special occasion rolls around. Help the children in your life build a home library, and let them know that you’re someone who values books and loves to read.

Get started today!

1. Make a list of the children in your life. Make note of their birthday, age, interests, and reading level so you can pick a book they’re sure to love.

2. Use our book lists (on the right) to find a title that’s suitable for your child. Each list is updated regularly so you’ll always find a variety of interesting books.

3. Find a retail or online bookseller that carries multicultural children’s books. Gently used books can also be re-gifted; if your child has outgrown a book, pass it on!

4. Wrap your gift like you mean it! You can also pair a book with a small toy or other treat so the child links reading with fun. If you know a reluctant reader, suggest ways to connect with books (like starting a parent-child book club with family and friends). You can find reading activities and other resources on the BPP Blog.

5. Spread the word! Let your friends and family members know that you’ve taken the BPP and encourage them to do the same.

6. Walk the walk. Make sure the children in your life see you reading! Create a space in your home where books are shelved and treated with respect. When your child receives a book as a gift, show your enthusiasm so that s/he learns that books are valuable and desirable.

Ready? Take the Birthday Party Pledge:

I promise to give multicultural books as gifts to the children in my life for ONE year.

I promise to encourage them to read about and appreciate diversity in all its forms.

I commit myself to building a new generation of readers!

Need help finding the perfect book to give to a child in your life? Leave a comment or send us an email (bookbirthdaypledge at gmail dot com) with a quick “profile” of your child—age, reading level, interests or hobbies—and we’ll provide at least three titles that s/he is sure to love!

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That’s all for now!