Winters, Ben H.  UNDERGROUND AIRLINES
Boston : Mulholland Books, 2016
IL AD
ISBN 0316261246

Imagine if you will, an America where Abraham Lincoln never became president.  And that slavery was not illegal.  That is the what Winters is imagining in this alternative history fiction.  Lincoln was assassinated on his way to his inauguration and even in 2016, slavery is not illegal.  Sure most states have voted to be free states but there are still four states that allow slavery.  How would this change the course of our history?  Would our position in the world be changed?  In this story, a young African American former slave is now a bounty hunter paid to bring runaways back to their owners.  He is on the trail of an escaped slave and those who help them. Can he find his quarry?  And maybe bring down a link in the underground airline.

Podcast: https://spark.adobe.com/video/bf88fkoREwCgs

Wade, Mary Dodson. AMAZING OLYMPIC ATHLETE WILMA RUDOLPH

Wade, Mary Dodson.  AMAZING OLYMPIC ATHLETE WILMA RUDOLPH
New York : Enslow Elementary, 2010
IL K-3, RL 3.0
ISBN 0766059782
Did you watch the Olympics on tv?  This is an amazing display of athletes from all around the world competing to be the best in the world. They all have stories to tell about how they spent years training for the competition. In 1956, a young girl from the United States won the first of her medals. What is amazing is that this girl had polio as a young girl and it could have caused her to lose her ability to walk. Her running is what kept her going.



Podcast: https://spark.adobe.com/video/nHf5yu3Ccd2nm

Wade, Mary Dodson. AMAZING CIVIL WAR NURSE CLARA BARTON

Wade, Mary Dodson.  AMAZING CIVIL WAR NURSE CLARA BARTON
New York : Enslow Elementary, 2010
IL K-3, RL 2.9
ISBN 0766059774
Clara Barton was a nurse during the Civil War.  She was known as the Angel of the Battlefield.  She risked her own life to help those who were injured in the war.  And she also created the American Red Cross.  Find out about this amazing woman and her life.


Podcast: https://spark.adobe.com/video/DDGzfCdbi6RoN

Wade, Mary Dodson. AMAZING ARCTIC EXPLORER MATTHEW HENSON

Wade, Mary Dodson.  AMAZING ARCTIC EXPLORER MATTHEW HENSON
New York : Enslow Elementary, 2010
IL K-3, RL 3.2
ISBN 076605974X

Matthew Henson was an explorer who wanted to be one of the first to reach the North Pole.  And he was.  But no one knew about him.  As an African American, he was not mentioned in the reports about this trip until many years later.  Find out about this amazing man.



Podcast: https://spark.adobe.com/video/LariqmKMXdhnz

Tremayne, Peter. ABSOLUTION BY MURDER : A SISTER FIDELMA MYSTERY

Tremayne, Peter.  ABSOLUTION BY MURDER : A SISTER FIDELMA MYSTERY
New York : Signet, 1994
IL AD
ISBN 0451192990

The story takes place in medieval England in the seventh-century.  King Oswy of Northunbria has called an assembly of representatives from Ireland, Britain and Rome to determine which Church doctrine the Kingdom of Northumbria will follow. There is a divide between the Irish faction and the Roman faction.  But all this takes a new direction when one of the main speakers is murdered.  Sister Fidelma, an advocate of the courts of Ireland, is called upon to solve the murder.  Did the murder have anything to do with the assembly?  Or were there other motives involved? This is the first of a series about Sister Fidelma.



Podcast: https://spark.adobe.com/video/dR9HUZLqt98lU

Stewart, Melissa. AMAZING EYES UP CLOSE

Stewart, Melissa. AMAZING EYES UP CLOSE
New York : Enslow, 2012
IL K-3, RL 2.2
ISBN 1464400806

Your eyes are pretty amazing, aren't they?  Did you know that many animals can use their eyes differently than you?  A honeybee has more than two eyes.  A squid has eyes that are bigger than a dinner plate.  Check out this book to find out how animals eyes are different from ours.


Podcast: https://spark.adobe.com/video/IB6W3jkSJzMqK

Sperring, Mark. I'LL CATCH YOU IF YOU FALL

Sperring, Mark.  I'LL CATCH YOU IF YOU FALL
New York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2016
IL K-3, RL 2.0
ISBN 1481452061
Do you sometimes get nervous and wonder if you are safe?  The boy in this story is on a ship at night and wonders who will keep him safe.  He soon learns that there are many people around to keep him safe and make sure he gets home.


Podcast: https://spark.adobe.com/video/SiJ2hFnZv9pgU

Sayres, Brianna Caplan. WHERE DO STEAM TRAINS SLEEP AT NIGHT?

Sayres, Brianna Caplan.  WHERE DO STEAM TRAINS SLEEP AT NIGHT?
New York : Random House, 2016
IL K-3, RL 3.2
ISBN  0553520989
For the train lover in all of us.  Do you ever wonder where the trains go at night?  Do they have mother trains that tuck them in just like children do?  Do they get to listen to bedtime stories or have hot cocoa?  Come along and find out.  But be quiet so you don't wake up the trains.



Podcast: https://spark.adobe.com/video/pRwuVWq7rrpCP

Rhodes, Jewell Parker. NINTH WARD

Rhodes, Jewell Parker.  NINTH WARD
Boston : Little, Brown, 2010
IL 5-8, RL 3.7
ISBN 0316043079
Meet 12-year-old Lenesha.  She's living in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans with her grandmother.  Her mother died in childbirth so she has lived with Mama Ya-Ya all her life.  There isn't much money but there is a lot of love in their home.  The kids at school make fun of Lenesha because she supposedly has the "second sight".  But none of that will matter in the days to come.  At first the weather man talked about a hurricane out in the ocean.  As the days go by, the predictions get worse.  Finally, the Governor tells everyone in New Orleans to evacuate. But how do you do that when you are poor, have no car and no place to go?  


Podcast: https://spark.adobe.com/video/6HZm6kS3VHoVK

Poblocki, Dan. THE GATHERING

Poblocki, Dan. THE GATHERING
New York : Scholastic, 2015
IL 3-6, RL 5.8
ISBN 0545925509

If only there was just one day when Poppy could look in the mirror and not see the girl staring back.  The other kids think she's a bit crazy.  But she is stuck here all the same.  Until the letter arrives! A great-aunt she never knew existed writes and invites her to come live at Larkspur Academy. What she finds there will change everything.  The same day she arrives, more children show up.  Dylan and Dash who are TV stars, Marcus, a cellist, Azumi who is running away from the place her sister died.  As the kids settle in, strange things begin happening.  And the kids realize that they all have something in common in this scary book about haunted houses.


Podcast: https://spark.adobe.com/video/qmzZl57N42RH0

Penfold, Alexandra. EAT, SLEEP, POOP

Penfold, Alexandra.  EAT, SLEEP, POOP
New York : Knopf, 2016
IL PK
ISBN 0385755031


The first few months of a baby's life are pretty routine.  There is so much they need to learn in this new life that having a routine is a good thing.  Sometimes they don't follow the routine but most of the time they do.  And can you guess what the routine is?  Just take a look at the title of the book and you get it.

Podcast: https://spark.adobe.com/video/gZkP0Svbrkzwi

Young, Jessica. ALL PAWS ON DECK

Young, Jessica.  ALL PAWS ON DECK
New York : Scholastic, 2015
IL K-3, RL 1.8
ISBN 0545818869
Haggis, a Scottish terrier, is bored.  He can't wait for lunch and it seems forever away.  But along comes his friend Tank, a Great Dane.  The two decide to play pirates.  The two are off on a great adventure as they pretend to sail the seas and hunt for treasure.  Come along and join the pirate fun!


Podcast: https://spark.adobe.com/video/tVApPUZD6gqvf