Handpicked by Our Editors

Testing the Ice: A True Story About Jackie Robinson
Age 5+
4

Testing the Ice: A True Story About Jackie Robinson

Why We Recommend It

Jackie Robinson was special on the baseball field and off. His daughter's bio of the slugger-as-dad emphasizes courage.

Read our full review
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showing: literary fiction
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Don Quixote by Martin Jenkins
Parents Need to Know...

that there is a surprisingly high level of violence for a book that looks like it's for middle graders. Most of it is played for laughs, but it involves severe beatings with serious and lasting injuries. read more

Age 10+
Don Quixote
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Steinbeck's Ghost by Lewis Buzbee
Parents Need to Know...

that there is little here of concern: The main character lies to his parents and friend, but apologizes later, and there are a few product mentions, and references to whiskey and pipes. read more

Age 10+
Steinbeck's Ghost
5
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The Ghost's Child by Sonya Hartnett
Parents Need to Know...

that there is little to be concerned with here: a woman throws herself into a pond but is quickly rescued, sea monsters battle, and men injured in war are talked about. There are also some passing references to wine and cigarettes. read more

Age 14+
The Ghost's Child
4
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The Kingdom on the Waves: Octavian Nothing, Vol. 2 by M.T. Anderson
Parents Need to Know...

that the violence here is as grim and graphic as it is unrelenting. Men are brutally beaten and killed in various gruesome ways, including hanging, decaptiation, being cut in half, shooting, stabbing (once through the eye). A major ... read more

Age 15+
The Kingdom on the Waves: Octavian Nothing, Vol. 2
4
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The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
Parents Need to Know...

this is fairly tame for a young adult novel, with a little cursing, a few sex references, and some beer drinking among teens. A secret society stages several elaborate pranks, but no one gets hurt. The book will appeal to well-read girls ... read more

Age 14+
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks
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The Aurora County All-Stars by Deborah Wiles
Parents Need to Know...

that there is nothing of concern here, and much to admire -- especially the way the people of this little town, children and adults, work together and support one another. read more

Age 9+
The Aurora County All-Stars
5
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A Swift Pure Cry by Siobhan Dowd
Parents Need to Know...

that this book, based on a true story, depicts some horrifying events, including a graphic description of a young teen giving birth on the kitchen floor, assisted only by her much younger siblings, and the murder of a baby by exposure. read more

Age 14+
A Swift Pure Cry
4
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Jack Plank Tells Tales by Natalie Babbitt
Parents Need to Know...

that mentions of the pirates' crimes and nasty habits are minimal, and a few scenes show their gentler sides. References to violence are non-graphic and brief, including scenes in which a pirate captain threatens to shoot one of his ... read more

Age 8+
Jack Plank Tells Tales
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Paint the Wind by Pam Munoz Ryan
Parents Need to Know...

that this book has some intense scenes that may upset younger or more sensitive kids, but none are graphic, many are kept to very brief descriptions, and, for the most part, everything turns out all right in the end. Most of the story ... read more

Age 7+
Paint the Wind
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Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You by Peter Cameron
Parents Need to Know...

that there is a fair amount of swearing and many sexual references (including the main character's possible homosexual orientation), but no sexual activity. read more

Age 13+
Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You
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An Episode of Sparrows by Rumer Godden
Parents Need to Know...

that this is about London street children just after World War II. They smoke, drink, and fight, though it's mostly just referenced and not described. read more

Age 11+
An Episode of Sparrows
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The Killer's Tears by Anne-Laure Bondoux
Parents Need to Know...

that this is a tough, bleak, and rather melancholy fable. A child's parents are murdered in their home by being stabbed in the throat, and a child attempts suicide. A cold-blooded murderer is also a sympathetic character. There is some ... read more

Age 12+
The Killer's Tears
4
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Just in Case by Meg Rosoff
Parents Need to Know...

that there are sexual references and fantasies and the main character, a very troubled teen, has sex (not described). There are accidents in which people are killed, and moderate slurs are used. read more

Age 14+
Just in Case
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A Christmas Carol: In prose, being a ghost story of Christmas by Charles Dickens
Parents Need to Know...

that the original text is a real challenge for today's young readers, and for most kids this book works best as a read-aloud, with lots of discussion and explanation along the way. read more

Age 9+
A Christmas Carol: In prose, being a ghost story of Christmas
5
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A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas
Parents Need to Know...

that there is nothing objectionable here, and that it is a true secular holiday treasure, too little known. read more

Age 8+
A Child's Christmas in Wales
5
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The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
Parents Need to Know...

that this book is chock full of mild to moderate swearing, and "f--k" is used several times. There are also lots of sexual references, and everyone smokes and drinks -- including the underage protagonist. Holden refers to ... read more

Age 14+
The Catcher in the Rye
5
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Beloved by Toni Morrison
Parents Need to Know...

that infanticide is an important and prevalent theme in this book -- and a very disturbing one. Sensitive readers of any age might find this material too disturbing to make the book worthwhile. Despite this and other specific warnings ... read more

Age 17+
Beloved
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Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
Parents Need to Know...

that this book is, at times, both violent and sexually explicit, and includes graphic language and allusions to incest. It's truly for mature readers only, but exactly when a young adult is old enough to read it is a parent's judgment ... read more

No Kids
Song of Solomon
5
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Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter
Parents Need to Know...

that this book offers a philosophy of life that can have a big impact on younger children. Playing the Glad Game is worth a try for any family. Like other books of its time, it contains a few comments that are considered racist by modern ... read more

Age 9+
Pollyanna
5
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King Matt the First by Janusz Korczak
Parents Need to Know...

that this book, written in Poland in the 1920s, is very much a product of its time. Some passages may, by today's standards, be considered by some to be racist. African kings and tribes are depicted, in some ways, as uncivilized and ... read more

Age 10+
King Matt the First
5
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The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place by E. L. Konigsburg
Parents Need to Know...

that this is a paean to nonconformity and determined individuality. Not all parents may agree with the values being promoted here, and camp counselors may not appreciate the depiction of summer camp. But agree or disagree, there's a lot ... read more

Age 9+
The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place
4

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