Book picks similar to
The Big Day by Terry Lee Caruthers


picture-books
netgalley
historical-fiction
childrens

Hedy's Journey: The True Story of a Hungarian Girl Fleeing the Holocaust


Michelle Bisson - 2017
    Hedy and her family are Jewish, and the Nazi party is rising. Hedy's family is no longer safe in their home in Hungary. They decide to flee to America, but because of their circumstances, sixteen-year-old Hedy must make her way through Europe alone. Will luck be with her? Will she be brave? Join Hedy on her journey-where she encounters good fortune and misfortune, a kind helper and cruel soldiers, a reunion and a tragedy-and discover how Hedy is both lucky and brave. Hedy's Journey adds an important voice to the canon of Holocaust stories, and her courage will make a lasting impact on young readers.

When Harriet Met Sojourner


Catherine Clinton - 2007
    "A beautiful, uplifting book that is sure to inspire interest in these strong, amazing women." (School Library Journal)This powerful picture book relates the lives of Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth on alternating pages, leading up to the day they likely met in Boston in 1864. Share this book in the classroom or at home as an introduction to these two American heroes. A strong companion to such books as Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom and Henry's Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad."Compellingly told with a sure storyteller’s cadence. Both women renamed themselves, taking ownership of their lives and leading and inspiring others on the road to freedom." (School Library Journal)Shane W. Evans's art in When Harriet Met Sojourner was praised as having a "strength of line and eloquence of expression that would suit a mural and that will carry well in a group showing." (Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books) His books include We March and 28 Days: Moments in Black History that Changed the World.

The Harmonica


Tony Johnston - 2004
    A harmonica keeps a boy's hope alive. The story is inspired by the life of a Holocaust survivor.

The Vast Wonder of the World: Biologist Ernest Everett Just


Mélina Mangal - 2018
    He saw the whole, where others saw only parts. And he noticed details others failed to see. Through stunning illustrations and lyrical prose, this picture book presents the life and accomplishments of Ernest Everett Just, an African American biologist who made important discoveries about the cell in the 1930s. Through his careful observations and hard work, Ernest opened up the wonder of the universe to all of us, through a tiny egg cell.

A Bowl Full of Peace: A True Story


Caren Stelson - 2020
    Sachiko's family home was about half a mile from where the atomic bomb fell on August 9, 1945. Her family experienced devastating loss. When they returned to the rubble where their home once stood, her father miraculously found their serving bowl fully intact. This delicate, green, leaf-shaped bowl--which once held their daily meals--now holds memories of the past and serves as a vessel of hope, peace, and new traditions for Sachiko and the surviving members of her family.

Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans


Kadir Nelson - 2011
    This is the story of the men, women, and children who toiled in the hot sun picking cotton for their masters; it's about the America ripped in two by Jim Crow laws; it's about the brothers and sisters of all colors who rallied against those who would dare bar a child from an education. It's a story of discrimination and broken promises, determination, and triumphs.Told through the unique point of view and intimate voice of a one-hundred-year-old African-American female narrator, this inspiring book demonstrates that in gaining their freedom and equal rights, African Americans helped our country achieve its promise of liberty and justice—the true heart and soul of our nation.Supports the Common Core State Standards

Sergeant Reckless: The True Story of the Little Horse Who Became a Hero


Patricia McCormick - 2017
    They had no idea that the skinny, underfed horse had one of the biggest and bravest hearts they’d ever known. And one of the biggest appetites!Soon Reckless showed herself more than willing to carry ammunition too heavy for the soldiers to haul. As cannons thundered and shells flew through the air, she marched into battle—again and again—becoming the only animal ever to officially hold military rank—becoming Sgt. Reckless—and receive two Purple Hearts.This is the first picture book from award-winning novelist Patricia McCormick, sumptuously illustrated by acclaimed artist Iacopo Bruno.

Sarah Emma Edmonds Was a Great Pretender: The True Story of a Civil War Spy


Carrie Jones - 2010
    Her father only wanted sons, so Sarah pretended to be one. Unlike most kids, though, Sarah never really stopped pretending. In 1861, during the U.S. Civil War, Sarah pretended her way into the Union Army, becoming a male nurse named Frank Thompson. Being a nurse didn't quite satisfy Frank, though. She wanted to keep her fellow soldiers from getting hurt. So when the Union Army needed a spy, she leapt at the chance. While still pretending to be Frank, Sarah also pretended to be a male African American slave, a female Irish peddler, and a female African American laundress. She slipped behind enemy lines time after time, spied on the Confederate Army, and brought back valuable intelligence to the Union. Sarah was not only good at pretending; she was also very brave. Later in life, Sarah Emma Edmonds wrote a book to tell her story. She explained, I am naturally fond of adventure, a little ambitious, and a good deal romantic. She was also truly a great pretender.

We Are Still Here!: Native American Truths Everyone Should Know


Traci Sorell - 2021
    This companion book to the award-winning We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga offers readers everything they never learned in school about Native American people's past, present, and future. Precise, lyrical writing presents topics including: forced assimilation (such as boarding schools), land allotment and Native tribal reorganization, termination (the US government not recognizing tribes as nations), Native urban relocation (from reservations), self-determination (tribal self-empowerment), Native civil rights, the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), religious freedom, economic development (including casino development), Native language revival efforts, cultural persistence, and nationhood.

The Stone Thrower


Jael Ealey Richardson - 2016
    Against all odds, he became an incredible quarterback. But despite his unbeaten record in high school and university, he would never play professional football in the United States.Chuck Ealey grew up poor in a racially segregated community that was divided from the rest of town by a set of train tracks, but his mother assured him that he wouldn’t stay in Portsmouth forever. Education was the way out, and a football scholarship was the way to pay for that education. So despite the racist taunts he faced at all the games he played in high school, Chuck maintained a remarkable level of dedication and determination. And when discrimination followed him to university and beyond, Chuck Ealey remained undefeated.This inspirational story is told by Chuck Ealey’s daughter, author and educator Jael Richardson, with striking and powerful illustrations by award-winning illustrator Matt James.

In the Garden with Dr. Carver


Susan Grigsby - 2010
    One day, Dr. George Washington Carver shows up to help the grownups with their farms and the children with their school garden.He teaches them how to restore the soil and respect the balance of nature. He even prepares a delicious lunch made of plants, including "chicken" made from peanuts. And Sally never forgets the lessons this wise man leaves in her heart and mind. Susan Grigsby's warm story shines new light on an African American scientist who was ahead of his time.

All Different Now: Juneteenth, the First Day of Freedom


Angela Johnson - 2013
    Lewis.Through the eyes of one little girl, All Different Now tells the story of the first Juneteenth, the day freedom finally came to the last of the slaves in the South. Since then, the observance of June 19 as African American Emancipation Day has spread across the United States and beyond. This stunning picture book includes notes from the author and illustrator, a timeline of important dates, and a glossary of relevant terms. Told in Angela Johnson’s signature melodic style and brought to life by E.B. Lewis’s striking paintings, All Different Now is a joyous portrait of the dawn breaking on the darkest time in our nation’s history.

Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers' Strike of 1909


Michelle Markel - 2013
    She didn't know that young women had to go to work, that they traded an education for long hours of labor, that she was expected to grow up fast. But that did not stop Clara. She went to night school, spent hours studying English, and helped support her family by sewing in a factory. Clara never quit. And she never accepted that girls should be treated poorly and paid little. So Clara fought back. Fed up with the mistreatment of her fellow laborers, Clara led the largest walkout of women workers in the country's history. Clara had learned a lot from her short time in America. She learned that everyone deserved a fair chance. That you had to stand together and fight for what you wanted. And, most importantly, that you could do anything you put your mind to.“In her simple but powerful text Markel shows how multiple arrests, serious physical attacks, and endless misogyny failed to deter this remarkable woman as she set off on her lifelong path as a union activist.” --The Horn Book

The Welcome Chair


Rosemary Wells - 2021
    It’s the story of a wooden rocking chair handmade in about 1825 by her great-great-grandfather, an immigrant Jewish boy who made his way to America from Germany in the early 1800s.In 1807, Sam Siegbert is born in southern Germany. Sam’s favorite pastime is carpentry, much to his father’s displeasure. His mother says he has a gift from God in his hands. After moving to America, he builds a wooden chair with the word WILLKOMMEN on the back. The chair’s back panel was later marked with welcomes by four generations of the family in four different languages. After the family lost track of the old chair, the author created a new life for it among new owners from other corners of the world. All the families who loved the chair came to America, escaping religious conformity, natural disasters, tyrannies, war, and superstition. In its lifetime, the rocking chair, with its earliest word WILLKOMMEN, stood for openness, hospitality, and acceptance to all who owned it or rocked safely in its embrace.

More Than Anything Else


Marie Bradby - 1995
    Washington. Living in a West Virginia settlement after emancipation, nine-year-old Booker travels by lantern light to the salt works, where he labors from dawn till dusk. Although his stomach rumbles, his real hunger is his intense desire to learn to read.... [A] moving and inspirational story." - School Library Journal, starred review