Book picks similar to
Of Time and of Seasons by Norma Johnston


ya
young-adult
historical-fiction
war-fiction

A Mango-Shaped Space


Wendy Mass - 2005
    No one knows, and Mia wants to keep it that way. But when trouble at school finally forces Mia to reveal her secret, she must learn to accept herself and embrace her ability, called synesthesia, a mingling of the senses.

The Early Years Collection (Little House, #1, 3-6)


Laura Ingalls Wilder - 1993
    Little House in the Big WoodsWolves and panthers and bears roam the deep Wisconsin woods in the late 1870's. In those same woods, Laura lives with Pa and Ma, and her sisters, Mary and Baby Carrie, in a snug little house built of logs. Pa hunts and traps. Ma makes her own cheese and butter. All night long, the wind howls lonesomely, but Pa plays the fiddle and sings, keeping the family safe and cozy.Little House on the PrairiePa Ingalls decides to sell the little log house, and the family sets out for Indian country They travel from Wisconsin to Kansas, and there, finally, Pa builds their little house on the prairie. Sometimes farm life is difficult, even dangerous, but Laura and her family are kept busy and are happy with the promise of their new life on the prairie. On the Banks of Plum CreekLaura's family's first home in Minnesota is made of sod, but Pa builds a clean new house made of sawed lumber beside Plum Creek. The money for materials will come from their first wheat crop. Then, just before the wheat is ready to harvest, a strange glittering cloud fills the sky, blocking out the sun. Soon millions of grasshoppers cover the field and everything on the farm. In a week's time, there is no wheat crop left at all.By the Shores of Silver LakePa Ingalls heads west to the unsettled wilderness of the Dakota Territory. When Ma, Mary, Laura, Carrie, and baby Grace join him, they become the first settlers in the town of De Smet. And Pa begins work on the first building in what will soon be a brand-new town on the shoresof Silver Lake.The Long WinterThe first terrible storm comes to the barren prairie in October. Then it snows almost without stopping until April. Snow has reached the rooftops, and no trains can get through with food or coal. The people of De Smet are starving, including Laura's family, who wonder how they're going to make it through this terrible winter. It is young Almanzo Wilder who finally understands what needs to be done. He must save the town, even if it means risking his own life.

Give Me Some Truth


Eric Gansworth - 2018
    A rock band -- and winning the local Battle of the Bands, with its first prize of a trip to New York City -- is his best shot. But things keep getting in the way. Small matters like the lack of an actual band, or the fact that his brother just got shot confronting the racist owner of a local restaurant. Maggi Bokoni has just moved back to the reservation from the city with her family. She's dying to stop making the same traditional artwork her family sells to tourists (conceptual stuff is cooler), stop feeling out of place in her new (old) home, and stop being treated like a child. She might like to fall in love for the first time too. Carson and Maggi -- along with their friend Lewis -- will navigate loud protests, even louder music, and first love in this novel about coming together in a world defined by difference.

Eleanor & Park


Rainbow Rowell - 2012
    “Bono met his wife in high school,” Park says.“So did Jerry Lee Lewis,” Eleanor answers.“I’m not kidding,” he says.“You should be,” she says, “we’re 16.”“What about Romeo and Juliet?”“Shallow, confused, then dead.”“I love you,” Park says.“Wherefore art thou,” Eleanor answers.“I’m not kidding,” he says.“You should be.”Set over one school year in 1986, Eleanor & Park is the story of two star-crossed misfits – smart enough to know first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try.

Eleven Miles to Oshkosh


Jim Guhl - 2018
    His father, a deputy sheriff, has been murdered by the unknown "Highway 41 Killer." His mom has unraveled. And a goon named Larry Buskin has been pummeling Minnow behind Neenah High.Minnow finds support in the company of his roguish grandfather, his loyal pal Mark, and beautiful Opal Parsons, who has her own worries as the first African American student in their school. When the sheriff seems in no hurry to solve the murder, Minnow must seek justice by partnering with unlikely allies and discovering his own courage.

Wolf Hollow


Lauren Wolk - 2016
    Until the day new student Betty Glengarry walks into her class. Betty quickly reveals herself to be cruel and manipulative, and while her bullying seems isolated at first, things quickly escalate, and reclusive World War I veteran Toby becomes a target of her attacks. While others have always seen Toby’s strangeness, Annabelle knows only kindness. She will soon need to find the courage to stand as a lone voice of justice as tensions mount.

Ida B. . . and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World


Katherine Hannigan - 2004
    Applewood believes there is never enough time for fun.That's why she's so happy to be homeschooled and to spend every free second outside with the trees and the brook.Then some not-so-great things happen in her world. Ida B has to go back to that Place of Slow but Sure Body-Cramping, Mind-Numbing, Fun-Killing Torture—school. She feels her heart getting smaller and smaller and hardening into a sharp, black stone.How can things go from righter than right to a million miles beyond wrong? Can Ida B put together a plan to get things back to just-about perfect again?

The Raging Quiet


Sherryl Jordan - 1999
    Marnie and Raver learn to communicate through a series of hand gestures, but when a death shakes the village, their special, silent bond causes the two to fall under suspicion of witchcraft. A compelling, romantic, and revealing story for young readers, Sherryl Jordan's The Raging Quiet is an ideal kids' feature for a month of romance.

A Lantern in Her Hand


Bess Streeter Aldrich - 1928
    The Place: Nebraska.The time: the 1870's, when every day on the prairie brought its threat -of hostile Indians, of prairie fires, of blizzards, and the overwhelming threat of accident or illness to the little homesteading family, Will and Abbie Deal and their babies.Hope, faith, and hard work finally make real for the Deals and their neighbors the dreams of productive farms and prosperous towns, of schools and hospitals, of well-paved roads to bring them close to the rest of the century.And old Abbie Deal can look back with pride and wonder to her own part in the miracle.

In Grandma's Attic


Arleta Richardson - 1974
    And best of all was the remarkable grandmother who made magic of all she touched, bringing the past alive as only a born storyteller could.Here are those marvelous tales—faithfully recalled for the delight of young and old alike, a touchstone to another day when life was simpler, perhaps richer; when the treasures of family life and love were passed from generation to generation by a child's questions...and the legends that followed enlarged our faith.Gifted storyteller Arleta Richardson grew up an only child in Chicago, living in a hotel on the shores of Lake Michigan. Under the care of her maternal grandmother, she listened for hours as her grandmother told stories from her own childhood. With unusual recall, Arleta began to write these stories for an audience that now numbers over 2 million. "My grandmother would be amazed to know her stories have gone around the world," Arleta says.

Jemmy


Jon Hassler - 1980
    But on her way home on her last day of school, she gets caught in a fierce snowstorm, and is rescued by Otis and Ann Chapman, who have moved to rural Minnesota from the city. Otis is a well-known painter, and he sees in Jemmy the model he needs to complete a mural of the Maiden of Eagle Rock. Jemmy soon finds that the Chapmans have rescued her in more ways than one...and that there's a whole world outside of her family's dreary existence, a world she can conquer, if only she has the courage to fight....

A Time to Dance


Padma Venkatraman - 2014
    This is a stunning novel about spiritual awakening, the power of art, and above all, the courage and resilience of the human spirit. Veda, a classical dance prodigy in India, lives and breathes dance—so when an accident leaves her a below-knee amputee, her dreams are shattered. For a girl who’s grown used to receiving applause for her dance prowess and flexibility, adjusting to a prosthetic leg is painful and humbling. But Veda refuses to let her disability rob her of her dreams, and she starts all over again, taking beginner classes with the youngest dancers. Then Veda meets Govinda, a young man who approaches dance as a spiritual pursuit. As their relationship deepens, Veda reconnects with the world around her, and begins to discover who she is and what dance truly means to her.

Conscript


Pamela Stewart - 2019
    Everyone had told her it would be easy—in and out.Then, the hostile aliens invaded.Now, she slaves away training and retooling a mining ship for war as part of the Star Defenders.All Vega wants is to get home to her family. So, when a chance at officers training opens up, she jumps at the opportunity for more freedom. But there are only five slots, and Vega must use all her planetborn skill to fight for her place.As if that wasn't enough, the ship's condition continues to worsen. "Accidents" may not be accidents. The lines between friends and enemies blur, and Vega realizes there's a lot more at stake than her chance at freedom.Fans of Aurora Rising, Ender’s Game, and Brandon Sander’s Skyward will devour this story of adventure, mystery, and friendship.

Quest for a Maid


Frances Mary Hendry - 1988
    Meg Wright is nine when she hides under a table and hears her sister Inge kill the King of Scotland by witchcraft, setting in motion a treacherous power struggle.

Carney's House Party


Maud Hart Lovelace - 1949
    She's looking forward to hosting a month-long house party, with guests including her Vassar college roommate Isobel Porteous and old chum Betsy Ray. With lots of the old Crowd and a new friend--wealthy, unkempt, but lovable Sam Hutchinson--around, the days are filled with fun. And romance seems to be in the air. But Carney can never be romantic about anyone but Larry Humphreys, her high school sweetheart, who moved to California four years ago. Then Larry returns to Deep Valley and sets the town abuzz. Will Larry propose? And will Carney say yes? In addition to her beloved Betsy-Tacy books, Maud Hart Lovelace wrote three more stories set in the fictional town of Deep Valley: Winona's Pony Cart, Carney's House Party, and Emily of Deep Valley. Longtime fans and new readers alike will be delighted to find the Deep Valley books available again for the first time in many years.