ELLINWOOD —”The 5th Wave” by Rick Yancey.  When waves of beings who only look human overrun the earth, the Earth’s last survivors have scattered to stay alive. When Cassie meets Evan Walker, he may be her only hope for rescuing her brother, or even saving herself. But can she trust a stranger in this dangerous world?
“The House of Hades” by Rick Riordan. The Percy Jackson series continues when Percy and the other demigods are starving, thirsty and in pain, and are barely able to stumble on in the dark and poisonous landscape. Despite the terrible odds, they know that there is only one choice: attempt the impossible, not just for themselves but for everyone they love.
“Al Capone Does My Homework” by Gennifer Choldenko. Life as a guard’s son on Alcatraz Island in 1936 comes with its own set of problems, but for Moose Flanagan it’s even more complicated when his dad gets promoted to associate warden. Now his dad is a target of the inmates, and he’s in real danger, and so is the whole family when a mysterious fire is started in their home.
“Outcasts United” by Warren St. John. More than half of the people who live in Clarkston, Ga., are refugees, mostly women and children, from more than fifteen countries. When Luma Mufleh, a coach for private youth soccer teams in Atlanta, discovers the children of the refugee center playing soccer, she knew this is where she needed to be. This book chronicles the dramatic season of life of the children bonding with one another, in their new American home.
“Charles Dickens and the Street Children of London” by Andrea Warren. Victorian London was a place where terrible poverty existed side by side with extreme wealth. Charles Dickens was a young journalist when he began writing about the lives of the poor. He never forgot his own childhood experiences of poverty, and employing his talents as a storyteller, Dickens engaged readers’ emotions, inspiring them to improve the lives of children. This is the story of his reforming work.
“His Name Was Raul Wallenberg: Courage Rescue, and Mystery During WW II.” With his official-looking schutzpass, documents that promised Swedish protection to the people who carried them, Raoul used his position as a diplomat in Hungary to boldly save thousands of Jews from the Nazi extermination camps. Today Raoul Wallenberg’s fate remains unknown, but his name is one for the world to remember.
Sharon Sturgis is the librarian at the Ellinwood School/Community Library.