On a hot August day in Paris, just over a century ago, a desperate guard burst into the office of the director of the Louvre and shouted, La Joconde, c’est partie! The Mona Lisa, she’s gone!
No one knew who was behind the heist. Was it an international gang of thieves? Was it an art-hungry American millionaire? Was it the young Spanish painter Pablo Picasso, who was about to remake the very art of painting?
2025/2026 Lamplighter Award
Reading Level: 0.0
Published by Random House Studio
Copyright February 13, 2025
ISBN# 978-0593643846 (HB)
Under the cover of night, twelve-year-old Homer flees Southerland Plantation with his little sister Ada, unwillingly leaving their beloved mother behind. Much as he adores her and fears for her life, Homer knows there’s no turning back, not with the overseer on their trail. Through tangled vines, secret doorways, and over a sky bridge, the two find a secret community called Freewater, deep in the swamp.
In this society created by formerly enslaved people and some freeborn children, Homer finds new friends, almost forgetting where he came from. But when he learns of a threat that could destroy Freewater, he crafts a plan to find his mother and help his new home.
Deeply inspiring and loosely based on the history of maroon communities in the South, this is a striking tale of survival, adventure, friendship, and courage.
2025/2026 Lamplighter Award
Reading Level: 0.0
Published by Jimmy Patterson
Copyright February 13, 2025
ISBN# 978-0316056670 (PB)
fter Zaila Avant-garde became the first African American student to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee in 2021, she turned into an overnight sensation. People wanted to know who she was and how she’d achieved so much while so young.
In this nonfiction book, Zaila shares the personal anecdotes that have shaped her life and extends advice to readers on living authentically. While Zaila is an exceptional and inspiring young woman, she has fears and anxieties just like everyone else; what makes her remarkable is the way she chooses to move through the obstacles in front of her.
Zaila shares about her family, her accomplishments, her experience of being homeschooled, and so much more in order to motivate and uplift other kids who have small-, medium-, and even big-sized dreams.
2025/2026 Lamplighter Award
Reading Level: 0.0
Published by Yearling
Copyright February 13, 2025
ISBN# 978-0593706930 (PB)
Olive Cobin Zang has . . . issues. And they mostly aren’t her fault. (No, really!) Though she often slips under the radar, problems have a knack for finding her. So, imagine her doubts when she’s suddenly dropped off at the strangest boarding school ever: a former castle turned prison that’s now a “reforming arts school”!
But nothing could’ve prepared Olive for RASCH (not “rash”). There, she’s lumped with a team of other kids who never quite fit in, and discovers that the academy isn’t what it seems—and neither is she. In fact, RASCH is a cover for an elite group of misfits who fight crime . . . and Olive has arrived just in time.
Turns out that RASCH is in danger of closing, unless Olive’s class can stop the heist of the century. And as Olive falls in love with this wacky school, she realizes it’s up to her new team to save the only home that’s ever welcomed them.
2025/2026 Lamplighter Award
Reading Level: 0.0
Published by Random House Books For Young Readers
Copyright February 13, 2025
ISBN# 978-1984830296 (HB)
In this semi-autobiographical collection of poems, Renée Watson writes
about her experience growing up as a young Black girl at the intersections of race, class, and gender.
Using a variety of poetic forms, from haiku to free verse, Watson shares recollections of her childhood in Portland, tender odes to the Black women in her life, and urgent calls for Black girls to step into their power.
Black Girl You Are Atlas encourages young readers to embrace their future with a strong sense of sisterhood and celebration. With full-color art by celebrated fine artist Ekua Holmes throughout, this collection offers guidance and is a gift for anyone who reads it.
2025/2026 Lamplighter Award
Reading Level: 0.0
Published by Kokila
Copyright February 13, 2025
ISBN# 13 : 978-0593461709 (HB)
Nina is used to feeling like the odd one out, both at school and in her large family. But while trying to fit in at summer camp, she discovers something even more peculiar: two majestic birds have built a nest in the marsh behind an abandoned infirmary. They appear to be whooping cranes, but that’s impossible—Nina is an amateur bird-watcher, and all her resources tell her that those rare birds haven’t nested in Texas for over a hundred years.
When Nina reports the sighting to wildlife officials, more questions arise. Experts track all the endangered birds, but they can’t identify the female bird that Nina found. Who is she, and where did she come from?
With the help of some fellow campers, Nina sets out to discover who the mystery bird really is. As she gets closer to the truth, will she find a flock of her own?
2025/2026 Lamplighter Award
Reading Level: 0.0
Published by Delacorte Press
Copyright February 13, 2025
ISBN# 978-1524770273 (HB)
Gertrude, Eugenia, and Dee-Dee Porch do not belong. They don’t belong in the snooty town of Antiquarium, where all girls have to go to etiquette school and the only dog allowed is the bichon frise. They don’t belong with their adoptive family, where all their cousins are named Lavinia and their Aunt has more brooches than books. And they certainly don’t belong at Mrs. Wintermacher’s etiquette school—they’re far more interested in science. After getting kicked out of the last etiquette school that would take them, the girls expect to be sent away for good… until they receive a mysterious invitation to new school.
2025/2026 Lamplighter Award
Reading Level: 0.0
Published by Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Copyright February 13, 2025
ISBN# 978-0316554732 (HB)
How can anyone ordinary do something extraordinary?
Hi, I’m Maggie. I’m twelve, and I’m not just ordinary, I also suffer from extreme anxiety and life-threatening food allergies. So imagine my surprise at being invited to join an elite, top-secret branch of Wayfinder Girls. Our mission: to protect the world against inter-dimensional threats.
But getting sucked into a race to retrieve the mystical Mountain of Light, before the world is overrun, was definitely not on my to-do-list!
I’m going to need some help…
2025/2026 Lamplighter Award
Reading Level: 0.0
Published by 978-1957656113
Copyright February 13, 2025
ISBN# Monarch Educational Services (PB)
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