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National Foster Care Month
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Wards of the State: The Long Shadow of American Foster Care
by Claudia Rowe
Non-fiction: A compelling exploration of the broken American foster care system, told through the stories of six former foster youth. This powerful narrative nonfiction book delves into the systemic failures that lead many foster children into the criminal justice system, highlighting the urgent need for reform. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in child welfare, social justice, and the transformative power of the best narrative nonfiction. In Wards of the State, award-winning journalist Claudia Rowe's storytelling is both vivid and unflinching, offering readers a deep understanding of the foster care-to-prison pipeline. Through interviews with psychologists, advocates, judges, and the former foster children themselves, Rowe paints a heartbreaking picture of the lives shaped by this broken system. Rowe brings her extensive experience and investigative prowess to this eye-opening work. With a career spanning over 25 years, Rowe has written for publications such as The New York Times and Mother Jones, and her reporting has influenced policy changes in Washington State. Her previous book, The Spider and the Fly, was a gripping true-crime memoir that showcased her ability to blend personal narrative with broader social issues. By the time Maryanne was 16 years old, she had been arrested for murder. In and out of foster and adoptive homes since age 10, she'd run away, been trafficked and assaulted, and finally pointed a gun at the latest man to take her into his car. She pulled the trigger and fled. But with no family to turn to and few reliable friends, it didn't take long for the police to catch up with her. In court, the defense blamed neither traffickers, nor Maryanne, but Washington state itself--or rather, its foster care system, which parents thousands of children every year. The courts didn't listen to that argument, but award-winning journalist Claudia Rowe did. Washington state isn't alone. Each year, hundreds of thousands of children grow up in America's $30 billion foster care system, only to leave and enter its prisons, where a quarter of all inmates are former foster youth. Weaving Maryanne's story with those of five other foster kids across the country--including an 18-year-old sleeping on the New York City subways; a gangbanger turned graduate student; and a foster child who is now a policy advisor to the White House--Rowe paints a visceral survival narrative showing exactly where, when, and how the system channels children into locked cells.
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Work with What You Got: A Memoir
by Zion Clark
Young Adult Biography: Zion Clark has always had big dreams for himself despite the many hardships he faced growing up as a Black disabled child in the foster care system of Ohio. His childhood years were marked by instability as he moved from home to home, experiencing abuse and neglect. And yet his determination and grit pushed him to become an elite wrestler and wheelchair racer. His constant reinvention led him to activism, speaking out about the failings of the foster care system. The list of Zion's accomplishments and accolades is lengthy, but he's not even close to slowing down. As he says, "Work with what you got! If I can do it, so can you."
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A Place to Shine
by Marie Arnold
Juvenile Fiction: Ten-year-old Sunny Williams is resilient--she knows this because it's what her beloved grandma, Nanna, always tells her. So when Nanna is put into a care home after her memory loss issues get worse and social workers intend to put Sunny and her seven-year-old brother, Miles, into a foster home, she takes charge and hatches a plan for them to avoid getting split up. Luckily, Sunny also realizes Nanna has left her a message in the form of their favorite story. With the help of their guide (and temporary guardian), Mr. Darrious Evens, and her best friend, Folake, Sunny embarks on a quest to collect the three magical ingredients that are sure to cure Nanna's dementia and help them find their way home again. Mr. Evens also happens to be the choir director, and he encourages Sunny, with her beautiful singing voice, to perform in front of the school, even though Nanna isn't there to cheer her on. Sunny's quest to fix her nanna will lead her to understand herself and what's important--and that home can be any place you feel loved.
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Simone Biles
by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara
Easy Biography: Growing up in foster care, Simone's gymnastics training was an anchor in her life. She first tried out the sport after visiting her local gym on a school trip. Coaches spotted her natural talent and, after years of hard work, she began winning world championships and Olympic gold medals. Widely cited as the greatest gymnast of all time, Simone is also an advocate for mental health awareness, having famously put her health before her sport by withdrawing from the 2020 Olympic finals. This picture book tells her heroic story in a way that inspires young children to follow their dreams while taking care of themselves.
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Wild Honey Bees: An Intimate Portrait
by Ingo Arndt
Non-fiction: The honey bee, a key pollinator, is now an endangered species, threatened by human activity and loss of biodiversity. Because of this, understanding forest-dwelling wild honey bees - which are more resistant to diseases and parasites than honey bees kept by beekeepers - is more important than ever before. In this lavishly illustrated book, Ingo Arndt, one of the world's best wildlife photographers, and Jurgen Tautz, one of the world's leading bee experts, set out on the trail of wild honey bees, bringing back sensational photographs, some of which document behaviors never captured before, and new scientific insights that promise to revolutionize conservation and beekeeping. A remarkable number of wild honey bee colonies still exist, living in hollow trees inside the forest, largely unnoticed by humans. This book explores the fascinating secret world of wild honey bees, including the adaptations and behaviors they have acquired to survive and the new challenges they face today. Featuring incredible macro and wide-angle photographs, some taken from inside hives, Wild Honey Bees is a unique collaboration that documents a major research project and offers critical new insights about these essential creatures.
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Where Have All the Bees Gone?: Pollinators in Crisis
by Rebecca E. Hirsch
Young Adult Non-fiction: Bees pollinate 75 percent of the fruits, vegetables, and nuts grown in the United States. Around the world, bees pollinate $24 billion worth of crops each year. Without bees, humans would face a drastically reduced diet. We need bees to grow the foods that keep us healthy. Bu tnumbers of bees are falling, and that has scientists alarmed. What's causing the decline? Diseases, pesticides, climate change, and loss of habitat are all threatening bee populations. Some bee species are teetering on the brink of extinction. Learn about the many bee species on Earth--their nests, their colonies, their life cycles, and their vital connection to flowering plants. Most importantly, find out how you can help these crucial pollinators.
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The Buzz on Wild Bees: The Little-Known Pollinators That Keep Our Planet Humming
by Kira Vermond
Juvenile Non-fiction: Say the word "bee," and most kids will think of honeybees or even bumblebees. But this is a book about wild, solitary bees. Think mason bees, mining bees, leafcutter bees, cuckoo bees or even oil-collecting bees. Never heard of them? Well, the fact is, wild solitary bees make up about 95 percent of the world's bee population. And for all their wildness, they're quite gentle little fuzz-buckets. Solitary bees have no hive or queen to protect, so they never swarm and most don't even sting (but if they do, it just feels like a pinprick). Not only that, we need these super pollinators for the health of our planet. Using a clear, concise language that keeps it light and engaging with plenty of silly word play, this introduction to the wide world of wild bees describes their life cycles, habitats, and behaviors -- some of which are weirder than others, such as the sweat bees that use their long tongues to lick salty sweat off animals, including humans, because pollen and nectar don't contain enough salt. It goes on to explain importance of wild solitary bees to all life on Earth (for instance, one in three mouthfuls of the food we eat depends on pollinating super powers of all bees, not just the honeybees), the challenges these bees face, and the things we can do to BEE part of the solution and help save all the bees! Includes a glossary, bibliography and full-colour endpapers displaying all the amazing-looking bees included in the book. And of course, June Stuebe's beautiful illustrations capture in detail the incredible variety of wild bees -- from the bright blue body of the blueberry bee to the black and white spots of the domino cuckoo bee.
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The Dog Who Saved the Bees
by Stephanie Gibeault
Easy Non-fiction: The true story of beehive inspector, Cybil Preston, and her work with Mack, an unruly rescue dog, to save commercial bee beehives from foulbrood, a deadly disease with no cure that has decimated American bee populations.
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2026 Reading Challenge - A Collection of Short Stories
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To Go On Living: Stories
by Narine Abgaryan
Short Stories: Set in rural Armenia in the aftermath of war, these heartwarming short stories show people finding hope and purpose again.
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High Spirits
by Camille Gomera-Tavarez
Young Adult Fiction: A collection of interconnected short stories from the Dominican diaspora focuses on one extended family.
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Richard Scarry's 5-Minute Stories
by Richard Scarry
Picture Book: This fun-filled collection of stories, each of which can be read aloud in five minutes, is the ticket to Busytown, where kids will meet such friendly characters as Lowly Worm, Huckle Cat, Sergeant Murphy and others.
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Library Programs of InterestFor a full listing of our programs this month see our Events Page.
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Mercer County Library System
2751 Brunswick Pike Lawrenceville, New Jersey 08648 609-882-9246
https://mcl.org
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