Historical Fiction

Fallout by Steve Sheinkin tells the complex history of the Cold War. It captures the period between the end of WWII, closing its telling with the Cuban Missile Crisis. As a narrative nonfiction text, it is the perfect resource for studying and learning more about this historical period

Fast-pitch softball captain Shenice “Lightning” Lockwood has nothing else on her mind besides leading her team to the sectional championship and beyond. As the only all-Black team among a sea of mostly white faces, a championship win means more than just a trophy, especially in the Lockwood family, a family known for its generational talent.

It’s 1941, and Natt enjoys a relatively easeful and innocent childhood in the small town of Zastavna. While Natt knows war is raging elsewhere, it does not hit home until the Russian invasion reaches his town.

Several years after Mary Lambert was treated as a “live specimen” and subjected to a cruel experiment, she receives a letter asking her to serve as a teacher of sorts for a young child in a wealthy household. The eight-year-old girl is deaf, like Mary, and needs a teacher to help her communicate.

Becca suffers from severe anxiety. Even with the help and guidance of a therapist and journals that name her fears and offer ways to cope, panic attacks still threaten to surface at any time, especially this summer. Since Becca’s father lives in Austria and her mother wants to travel across Europe, her parents hatch a plan for Becca to spend the summer in a new country.

Melvin wants nothing more than to vocalize the smooth, free-flowing words in his mind. However, his speech impediment prevents him from saying much of anything. When he starts high school in Spokane, Washington, the challenges Melvin will face, speaking up in class, standing up to his bully, and even talking to his crush Millie, seem nearly insurmountable.