Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate

Kek immigrates to Minnesota from Africa where his family has been torn apart by war. He has seen his father and brother killed and doesn't know the fate of his mother. He moves in with an aunt and cousin who are already living in the U.S. and have adjusted to things like living in an apartment and surviving in the winter. Kek remains hopeful in spite of his horrific past and the difficulties he faces in America. He makes one friend and finds a job caring for a cow, which reminds him of all he lost in Africa. The story is told in free verse and Kek uses a lot of imagery in his comparisons between his old and new lives. This is a sort of quiet book for the kind of reader who likes to empathize with characters in tough situations.

Red Glass by Laura Resau

Sophie is cautious. She always wears her seat belt and never takes risks. But when she finds herself on a road trip to Mexico she learns a lot about herself and finds that she can take the biggest risk of all--opening up to other people. Here's the story in a nutshell. Her family takes in Pablo, a six-year-old Mexican boy, whose parents died trying to cross from Mexico into the U.S. But Pablo has family in Mexico, and Sophie accompanies her Bosnian great aunt, the aunt's boyfriend, and the boyfriend's mysterious teenage son to Mexico to reunite Pablo with his grandparents. A friendship/romance develops between the teenage son, Angel, and Sophie, but Angel is planning a return to Guatemala, where violence breaks out. Sophie risks her life to help him and does a lot of growing up in a short time. I have traveled quite a bit in Guatemala and I enjoyed the book particularly for it's setting. This is one for readers who like to see characters grow and change.

Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow by James Sturm and Rich Tommaso

This is a comic book that at first glance looks like a biography of baseball great Satchel Paige. However, it's actually a fictional story of an African American man who encounters Satchel Paige twice in his life–once as a promising young ball player who gets a hit off of a Satchel Paige pitch, and later in life as a father who has been beaten down by a life of discrimination and racism. The illustrations and captions are simple, but they capture the action of the baseball games well. Through the eyes of the narrator you understand the humiliations that build up over years of living with Jim Crow laws and you see the personality and showmanship of Satchel Paige. Factual information in the introduction and at the end of the book helps put the story in historical context. A great book for baseball lovers!