Ojai Library

A hopeful and heartwarming story about finding joy after tragedy, Amil and the After is a companion to the beloved and award-winning Newbery Honor novel The Night Diary, by acclaimed author Veera Hiranandani

At the turn of the new year in 1948, Amil and his family are trying to make a home in India, now independent of British rule.

Both Muslim and Hindu, twelve-year-old Amil is not sure what home means anymore. The memory of the long and difficult journey from their hometown in what is now Pakistan lives with him. And despite having an apartment in Bombay to live in and a school to attend, life in India feels uncertain.

Nisha, his twin sister, suggests that Amil begin to tell his story through drawings meant for their mother, who died when they were just babies. Through Amil, readers witness the unwavering spirit of a young boy trying to make sense of a chaotic world, and find hope for himself and a newly reborn nation.

"Ho now creates a beautiful book about family: what makes individuals and what connects us to one another. This book is a perfect addition to any children's shelf, whether aimed at families, adoption, multicultural stories, or topics of love and -acceptance." --School Library Journal (starred review)

From New York Times bestselling Joanna Ho, of Eyes that Kiss in the Corners, and award-winning educator Liz Kleinrock comes a powerful companion picture book about adoption and family. A young girl who is a transracial adoptee learns to love her Asian eyes and finds familial connection and meaning through them, even though they look different from her parents'.

Her family bond is deep and their connection is filled with love. She wonders about her birth mom and comes to appreciate both her birth culture and her adopted family's culture, for even though they may seem very different, they are both a part of her, and that is what makes her beautiful. She learns to appreciate the differences in her family and celebrate them.

An Amazon Best Book of the Month for January 2024!

Dominic no quiere jugar fútbol, pero cuando su mamá lo inscribe, no tiene opción. Se pasa los entrenamientos haciendo tonterías en la cancha, aunque en secreto admira las destrezas de Carlos, la estrella de su equipo. Cuando Carlos tiene que faltar a un partido, Dominic se da cuenta que podría ser su oportunidad para destacar. Pero después de sus travesuras, ¿será que el entrenador y sus compañeros de equipo confiarán en Dominic?suras, ¿el técnico y sus compañeros de equipo confiarán en Dominic?

A warm, gentle ode to cherished visits with grandparents and the people and places that make us who we are even if we haven’t met them yet, by an acclaimed author and illustrator.

It’s been three years since Abuela’s last visit, and Dulce revels in every tiny detail—from Abuela’s maletas full of candies in crinkly wrappers and gifts from primos to the sweet, earthy smell of Peru that floats out of Abuela’s room and down the hall. But Abuela’s visit can’t last forever, and all too soon she’s packing her suitcases again. Then Dulce has an idea: maybe there are things she can gather for her cousins and send with Abuela to remind them of the U.S. relatives they’ve never met. And despite having to say goodbye, Abuela has one more surprise for Dulce—something to help her remember that home isn’t just a place, but the deep-rooted love they share no matter the distance.

Una celebración al poder de la empatía y a la comunidad dominicana en Estados Unidos

Noche tras noche, una pequeña observa cómo su mamá arma una camita en la sala de su apartamento en Washington Heights, para los invitados como Raquel (quien es un poco aburrida) y Edgardo (que deja migajas por todas partes). Le molesta que los niños que llegan a dormir tengan toda la sala para ellos y la vista de las ventanas al puente George Washington, mientras ella sólo tiene un pequeño dormitorio con vista a su hermana y sus ronquidos. ¡Hasta que una noche no viene nadie a dormir y por fin es su oportunidad para dormir en la sala! Pero resulta que dormir en la camita en la sala no es tan maravilloso como ella pensaba.

Con un texto encantador de Hilda Eunice Burgos y bellas ilustraciones de Gaby D'Alessandro, La camita de la sala es una celebración a la solidaridad de la comunidad dominicana. A la vez que muestra a los jóvenes lectores que, a veces, la mejor manera de ser un buen vecino es imaginar cómo se siente dormir una noche en la almohada de otra persona.

ENGLISH DESCRIPTION

A young Dominican American girl in New York City moves from jealousy to empathy as her parents babysit children whose families work overnight shifts in this honest and warm picture book debut.

Night after night, a young girl watches her mami set up a cot in the living room for guests in their Washington Heights apartment, like Raquel (who's boring) and Edgardo (who gets crumbs everywhere). She resents that they get the entire living room with a view of the George Washington Bridge, while all she gets is a tiny bedroom with a view of her sister (who snores). Until one night when no one comes, and it's finally her chance! But as it turns out, sleeping on the cot in the living room isn't all she thought it would be.

With charming text by Hilda Eunice Burgos and whimsical illustrations by Gaby D'Alessandro, The Cot in the Living Room is a celebration of the ways a Dominican American community takes care of one another while showing young readers that sometimes the best way to be a better neighbor is by imagining how it feels to spend a night sleeping on someone else's pillow.

"Pato y Ganso tienen que esforzarse por llevarse bien. Al principio, a Pato no le gusta mucho Ganso, y a Ganso no le gusta Pato. Pero ambos quieren el huevo que cada uno reclama como suyo. A medida que los dos cuidan de su huevo y hacen planes para el futuro, llegan a apreciar los puntos fuertes del otro. Y cuando un pájaro azul señala que en realidad no es un huevo, sino una pelota de lunares, ninguno se inmuta. Al fin y al cabo, es una pelota preciosa..."--Provided by publisher.

Cuando Camila hace una prueba para una obra de teatro, se esfuerza mucho en ensayar para la audición. Así que queda muy decepcionada cuando no la elijen de protagonista. Al aprender su papel y colaborar con el resto del elenco, ¿descubrirá Camila que hay más de una manera de ser una estrella?

An Instant New York Times bestseller!
A #1 Indies Bestseller!
A Publisher's Lunch Best YA of 2023!
An Amazon Best Book of the Year!
Winner of the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award!
A Horn Book Fanfare Title!
A BookPage Best Book of the Year!
An Indigo Teen Staff Pick of the Month!
An Indie Next Pick!
FIVE STARRED REVIEWS FOR WARRIOR GIRL UNEARTHED!

#1 New York Times bestselling author of Firekeeper's Daughter Angeline Boulley takes us back to Sugar Island in this high-stakes thriller about the power of discovering your stolen history.

Perry Firekeeper-Birch has always known who she is - the laidback twin, the troublemaker, the best fisher on Sugar Island. Her aspirations won't ever take her far from home, and she wouldn't have it any other way. But as the rising number of missing Indigenous women starts circling closer to home, as her family becomes embroiled in a high-profile murder investigation, and as greedy grave robbers seek to profit off of what belongs to her Anishinaabe tribe, Perry begins to question everything.

In order to reclaim this inheritance for her people, Perry has no choice but to take matters into her own hands. She can only count on her friends and allies, including her overachieving twin and a charming new boy in town with unwavering morals. Old rivalries, sister secrets, and botched heists cannot - will not - stop her from uncovering the mystery before the ancestors and missing women are lost forever.


Sometimes, the truth shouldn't stay buried.

Pick this up if you love:
● high stakes heist
● will-they-won't-they romance
● family secrets spanning decades

From the New York Times bestselling author of the Brown Sisters trilogy, comes a laugh-out-loud story about a quirky content creator and a clean-cut athlete testing their abilities to survive the great outdoors—and each other.

Bradley Graeme is pretty much perfect. He’s a star football player, manages his OCD well (enough), and comes out on top in all his classes . . . except the ones he shares with his ex-best friend, Celine.

Celine Bangura is conspiracy-theory-obsessed. Social media followers eat up her takes on everything from UFOs to holiday overconsumption—yet, she’s still not cool enough for the popular kids’ table. Which is why Brad abandoned her for the in-crowd years ago. (At least, that’s how Celine sees it.)

These days, there’s nothing between them other than petty insults and academic rivalry. So when Celine signs up for a survival course in the woods, she’s surprised to find Brad right beside her.

Forced to work as a team for the chance to win a grand prize, these two teens must trudge through not just mud and dirt but their messy past. And as this adventure brings them closer together, they begin to remember the good bits of their history. But has too much time passed . . . or just enough to spark a whole new kind of relationship?

An interracial friendship between two teenaged girls goes tragically wrong in this powerful historical novel set in the Jim Crow South.

For Lamb follows a family striving to better their lives in the late 1930s Jackson, Mississippi. Lamb’s mother is a hard-working, creative seamstress who cannot reveal she is a lesbian. Lamb’s brother has a brilliant mind and has even earned a college scholarship for a black college up north-- if only he could curb his impulsiveness and rebellious nature.

Lamb herself is a quiet and studious girl. She is also naive. As she tentatively accepts the friendly overtures of a white girl who loans her a book she loves, she sets a off a calamitous series of events that pulls in her mother, charming hustler uncle, estranged father, and brother, and ends in a lynching. 

Told with nuance and subtlety, avoiding sensationalism and unnecessary brutality, this young adult novel from celebrated author Lesa Cline-Ransome pays homage to the female victims of white supremacy.

A New York Public Library Best Book of the Year
A Horn Book Fanfare Book
A Booklist Editors’ Choice 
A CSMCL Best Multicultural Children’s Book of the Year
A BookPage Best Young Adult Book of the Year
A Bank Street Best Book of the Year - Outstanding Merit
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection