Teacher’s Guides

Discussion Guide: Under the Same Stars by Libba Bray

Abuelo, the Sea, and Me

Under the Same Stars
By Libba Bray
Ages 12-18
On Sale Now!
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

From New York Times bestselling author Libba Bray comes a propulsive historical mystery that examines truth, rebellion, reconciliation, and what must be sacrificed for a better world.

It was said that if you write to the Bridegroom’s Oak, the love of your life will answer back. Now, the tree is giving up its secrets at last.

In 1940s Germany, Sophie is excited to discover a message waiting for her in the Bridegroom’s Oak from a mysterious suitor. Meanwhile, her best friend, Hanna, is sending messages too—but not to find love. As World War II unfolds in their small town of Kleinwald, the oak may hold the key to resistance against the Nazis.

In 1980s West Germany, American teen transplant Jenny feels suffocated by her strict parents and is struggling to fit in. Until she finds herself falling for Lena, a punk-rock girl hell-bent on tearing down the wall separating West Germany from East Germany, and meeting Frau Hermann, a kind old lady with secrets of her own.

In Spring 2020, New York City, best friends Miles and Chloe are slogging through the last few months of senior year when an unexpected package from Chloe’s grandmother leads them to investigate a cold case about two unidentified teenagers who went missing under the Bridegroom’s Oak eighty years ago.

dOWNLOAD THE dISCUSSION gUIDE FOR uNDER THE sAME sTARS hERE →

Bad Kitty: Party Animal by Nick Bruel Sweepstakes, Activity Kit + Book Club Discussion Guide

Celebrate the 20th anniversary of Nick Bruel’s New York Times-Bestselling Series with this class set of books and party favors! This series is purr-fect for fans of DOG MAN and INVESTIGATORS, comic book fans, and cranky cats.

Winners will receive a class set of Bad Kitty: Party Animal books and Bad Kitty Kazoos!

Enter the Bad Kitty: Party Animal Sweepstakes!

No purchase necessary. Open only to legal residents of the 50 United States or the District of Columbia who are age 21 years of age or older. Entry period begins at 11:59 PM (ET) on Monday, January 13, 2025 and ends at 11:59 PM ET on Tuesday, January 28, 2025. Void where prohibited. For full Official Rules, visit . Sponsored by MCPG, 120 Broadway 10271.

Bad Kitty: Party Animal by Nick Bruel
Ages 7 to 10

It’s Puppy’s birthday and Kitty can’t seem to do anything right in this brand new graphic novel adventure by New York Times-bestselling creator Nick Bruel, for fans of DOG MAN and INVESTIGATORS.

It’s Puppy’s birthday and Kitty would rather be anywhere else.

While Puppy gets a BIG present and a very special birthday breakfast, all Kitty can do is pop the balloons, topple the cake, and cause mayhem…unless, she can learn how to let Puppy have the spotlight.

Help Puppy (and Kitty) celebrate this special day in this graphic novel about sibling rivalry, and learning how to share, in the latest full-color addition to the bestselling Bad Kitty series.

Download an activity kit and event guide for Bad Kitty: Party Animal

Find more Bad Kitty books here!

Activity Kit + Book Club Discussion Guide: Let It Glow by Marissa Meyer and Joanne Levy

Let It Glow by Marissa Meyer and Joanne Levy
Ages 8 to 12

When Aviva Davis and Holly Martin meet at the holiday pageant tryouts for their local senior’s center, they think they must be seeing double. While they both knew they were adopted, they had no idea they had a biological sibling, let alone an identical twin! The similarities are only skin deep, though, because while Aviva has a big personality and even bigger Broadway plans, Holly is more the quiet dreamer type who longs to become a famous author like her grandfather.

One thing the girls do have in common is their curiosity about how the other celebrates the holidays. What better way to discover the magic of the holidays than to experience them firsthand? The girls secretly trade lives, planning to stage a dramatic reveal to their families. Two virtual strangers swapping homes, holidays, and age-old traditions–what could possibly go wrong? Find out in this sweet as a sugarplum and satisfying as a latke middle grade novel by Marissa Meyer, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of The Lunar Chronicles, and Joanne Levy, award-winning author of Sorry for Your Loss and several other books for tweens.

Download an activity kit and book club guide for Let It Glow

Continue reading →

Educator Guide: Abuelo, the Sea, and Me by Ismée Williams; illustrated by Tatiana Gardel

Educator Guide for Abuelo, the Sea, and Me
Abuelo, the Sea, and Me

Abuelo, the Sea, and Me
By Ismée Williams; illustrated by Tatiana Gardel
Ages 4-8
On Sale Now!

Abuelo, the Sea, and Me is a tender, heartwarming picture book that vividly explores intergenerational connections, family history, and the immigrant experience.

When this grandchild visits her abuelo, he takes her to the ocean. In summer, they kick off their shoes and let the cool waves tickle their toes. In winter, they stand on the cliff and let the sea spray prick their noses and cheeks. No matter the season, hot or cold, their favorite place to spend time together is the beach.

It’s here that Abuelo is able to open up about his youth in Havana, Cuba. As they walk along the sand, he recalls the tastes, sounds, and smells of his childhood. And with his words, Cuba comes alive for his grandchild.

DOWNLOAD THE Educator Guide: Abuelo, the Sea, and Me DISCUSSION GUIDE HERE→

Discussion Guide: Greta by J.S. Lemon

Greta

Greta
By J.S. Lemon
Ages 10-14
On Sale Now!

Fish in a Tree meets Fighting Words in J. S. Lemon’s middle grade debut, a fiercely original story about friendship, healing, and the beauty of transformation.

Greta Goodwin’s life is changing. On top of moving to a new neighborhood far away from her best friend, Lotti, she’s also starting middle school. Greta isn’t totally ready for boys, bras, and the chaotic cafeteria. She still feels like a little kid compared to those female classmates who have suddenly matured over the summer. Girls who are now the talk of the school—unlike Greta, who would rather fly under the radar, especially after a bad haircut that makes her look less “effortlessly beautiful” and more “triangle with legs.”

But at her first-ever middle-school party, a boy does pay attention to Greta. Initially it feels good. And then it feels awful. In the aftermath, Greta can’t make sense of what’s happened, let alone talk about it, even to Lotti. Impossibly, Greta’s body starts to change in a vastly different way from everyone else’s. What follows leads Greta to believe the world might finally see her as she truly is: ethereal, powerful, and free.

Sensitively told, stunningly written, and surprisingly funny, Greta will transform readers just as Greta herself is transformed.

DOWNLOAD THE GRETA DISCUSSION GUIDE HERE→

Discussion Guide: Thirsty by Jas Hammonds

Three Summers

Thirsty: A Novel
By Jas Hammonds
Ages 14-18
On Sale Now!

From Jas Hammonds, award-winning author of We Deserve Monuments, comes a gripping read about a girl willing to risk it all for the chance to join an underground sorority with her wealthy best friends—perfect for fans of the show Euphoria and Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow.

It’s the summer before college and Blake Brenner and her girlfriend, Ella, have one goal: join the mysterious and exclusive Serena Society. The sorority promises status and lifelong connections to a network of powerful, trailblazing women of color. Ella’s acceptance is a sure thing—she’s the daughter of a Serena alum. Blake, however, has a lot more to prove.

As a former loner from a working-class background, Blake lacks Ella’s pedigree and confidence. Luckily, she finds courage at the bottom of a liquor bottle. When she drinks, she’s bold, funny, and unstoppable—and the Serenas love it. But as pledging intensifies, so does Blake’s drinking, until it’s seeping into every corner of her life. Ella assures Blake that she’s fine; partying hard is what it takes to make the cut . . .

But success has never felt so much like drowning. With her future hanging in the balance and her past dragging her down, Blake must decide how far she’s willing to go to achieve her glittering dreams of success—and how much of herself she’s willing to lose in the process.

DOWNLOAD THE THIRSTY DISCUSSION GUIDE HERE →

Teacher’s Guide: Saints of the Household by Ari Tison

Ari-Tison-book-Saints-of-the-Household 1

Winner of the Pura Belpré Award and Walter Dean Myers Award for Young Adult Literature!

Saints of the Household is a haunting contemporary YA about an act of violence in a small-town–beautifully told by a debut Indigenous Costa Rican-American writer–that will take your breath away.

Max and Jay have always depended on one another for their survival. Growing up with a physically abusive father, the two Bribri American brothers have learned that the only way to protect themselves and their mother is to stick to a schedule and keep their heads down.

But when they hear a classmate in trouble in the woods, instinct takes over and they intervene, breaking up a fight and beating their high school’s star soccer player to a pulp. This act of violence threatens the brothers’ dreams for the future and their beliefs about who they are. As the true details of that fateful afternoon unfold over the course of the novel, Max and Jay grapple with the weight of their actions, their shifting relationship as brothers, and the realization that they may be more like their father than they thought. They’ll have to reach back to their Bribri roots to find their way forward.

Told in alternating points of view using vignettes and poems, debut author Ari Tison crafts an emotional, slow-burning drama about brotherhood, abuse, recovery, and doing the right thing.

Download the Saints of the Household Teacher’s Guide
READ MORE ABOUT SAINTS OF THE HOUSEHOLD →

Educator’s Guide: Ánh’s New Word by Hanh Bui; illustrated by Bao Luu

Ánh's New Word

Ánh’s New Word
By Hanh Bui; illustrated by Bao Luu
Ages 3-6
On Sale Now!

A child living in a Vietnamese refugee camp learns their first word in English with a little help from their teacher and grandmother in this heart-warming picture book based on the author’s childhood.

Many things are different for Ánh now that they’ve left Vietnam with their family. The weather is colder and they live in a communal barracks at a refugee camp while they wait for their new life in America to start. Ánh finds comfort in their warm-hearted teacher, Miss Mary Ellen, but has trouble with the foreign sounds of learning to speak English in class.

All Ánh wants is to be able to say “thank you” out loud to Miss Mary Ellen, but will the words ever stop getting stuck between their head and their voice? With a little inspiration from their grandmother—as well as the chance discovery of an adorable animal—Ánh will try to gather the courage to finally say their first word in a new language.

Exquisitely illustrated by Bao Luu, Ánh’s New Word by Hanh Bui is a hopeful story of finding your voice, inspired by true events from the author’s childhood.

DOWNLOAD the Ánh’s New Word educator’s Guide HERE→

Teacher’s Guide: Frizzy by Claribel A. Ortega; illustrated by Rose Bousamra

Frizzy

Frizzy
By Claribel A. Ortega; illustrated by Rose Bousamra
Ages 8-12
On Sale Now!

New York Times-bestselling author Claribel A. Ortega and star debut artist Rose Bousamra’s Frizzy is about Marlene, a young Dominican girl whose greatest enemy is the hair salon! Through her struggles and triumphs, this heartwarming and gorgeous middle-grade graphic novel shows the radical power of accepting yourself as you are, frizzy curls and all.

Marlene loves three things: books, her cool Tía Ruby and hanging out with her best friend Camila. But according to her mother, Paola, the only thing she needs to focus on is school and “growing up.” That means straightening her hair every weekend so she could have “presentable”, “good hair”.

But Marlene hates being in the salon and doesn’t understand why her curls are not considered pretty by those around her. With a few hiccups, a dash of embarrassment, and the much-needed help of Camila and Tia Ruby—she slowly starts a journey to learn to appreciate and proudly wear her curly hair.

DOWNLOAD the Frizzy Teacher’s Guide HERE→

Parenting Discussion Guide: From My Head to My Toes

From My Head to My Toes

From My Head to My Toes
By Aly Raisman; illustrated by Bea Jackson
Ages 4-8
On Sale Now!

A joyful ode to loving and caring for our bodies, from Olympic gold medalist and advocate Aly Raisman and bestselling artist Bea Jackson.

My body is my own.
My body is just right for me,
From my head to my toes

From My Head to My Toes gently introduces young readers to the topics of consent and bodily autonomy in a positive way. Cheerful and informative, this story focuses on the powerful message of self-love. Aly’s inspiring words are paired with expert-vetted resources, giving adults the tools to begin having these essential conversations with kids from a young age.

DOWNLOAD From My Head to My Toes Discussion guide HERE→