J292.13 BYR. Byrd, Robert. Jason and the Argonauts: The first Great Quest in GreekMythology. [AR BL 6.8, Pts. 1.0] The story of Jason and the Argonauts is one of the earliest recorded Greek myths. This picture book traces each step of his journey—from the Golden Fleece's origin story and Jason's childhood, to his triumphant return with the prize, and his eventual death.

J379.263 TON. Tonatiuh, Duncan. Separate is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and herFamily’s Fight for Desegregation. [AR BL 5.1, Pts. 0.5) Years before the U. S. Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education, Sylvia Mendez, an eight-year-old girl of Mexican and Puerto Rican heritage, played an instrumental role in Mendez v. Westminster, the landmark desegregation case of 1946 California.

J509 ROC. Rockliff, Mara. Mesmerized: How Ben Franklin Solved a Mystery ThatBaffled All of France. [AR BL 5.0, Pts. 0.5] A whimsical depiction of a true moment in history describes how the innovative American founding father used the scientific method to discern the practices of a famous Parisian magician.

J557.913 CHI. Chin, Jason. Grand Canyon. [AR BL 6.9, Pts. 1.0] Follow a father and daughter as they make their way through the cavernous wonder, discovering life both past and present.

J595.774 HEO. Heos, Bridget. I, Fly: The Buzz about Flies and How Awesome They Are. [AR BL 3.2, Pts. 0.5] This fact-filled book follows the experiences of Fly, who describes to a classroom of interested youngsters the characteristics and life cycles of his own species.

J597.33 ROY. Roy, Katherine. Neighborhood Sharks: Hunting with Great Whites ofCalifornia’s Farallon Islands. [AR BL 6.6, Pts. 0.5] An up close look at the ocean’s most fearsome and famous predator and the scientists who study them—just 26 miles from the Golden Gate Bridge!

J599.533 HAT. Hatkoff, Juliana. Winter’s Tail: How One Little Dolphin Learned to Swim. [AR PL 7.0, Pts. 1.0] Describes the rescue and rehabilitation of a young Atlantic bottlenose dolphin, named Winter, who received an artificial tail after being badly injured when caught in a crab trap.

J599.785 MAT. Mattick, Lindsay. Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s MostFamous Bear. [AR BL 3.4, Pts.0.5] A woman tells her young son the true story of how his great-great-grandfather, Captain Harry Colebourn, rescued and learned to love a bear cub in 1914, as he was on his way to take care of soldiers’ horses during World War I. The bear became the inspiration for A. A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh.

J599.794 COX. Cox, Lynne. Elizabeth, Queen of the Seas. [AR BL 4.5, Pts. 0.5] Describes how an elephant seal made a home in New Zealand’s narrow Avon River and loved to stretch out across a two-lane road, requiring volunteers to tow her farther out to sea after she kept returning repeatedly.

J636.7 DEN. Dennis Brian. Nubs: The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine and a Miracle. [AR BL 4.8, Pts. 0.5] Tells the true story of a mutt named Nubs, who was befriended by Brian Dennis, a Marine on duty at the Iraqi border. Nubs became so devoted to Brian that he followed him on foot to his next post more than 70 miles away!

J636.752 GRO. Grogan John. Marley: A Dog Like No Other. [AR BL 4.9, Pts. 6.0] Follows the life story of an exuberant Labrador retriever who gets in to perpetual trouble and experiences a range of inspiring adventures.

J636.808 GEO. George, Jean Craighead. How to Talk to Your Cat. [AR BL 4.2, PTS. 0.5] Describes how cats communicate with people through their behavior and sounds, and explains how to talk back to them using sounds, behavior, and body language. J664.6 MCC. McCarthy, Meghan. Pop!: The Invention of Bubble Gum. [AR BL 4.8, Pts. 0.5] Full of fun historical facts, this book is the true story of how bubble gum was invented.

J796.357 GOL. Golenbock, Peter. Teammates. [AR BL 5.4, Pts. 0.5] Describes the racial prejudice experienced by Jackie Robinson when he joined the Brooklyn Dodgers and became the first black player in Major League baseball and depicts the acceptance and support he received from his white teammate Pee Wee Reese.

J796.425 MCC. McCarthy, Meghan. The Wildest Race Ever: The Story of the 1904Olympic Marathon [AR BL 4.6, Pts. 0.5] The exciting and bizarre true story of the 1904 Olympic Marathon, which took place at the St. Louis World’s Fair. 

J811.54 FIR . Firefly July: A Year of Very Short Poems. [AR BL 4.5, Pts. 0.5] With thirty-six very short poems by authors including Emily Dickinson, Langston Hughes, and Charlotte Zolotow, this collection provides a celebration of the seasons, from spring's rains and shining buttercups to winter's wild wind and dust of snow.

J940.531 MIL. Millman, Isaac. Hidden Child. [AR BL 5.2, Pts. 1.0] The author details his difficult experiences as a young Jewish child living in Nazi-occupied France during the 1940s.

J940.531 RUE. Ruelle, Karen Gray. The Grand Mosque of Paris: A Story of How MuslimsRescued Jews During the Holocaust. [AR BL 7.1, Pts. 1.0] During the Nazi occupation of Paris, many Jews found refuge in an unlikely place, the sprawling complex of the Grand Mosque of Paris. Not just a place of worship but also a community center, this hive of activity was an ideal temporary hiding place for escaped prisoners of war and Jews of all ages, including children.

J973.46 JUR. Jurmain, Suzanne. The Worst of Friends: Thomas Jefferson, John Adams,and the True Story of an American Feud. [AR BL 5.2, Pts. 0.5] Presents a tribute to the partnership of two founding fathers, offering insight into their clashing personalities and different views about a fledgling United States, and describing how their relationship led to the creation of opposing political parties.

J979.447 ROS. Rosenstock, Barb. The Camping Trip that Changed America: TheodoreRoosevelt, John Muir, and Our National Parks. [AR BL 5.0, Pts. 0.5] Introduces the story of how President Theodore Roosevelt, on a camping trip with naturalist John Muir in Yosemite National Park, decided to support the conservation of national parks.

Biographies

JBIO Baker. Powell, Patricia Hruby. Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker [AR BL 4.6, Pts. 1.0] Presents an extraordinary introduction to the life of the passionate performer and civil rights activist that traces her journey from the slums of St. Louis to the world’s most famous stages.

JBIO Cousteau. Berne, Jennifer. Manfish: A Story of Jacques Cousteau. [AR BL 4.3, Pts. 0.5] Poetic text and full color paintings combine to create a portrait of the internationally known oceanographer as a curious little boy whose love of the ocean inspired him to grow up to be a champion of the seas.

JBIO Houdini. Fleischman, Sid. Escape! The Story of the Great Houdini. [AR BL 6.6, Pts. 5.0] Profiling his early years, personal life and great accomplishments in show business, the story of magician Harry Houdini comes to life through a review of his greatest tricks and most amazing feats.

JBIO Johnson. Barton, Chris. Whoosh! Lonnie Johnson’s Super-Soaking Stream ofInventions. [AR BL 4.7, Pts. 0.5] A biography of the Tuskegee-educated inventor and NASA engineer whose knowledge of fluid dynamics led to the invention of one of the most popular toys ever—the Super Soaker.

JBIO Lovelace. Stanley, Diane. Ada Lovelace, Poet of Science: The first ComputerProgrammer. [AR BL 5.0, Pts. 0.5] 100 years before the dawn of the digital age, Ada Lovelace envisioned the computer-driven world we know today. And in demonstrating how the machine would be coded, she wrote the first computer program.

JBIO Newton. Losure, Mary. Isaac: The Alchemist, Secrets of Isaac Newton Reveal’d. [AR BL 6.3, Pts. 3.0] Before Isaac Newton became the father of physics, he was a boy living in an apothecary’s house, observing, experimenting, and recording his observations in a tiny notebook. Living in a time before science as we know it existed, Isaac studied the few books he could get his hands on, built handmade machines, and experimented with alchemy—a process of chemical reactions that seemed, at the time, to be magical!

JBIO Posada. Tonatiuh, Duncan. Funny Bones: Posada and His Day of the DeadCalaveras. This brief biography introduces Mexican printer and artist José Guadalupe "Lupe" Posada, who became famous for his drawings of calaveras, pictures of skeletons doing various activities, that have become identified with the Mexican Day of the Dead celebrations.

JBIO Roget. Bryant, Jennifer. The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus. [AR BL 4.1, Pts. 0.5] "If only all the ideas in the world could be found in one place." With this in mind, chronic list-maker Peter Mark Roget wrote his Thesaurus, first published in 1852.

JBIO Rudolph. Krull, Kathleen. Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph Became theWorld’s Fastest Woman. [AR BL 5.1, Pts. 0.5] A biography of the African-American woman who overcame crippling polio as a child to become the first woman to win three gold medals in track in a single Olympics.