Walter Farley was only 26 years old when he published The Black Stallion, the fictional adventure story of the friendship between a boy and a majestic, powerful horse. Farley’s book, first available in 1941, was an instant bestseller. The Black Stallion and its 20 sequels have sold more than 12 million copies. The novel won the 1944 Young Reader’s Choice Award and inspired three Black Stallion movies and a TV series. At the heart of... Read The Black Stallion Summary

Published in 2015, The Blackthorn Key is a children’s historical fantasy novel by Kevin Sands. Set in 17th-century London, the story follows Christopher Rowe, the young apprentice to a successful apothecary, as he puts all his skills to the test to uncover a terrible secret that is threatening the city’s apothecaries. After earning his degree in theoretical physics, Sands has worked as a business consultant and teacher. The Blackthorn Key, his debut novel, is the first book in... Read The Blackthorn Key Summary

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Originally published in 2014, The Blood of Olympus is the fifth and final book in Rick Riordan’s young adult fantasy series The Heroes of Olympus, inspired by Greek and Roman mythologies. The series follows seven demigods—children of one divine and one mortal parent—as they try to stop the earth goddess, Gaea, from rising to power. The novel won several awards, including the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Middle Grade and Children’s Book of 2014. The... Read The Blood of Olympus Summary

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The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly is a coming-of-age novel for young adults. It follows the voyage and return plot structure, in which the hero, David, is transported to a magical land, Elsewhere, where he encounters an evil power and eventually returns home having learned a valuable lesson. Published in 2006, The Book of Lost Things is Connolly’s first non-mystery novel and was a nominee for the Hughes & Hughes Irish Novel of... Read The Book of Lost Things Summary

Published in 1964, The Book of Three is a high-fantasy adventure novel for middle-grade readers. The first of five books in the series The Chronicles of Prydain, The Book of Three tells the story of Taran, a farm boy who treks with three companions across an ancient kingdom on a mission to inform its rulers of an impending attack by evil forces. The book won an ALA Notable Book award, and the series won a... Read The Book of Three Summary

Introduction Written by British author Mary Norton in 1952, The Borrowers is the first in a five-part series along with The Borrowers Afield (1955), The Borrowers Afloat (1959), The Borrowers Aloft (1961), and The Borrowers Avenged (1982). The book follows the story of the Clock family, a trio of tiny people who live beneath the kitchen floorboards in a large house in the British countryside. Norton was born in London in 1903 and grew up... Read The Borrowers Summary

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John Boyne’s juvenile historical novel The Boy at the Top of the Mountain (2016, Henry Holt and Company) weaves real-life figures and events into the fictional story of a boy named Pierrot Fischer, who becomes corrupted after falling under the direct influence of the Nazi leader, Adolf Hitler. The novel’s central themes involve the conflicts and struggles of life under Nazi rule, as well as Pierrot’s move from innocence and naïveté to violence and abuse—and... Read The Boy at The Top of the Mountain Summary

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is a historical fiction novel published in 2006 by celebrated Irish author John Boyne, known both for his adult and young adult fiction. Set around the World War II concentration camp Auschwitz, the novel combines realism with parable. It portrays a young German boy, Bruno, whose father is commander of the camp, and his unusual and ultimately tragic friendship with a Jewish boy, Shmuel. The work sold over seven... Read The Boy in the Striped Pajamas Summary

Leon Leyson’s The Boy on the Wooden Box (2013) is a memoir for young readers about the author’s experiences as a survivor of the Holocaust. Leyson was one of the youngest persons on the famous list of Jews that businessman Oskar Schindler employed in his ammunition factory in Poland, thus saving them from execution. The book’s title comes from the fact that Leon, being small of stature, must stand on a wooden box to operate... Read The Boy On The Wooden Box Summary

The Boys Who Challenged Hitler: Knud Pedersen and the Churchill Club by Phillip Hoose is a young adult (YA) nonfiction book published in 2015. Hoose, who previously received a Newbery Honor for Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice, was inspired to write the book after learning about the Churchill Club on a visit to the Museum of Danish Resistance in Copenhagen. The book is composed of Hoose’s research-based narration of the actions and events surrounding the... Read The Boys Who Challenged Hitler Summary

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The Boy Who Dared is a young adult novel, written by award-winning children’s author Susan Campbell Bartoletti and published in 2008. The Boy Who Dared is a historical fiction novel based on the real life of Helmuth Hübener, a German boy who defied the Nazis during WWII. Alternating between his last day on death row and his memories, Helmuth’s story depicts the danger of silence, the value of the individual, and the power of the... Read The Boy Who Dared Summary

The Boy Who Saved Baseball is a highly acclaimed middle grade novel by Southern California author John Ritter. Among other recognitions, the book received the 2004 Paterson Prize for Children’s Literature, the Child Magazine Best Book of the Year Award, and the New York Library Best Book for the Teen Age Award. Of his half-dozen middle grade sports novels, this story most closely mirrors Ritter’s upbringing. It is set in a small California town near... Read The Boy Who Saved Baseball Summary

The Breadwinner, also known as Parvana, is a 2000 children’s novel by Canadian author and activist Deborah Ellis. It centers on an 11-year-old girl named Parvana who, due to her family’s circumstances, is forced to defy the Taliban and their repressive laws to become the breadwinner for her family. Exploring themes of human connection, maturation and bravery, and the repression of women, The Breadwinner was critically acclaimed upon its release and has had over 40... Read The Breadwinner Summary

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Elizabeth George Speare’s The Bronze Bow was originally published in 1961 and won the Newberry Medal for excellence in children’s literature in 1962. Told in the third-person limited perspective of the young Jewish protagonist, Daniel, this work of historical fiction takes place in Galilee during the time of Jesus. The Jews search earnestly for a leader to liberate Israel from Roman occupation, and Daniel dedicates his life to avenge his father’s murder at the hands... Read The Bronze Bow Summary