We’re losing an hour of reading time to Daylight Savings this weekend, so here are some very short books for all ages to get you through this trying time.
For kids:
Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson (161 pages, written in verse). ZJ worries about his dad, a former pro football player who is dealing with the health consequences of head injuries sustained during his games. It’s a poignant story about the emotional lives of boys that will please sports fans and non-sports-fans alike.
Freckle Juice by Judy Blume (46 pages). Andrew, jealous of his friend Nicky’s freckles (his mother would never be able to tell whether his neck was dirty!), comes up with a plan to get some freckles of his own using know-it-all-Sharon’s freckle juice recipe. But all does not go to plan.
George’s Marvelous Medicine by Roald Dahl (88 pages). When George decides that his grumpy grandma must be a witch, he concocts some marvelous medicine to take care of her with ingredients like toothpaste, hair remover, canary seed, and floor polish. Caution: do not try this at home!
This is Your Time by Ruby Bridges (55 pages). Chosen as the child to integrate all-white public schools in New Orleans, Ruby Bridges shares her story with young readers and encourages young people to continue to make change in our world.
For teens:
American Ace by Marilyn Nelson (123 pages). Sixteen-year-old Connor tries to help his severely depressed father, who learned upon his mother’s death that Nonno was not his biological father, by doing research that reveals Dad’s father was probably a Tuskegee Airman.
Heaven by Angela Johnson (138 pages). Fourteen-year-old Marley’s seemingly perfect life in the small town of Heaven is disrupted when she discovers that her father and mother are not her real parents.
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros (110 pages). This coming-of-age classic is the remarkable story of Esperanza Cordero, a young Latina girl growing up in Chicago, inventing for herself who and what she will become. It’s told in a series of vignettes-sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes deeply joyous.
For adults:
The Art of War by Sunzi (96 pages). An ancient Chinese treatise on the strategies of war stresses the importance of speed, sound tactics, subterfuge, discipline, appropriate form of attack, and accurate intelligence.
Dear Ijeawele, or, A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (63 pages). When Adichie received a letter from a friend asking for suggestions for raising an empowered daughter, Adichie collected her responses into this book. Small, but powerful, wry and direct, this is an excellent choice to read during Women’s History Month in March, too.
Light for the World to See: A Thousand Words on Race and Hope by Kwame Alexander (96 pages). This powerful and evocative collection of poems addresses anti-Black racism in America in a lyrical response to the continued struggle of Black people in America.
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stephenson (90 pages). Dr. Jekyll invented a drug that would change him into the ominous Mr. Hyde. His evil nature, however, became the stronger part of him and to his horror, he no longer needed the formula to transform his appearance.
