After his parents die, Jeffrey Lionel Magee's life--and his name--changes. Maniac Magee appears in Two Mills looking ragged and undernourished, and the kids make fun of him until they see him on the football field. But somehow, despite his own problems, Maniac Magee manages to bring a new direction to everyone he encounters along his path.

Eighth grader Drew Ellis recognizes that he is't afforded the same opportunities, no matter how hard he works, that his privileged classmates at the Riverdale Academy Day School take for granted, and to make matters worse, Drew begins to feel as if his good friend Liam might be one of those privileged kids and is finding it hard not to withdraw, even as their mutual friend Jordan tries to keep their group of friends together.

As COVID-19 gripped America, we learned that African American communities were being disproportionately infected and killed by the pandemic. Minority communities lag behind in access to medical care, healthy food, clean air and water, mental health care, education, and more. D.L. Hughley does a deep dive into the white lies surrounding Black public health, resulting in a lively work of social commentary that's essential for understanding race relations...

"Eleven-year-old Zomorod, originally from Iran, tells her story of growing up Iranian in Southern California during the Iranian Revolution and hostage crisis of the late 1970s"--

"Jay Gladstone was born to privilege. He is a civic leader and a generous philanthropist, as well as the owner of an NBA team. But in today's New York, even a wealthy man's life can spin out of control, no matter the money or influence he possesses. Jay sees himself as a moral man, determined not to repeat his father's mistakes. He would rather focus on his unstable second marriage and his daughter Aviva than worry about questions of race or privilege....

When his father, who's in the United States illegally, becomes injured and unemployed, eleven-year-old Sandro is determined to help his parents raise money for his little sister's heart surgery by collecting scrap metal to recycle for cash.