MS Summer Reading 2023

The extraordinary story of Stefania Podgórska, a Polish teenager who chose bravery and humanity by hiding thirteen Jews in her attic during WWII, from #1 New York Times bestselling author Sharon Cameron -- now a Reese's Book Club YA Pick! One knock at the door, and Stefania has a choice to make... It is 1943, and for four years, sixteen-year-old Stefania has been working for the Diamant family in their grocery store in Przemysl, Poland, singing her way into their lives and hearts. She has even made a promise to one of their sons, Izio -- a betrothal they must keep secret since she is Catholic and the Diamants are Jewish. But everything changes when the German army invades Przemysl. The Diamants are forced into the ghetto, and Stefania is alone in an occupied city, the only one left to care for Helena, her six-year-old sister. And then comes the knock at the door. Izio's brother Max has jumped from the train headed to a death camp. Stefania and Helena make the extraordinary decision to hide Max, and eventually twelve more Jews. Then they must wait, every day, for the next knock at the door, the one that will mean death. When the knock finally comes, it is two Nazi officers, requisitioning Stefania's house for the German army. With two Nazis below, thirteen hidden Jews above, and a little sister by her side, Stefania has one more excruciating choice to make. This remarkable tale of courage and humanity, based on a true story, is now a Reese's Book Club YA Pick!

New York Times Bestseller Nathan Hale, the author's historical namesake, was America's first spy, a Revolutionary War hero who famously said "I regret that I have but one life to give for my country" before being hanged by the British. In the Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales series, author Nathan Hale channels his namesake to present history's roughest, toughest, and craziest stories in the graphic novel format. One Dead Spy tackles the story of Hale himself, who was an officer and spy for the American rebels during the Revolutionary War. Author Hale highlights the unusual, gruesome, and just plain unbelievable truth of historical Nathan Hale - from his early unlucky days at Yale to his later unlucky days as an officer - and America during the Revolutionary War. Praise for Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales: One Dead Spy "An innovative approach to history that will have young people reading with pleasure." - Kirkus Reviews "Readers interested in American history will enjoy these graphic novels... Comic panels of varying sizes enhance the real-life events and support the stories' over-the-top humor... the writing is accessible and entertaining; author Hale's style gives readers an insider-y, you-are-there-type scoop." - Horn Book

Meet Underground Railroad abductor Harriet Tubman in this installment of the New York Times bestselling graphic novel series! Araminta Ross was an enslaved woman born in Delaware. After years of backbreaking labor and the constant threat of being sold and separated from her family, she escaped and traveled north to freedom. Once there, she changed her name to Harriet Tubman. As an "abductor" on the Underground Railroad, she risked her life helping countless enslaved people escape to freedom. Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales are graphic novels that tell the thrilling, shocking, gruesome, and TRUE stories of American history. Read them all--if you dare! Get The Underground Abductor and two other Hazardous Tales in the Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales 3-Book Boxed Set, available now!