Author
Jennifer L. Holm
3 books here
Penny from Heaven
Middle grade · ages 10–14 · 760L · 2006
A quiet masterpiece about belonging and family that captures 1950s Italian-American working-class life with specificity and heart — the kind of book kids reread and remember as adults.
Our Only May Amelia
Middle grade · ages 10–14 · 780L · 1999
A Newbery winner that doesn't feel like one—spirited, funny, and genuinely about a girl figuring out who she is against the grain of her family's hopes; the frontier setting and Finnish details feel lived-in rather than researched.
Turtle in Paradise
Middle grade · ages 8–12 · 760L · 2021
A Depression-era jewel that doesn't lecture—Turtle's scrappiness and the vividness of Key West make history immediate, and the message (belonging is something you find, not something you inherit) lands quietly and hard.