I, Juan de Pareja
by Elizabeth Borton de Treviño
Middle grade · ages 10–14 · grades 5–9 · 820L · 1965
Why we'd hand it over
A Newbery winner that doesn't condescend—serious, historically grounded, and genuinely about how one person's refusal to accept powerlessness can remake a life; the prose is elegant and the emotional core is real.