“The Good Daughter: A Memoir of My Mother’s Hidden Life” by Jasmin Darznik. Beautiful, poetic and strikes the right balance between pride and recognizing where we might not be perfect–but don’t worry, you’re left with a strong sense of hope for us all. “We are America” by Walter Dean Myers & Christopher Myers.

Powers.A great look at life in a modern day South African shantytown with its love, family, fears, and balance between traditional and contemporary culture. You just can’t help loving and rooting for diamond in the rough Doug. Already a National Book Award finalist, I predict this will be on many award lists.

Chinese American girl handling her two cultures with humor and smarts! “The Great Wall of Lucy Wu” by Wendy Shang. A must for dog lovers, especially in the Appalachian area. Another sweet story of determination for a slightly older set - even adults will enjoy these characters! A warm look at determination and a different culture, not to mention strong females, from a Cuban American author. “Tia Isa Wants a Car” by Meg Medina and Claudio Munoz. If you liked Richard Scarry, you’ll love this! Bright, peppy, and fun with musical language and pictures you can go back to and find things you missed before.

“Mini Racer” by Kristy Dempsey and Bridget Strevens-Marzo. When we asked Erskine for her recommendations for 2011, she said: “As a children’s author, I have to focus mostly on books for young people, but for anyone young at heart, these books are universal.” Kathryn Erskine is the author of four children’s books: “The Absolute Value of Mike,” “Mockingbird,” “Quaking,” and “Ibhubesi: The Lion.” Erskine received the National Book Award in 2010 for “Mockingbird” and her book “The Absolute Value of Mike” was voted a “Best Children’s Book of 2011” by BookPage.

Kathryn erskine books