Tag Archives: juvenile fiction

New Book Spotlight: Under the Broken Sky

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Under the Broken Sky / by Mariko Nagai / 2019

Under the Broken Sky by Mariko Nagai is a historical fiction set in the Empire of Manchuria at the end of World War II. The novel, written in verse, follows sisters Natsu and Asa as they seek refuge after their village was attacked by the Soviet Union. For Natsu, the most important thing is keeping her sister safe at all costs, even if it means selling her.

This novel offers readers a glimpse into the life of refugees and how quickly their lives can be turned upside down and completely changed forever. The novel also allows a rare look into how the Axis powers lived during World War II and how they were treated after war officially ended.

Nagai intricately created poems to represent the importance of family and hope during tumultuous times, and easily pulls at the heartstrings of her audience.

Under the Broken Sky is available from CECH Library, as well as the OhioLINK and Search Ohio lending networks.

Review by Alice Somers (she/her), CECH Library Student Assistant | Secondary English Education, CECH 2025

New Book Spotlight: The Blackbird Girls

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The New Book Spotlight highlights new-to-us titles in the the UC College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services (CECH) Library.

The Blackbird Girls / by Anne Blankman / 2020

Content Advisory/Trigger Warning: physical and mental abuse, anti-Semitism

Anne Blankman’s The Blackbird Girls is a historical fiction that jumps between Oksana and Valentina in the aftermath of the Chernobyl power plant explosion in 1986, and Rifka who is on the run from the Nazis in 1941.

Rifka grew up practicing Judaism while Valentina identifies only ethnically with Judism. Separated by over forty years, the two girls experienced anti-Semitism in ways that were similar yet so different. Oksana was the perfect Ukrainian, and all her life she was told to hate Valentina and people “of her kind”.

When the Chernobyl power plant exploded, Valentina and Oksana’s lives were forced together much to their dismay. But when they have to live together in Leningrad with Valentina’s grandmother, they learn how similar they are and how important they are to each other.

Blankman explores the impact World War II and the Holocaust had on Jewish people while showing personal growth in a prejudice time in world history. Blankman has created a story full of hope and resilience in a time of fear and uncertainty.

The Blackbird Girls is available from CECH Library, as well as the OhioLINK and Search Ohio lending networks. It also won the 2020 National Jewish Book Award for Middle Grades Literature.

Review by Alice Somers (she/her), CECH Library Student Assistant | Secondary English Education, CECH 2025

Celebrate LGBTQIA+ Pride at CECH Library

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The CECH Library is a proud ally of the LGBTQIA+ communities and a safe space for all.

Check out our pride window display this month outside the CECH Library in 300 Teachers-Dyer Complex. In addition to hundreds of hanging colored paper hearts, the display features quotes from LGBTQIA+ activists including Harvey Milk, Audre Lorde, and Marsha P. Johnson.  

We have also put together a reading list of LGBTQIA+ children’s, teen, and YA books. All of these books are available at the CECH Library and can be requested by visiting your library record. 

Haley Shaw, Temporary Librarian
CECH Library