Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve always been a voracious reader of the news and history, consuming everything from Johnny Tremain to Slaughterhouse-Five, from old-fashioned newspapers to online news feeds. I’ve also always loved writing fiction. I aligned my interests in history, the news, and writing in my first novel, The Blood Lie, based on a hate crime in my hometown in the 1920s. Since then, I’ve written two other novels based on true events: Ripped Away and my novel, listed below.


I wrote

The Sky We Shared

By Shirley Vernick,

Book cover of The Sky We Shared

What is my book about?

Nellie and Tamiko live on opposite sides of the world, on opposite sides of WWII. What could they possibly have…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

The books I picked & why

Book cover of The Assignment

Shirley Vernick Why did I love this book?

I love how this book portrays young people intelligently speaking truth to power…even when that power is the teacher grading you…even when that teacher is well-liked…even when some oppose your ideas.

This novel showed me what antisemitism (and bigotry in general) can look like in a contemporary high school, a place already brewing with emotions, factions, and hormones. The characters are so nuanced and realistic that I felt I was right there with them in the classroom and beyond.

This book inspired many productive conversations with my family and friends.

By Liza Wiemer,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Assignment as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 12, 13, 14, and 15.

What is this book about?

Inspired by a real-life incident, this riveting novel explores the dangerous impact discrimination and antisemitism have on one community when a school assignment goes terribly wrong.

Would you defend the indefensible?

That's what seniors Logan March and Cade Crawford are asked to do when a favorite teacher instructs a group of students to argue for the Final Solution--the Nazi plan for the genocide of the Jewish people.

Logan and Cade decide they must take a stand, and soon their actions draw the attention of the student body, the administration, and the community at large. But not everyone feels as Logan…


Book cover of The Blackbird Girls

Shirley Vernick Why did I love this book?

I’ve read many nonfiction pieces about the Chernobyl nuclear power explosion, but nothing comes close to the emotional impact of watching these two fictional fifth-graders live through the devastation and evacuation that ensued.

I cried and then cheered as these girls, who were initially separated by religious discrimination, built a friendship in the face of mutual tragedy.

I love a story that is both uplifting and heartbreaking, and this book is a shining example.

By Anne Blankman,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Blackbird Girls as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 9, 10, 11, and 12.

What is this book about?

On a spring morning, neighbors Valentina Kaplan and Oksana Savchenko wake up to an angry red sky. A reactor at the nuclear power plant where their fathers work - Chernobyl - has exploded. Before they know it, the two girls, who've always been enemies, find themselves on a train bound for Leningrad to stay with Valentina's estranged grandmother, Rita Grigorievna. In their new lives in Leningrad, they begin to learn what it means to trust another person. Oksana must face the lies her parents told her all her life. Valentina must keep her grandmother's secret, one that could put all…


Book cover of We Dream of Space

Shirley Vernick Why did I love this book?

The 1986 Challenger shuttle explosion. I remember exactly where I was - at home - and what I was doing - living my everyday young person’s life.

This is the setting for the three siblings in this novel, which I could not put down. Like me, the characters have to process the reality of the explosion right alongside doing homework, squabbling with each other, and watching sitcoms.

I love how the kids end up much more resilient without any heavy-handed messaging from the author. And the ’80s details are the best!

By Erin Entrada Kelly,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked We Dream of Space as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 8, 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

A Newbery Honor Book * BookPage Best Books * Chicago Public Library Best Fiction * Goodreads Choice Awards Nominee * Horn Book Fanfare * New York Times Notable Children's Book * School Library Journal Best Book * Today Show Pick * An ALA Notable Book

"A 10 out of 10 . . . Anyone interested in science, sibling relationships, and friendships will enjoy reading We Dream of Space."-Time for Kids

Newbery Medalist and New York Times-bestselling author Erin Entrada Kelly transports readers to 1986 and introduces them to the unforgettable Cash, Fitch, and Bird Nelson Thomas in this pitch-perfect middle…


Book cover of A Death-Struck Year

Shirley Vernick Why did I love this book?

This vivid YA novel about the impact of the Spanish influenza pandemic in 1918 holds a special place in my heart. The uncle I never knew died in that pandemic at age nine, and my mother was the “replacement baby” three years later.

So, I guess you could say I owe my existence to that pandemic. Beyond this personal attachment to the subject, I loved the deft portrayal of the main character’s internal turmoil: she wants to help the sick, but she doesn’t want to get sick herself.

I think anyone who lived through the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic can relate. I know I do.

By Makiia Lucier,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked A Death-Struck Year as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Schools, churches, and theaters shut down. The entire city is thrust into survival mode-and into a panic. Headstrong and foolish, seventeen-year-old Cleo is determined to ride out the pandemic in the comfort of her own home, rather than in her quarantined boarding school dorms. But when the Red Cross pleads for volunteers, she can't ignore the call. As Cleo struggles to navigate the world around her, she is surprised by how much she finds herself caring about near-strangers. Strangers like Edmund, a handsome medical student and war vet. Strangers who could be gone tomorrow. And as the bodies begin to…


Book cover of Armstrong and Charlie

Shirley Vernick Why did I love this book?

I love the unique and true voices in this alternating-narrator story of two boys in LA who differ by race and neighborhood but end up in the same sixth-grade class, thanks to bussing.

The hilarious dialogue, combined with the sobering elements of grief and bullying, takes this gem way beyond the usual “unlikely friendship” trope.

I delighted in watching these two boys flail and ultimately thrive in the quagmire that is early adolescence.  

By Steven B. Frank,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Armstrong and Charlie as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Charlie isn't looking forward to sixth grade. If he starts sixth grade, chances are he'll finish it, and he'll be older than his older brother ever was. Armstrong isn't looking forward to sixth grade either. He'll have to wake up at five thirty to ride a bus to an all-white school in the Hollywood Hills. When they are assigned seats next to each other, what starts as a rivalry becomes a close friendship.

Set in Los Angeles in the 1970s, Armstrong and Charlie is the hilarious, heartwarming tale of two boys from opposite worlds. Different, yet the same.


Explore my book 😀

The Sky We Shared

By Shirley Vernick,

Book cover of The Sky We Shared

What is my book about?

Nellie and Tamiko live on opposite sides of the world, on opposite sides of WWII. What could they possibly have in common? This novel explores the true story of the only WWII casualties in the continental U.S.: Project Fu-Go, Japan’s 10,000 bombs sent by balloons across the ocean to the U.S.

In rural Oregon, Nellie waits for her father to come home from the army, filling her days with salvage drives, secret love, rationing, and annoying twin brothers. In southern Japan, Tamiko finds a secret way to support her country’s war effort while her brother goes off to fight the Americans. Nellie’s and Tamiko’s spheres couldn’t be more different … until their worlds collide in life-changing ways.

Book cover of The Assignment
Book cover of The Blackbird Girls
Book cover of We Dream of Space

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,187

readers submitted
so far, will you?

You might also like...

No Average Day: The 24 Hours of October 24, 1944

By Rona Simmons,

Book cover of No Average Day: The 24 Hours of October 24, 1944

Rona Simmons Author Of No Average Day: The 24 Hours of October 24, 1944

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

I come by my interest in history and the years before, during, and after the Second World War honestly. For one thing, both my father and my father-in-law served as pilots in the war, my father a P-38 pilot in North Africa and my father-in-law a B-17 bomber pilot in England. Their histories connect me with a period I think we can still almost reach with our fingertips and one that has had a momentous impact on our lives today. I have taken that interest and passion to discover and write true life stories of the war—focusing on the untold and unheard stories often of the “Average Joe.”

Rona's book list on World War II featuring the average Joe

What is my book about?

October 24, 1944, is not a day of national remembrance. Yet, more Americans serving in World War II perished on that day than on any other single day of the war.

The narrative of No Average Day proceeds hour by hour and incident by incident while focusing its attention on ordinary individuals—clerks, radio operators, cooks, sailors, machinist mates, riflemen, and pilots and their air crews. All were men who chose to serve their country and soon found themselves in a terrifying and otherworldly place.

No Average Day reveals the vastness of the war as it reaches past the beaches in…

No Average Day: The 24 Hours of October 24, 1944

By Rona Simmons,

What is this book about?

October 24, 1944, is not a day of national remembrance. Yet, more Americans serving in World War II perished on that day than on December 7, 1941, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, or on June 6, 1944, when the Allies stormed the beaches of Normandy, or on any other single day of the war. In its telling of the events of October 24, No Average Day proceeds hour by hour and incident by incident. The book begins with Army Private First-Class Paul Miller's pre-dawn demise in the Sendai #6B Japanese prisoner of war camp. It concludes with the death…


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in discrimination, the Spanish flu, and space shuttles?

Discrimination 36 books
The Spanish Flu 25 books
Space Shuttles 8 books