(3) 4-6 Nine-year-old best friends Sussy and Guy have been inseparable since kindergarten. Then tragedy strikes: Guy is killed in an accident. Sussy takes comfort caring for Matylda, the pet leopard gecko the friends shared. She slowly begins to make new friends, but bad decisions (e.g., stealing from the pet store) derail her healing process. A lyrical text tells the emotional story of a grief-stricken girl.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Pascal Lemaître. When a dismayed little girl asks her parents what she can do "to make the world a better place," they each demonstrate acts of kindness and acceptance: being polite on the subway, shopping at a multicultural market, letting her walk the dog with a new friend. Illustrated with emotive ink and watercolor vignettes, this sparely written story should spark meaningful conversation.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen