6. Epossumondas by Coleen Salley.

For a delightful comic romp about a diaper wearing possum, get this one by Cajun infused Coleen Salley.  Epossumondas follows his Auntie’s directions a bit too closely producing wet dogs and ruined pies.

7. Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai

This fictionalized true story features a family of refugees fleeing communist Vietnam to settle in Alabama. The prose, set as poetry, provides a warm, real and unforgettable story of why people come to America and what they find there.

8. Tom Crean’s Rabbit.

Tom Crean was a mate on the Terra Nova in 1910, the last Antarctic Expedition of Robert Scott. It is the story of exciting polar adventures and Crean looking for a warm place for his rabbit on the crowded Terra Nova, and a surprise on Christmas Day.