In Halfway to Perfect, Dyamonde’s best friend Damaris starts losing weight when girls in their 3rd grade class make fun of her for being fat. When another classmate faints on the playground because of her diabetes, the kids ostracize her. In this, Nikki Grime’s 4th book in the award-winning Dyamonde Daniel chapter book series, she handles two important issues in the lives of elementary school children with compassion and a light touch. (Putnam, 2012. Ages 7 and up.)

The Unfortunate Son by Constance Leeds

16th Century France. “… on the left side there was nothing at all. Just smooth skin where an ear ought to have been.” When Luc is born with only one ear, he is sent to live with a poor fisherman and his family by his nobleman father, who can’t bear the sight of his weak, deformed son. The story of how Luc not only survives his father’s cruelty, but goes on to face adventure in North Africa and back to France again makes for riveting historical fiction. (Viking, 2012. Ages 11 and up.)