Your PJ Our Way Books for April 2025

The Night War
By: Kimberley Brubaker Bradley

Ages 10+

288 pages

Twelve-year-old Miri and her neighbor’s two-year-old daughter Nora are saved from the roundup that takes their entire neighborhood in World War II Paris. They escape to a French village, where they pretend to be Catholic, and are taken in at the boarding school near the famous local castle, the Chateau de Chenonceau. One night, Miri is asked to undertake a task that could save people’s lives and might give her the opportunity to escape. However, such a choice could put her own life in danger and leave little Nora all alone with no family.

This novel by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, Newbery Honor award-winning author of The War That Saved My Life and the New York Times bestselling PJ Our Way title The War I Finally Won, adds a mystical twist to a little-known part of World War II history.

The Magical Imperfect
By: Chris Baron

Ages 10+

336 pages

Etan Hirsch stopped speaking when his mother went away. His father and grandfather aren’t sure how to help him, and his friends at school have given up on him. When Etan makes a delivery to a house at the edge of town, he meets Malia Agbayani, the girl kids used to call “the creature” because of her bad eczema. As the two become friends, Etan shares his drawings with Malia, while she sings for him. Meanwhile, Etan discovers his grandfather’s jar of clay from the old country. His grandfather tells him that the clay has magical healing properties, and Etan wonders if he can use it to help Malia.

The Magical Imperfect is set in the fall of 1989 in the San Francisco Bay Area, against the backdrop of the World Series and the Loma Prieta earthquake. Written in verse, this beautiful story explores how the magic of friendship can help a boy find his voice, a girl reconnect with her community, and a family reunite with each other and their Jewish heritage.

Max Einstein: The Genius Experiment
By: James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein

Ages 10+

368 pages

Max Einstein is a 12-year-old genius orphan whose only friends are her fellow squatters in the Manhattan horse barn where she lives. In her free time, Max attends NYU and studies the work of Albert Einstein, her hero and inspiration. Everything changes for Max when she’s abducted by members of the evil Corp and then rescued by employees of the Change Makers Institute (CMI). Funded by a mysterious benefactor, the CMI whisks Max away to Jerusalem, where young geniuses from around the world are competing to lead a team that will solve some of the world’s biggest problems using science and technology. But the Corp hasn’t given up on their quest to kidnap Max so they can exploit her genius for their own nefarious plans. Undeterred by their threats, Max and her friends refuse to give up on their quest to bring solar electricity to one of the most remote regions of the Congo.

Shloimie’s Letter
By: Freidele Galya Soban Biniashvili

Ages 9+

161 pages

It’s 1947, and Shloimie Paporovich is a 10-year-old boy living in Toronto, Canada. His parents left Poland just before the war, and his father works as a garment presser to support the family. When Shloimie breaks the neighbor’s car window, his best friend Hershel reminds him of the Jewish teaching that “everything is for the good.” Shloimie is pretty sure that’s not true.

Meanwhile, Shloimie’s parents receive a letter from a cousin living in a DP camp in Sweden, one of the few family members to have survived the war. Over the course of many months, the family works to bring the cousin to Canada while Shloimie rakes leaves and shovels snow to pay off his debt. By the end of the book, Shloimie learns that “the good” can often show up in expected ways.

This sweet story offers readers an engaging and developmentally appropriate view into the lives of immigrants and Holocaust survivors in the years after WWII. An author’s note and historical note provide useful context and additional information.