Mission Statement and Core Values for NCCS: Community

Across the course of several seemingly unrelated but ultimately connected actions by different children, we watch how kids turn a lonely island into a community--and watch a journey from what the world should be to what the world could be.

Follows five friends as they explore their community during a street fair, learning all about the different businesses, public spaces, and people in their neighborhood.

Every day, nine-year-old Yasmin borrows a book from Book Uncle, a retired teacher who has set up a free lending library next to her apartment building. But when the mayor tries to shut down the rickety bookstand, Yasmin has to take her nose out of her book and do something.

A community coming together--believing in each other, helping each other, and sharing burdens and joys--can make a difference.

When the aroma of Omu's homemade stew fills the air, her neighbors arrive, one by one, for a taste until all is gone except for her generous spirit.

A young boy rides the bus across town with his grandmother and learns to appreciate the beauty in everyday things.

Despite their own poverty since Daddy died, Mama tells nine-year-old James Otis they need to help Sarah, seven, whose family lost everything in a fire.

A group of children with different abilities and strengths come together to build a community garden.

Other students laugh when Rigoberto, an immigrant from Venezuela, introduces himself but later, he meets Angelina and discovers that he is not the only one who feels like an outsider.

Encourages young people to become involved in community service projects, with more than five hundred ideas for different ways they can serve their communities, including suggestions for working with animals, protecting the environment, improving health, helping the homeless and elderly, celebrating holidays, and aiding in community development.

In a book for young people, Chelsea Clinton informs readers about issues facing our world and what kids can do to help solve them. Grade 5-8 (Lexile: NC 1330)

When he was just eighteen, Eric David Dawson co-founded the non-profit Peace First based on the idea that young people can change the world for the better--not someday, but right now. Twenty-five years later, Peace First has reached millions worldwide, teaching young people how to become peacemakers and create real change. Now, Dawson has written PUTTING PEACE FIRST, the handbook every aspiring peacemaker needs.

Using the inspiring stories of real life peacemakers, each chapter highlights a different aspect of peacemaking, from Opening Your Heart to Taking a Stand. With clear, step-by-step explanations of how each peacemaker achieved their goals, this book is a guide for anyone who wants to make a difference. Grade 5-8 (Lexile: 850)

Presents advice for teenagers who desire to cultivate changes within their schools and communities and provides information on racism, animal and human rights, environmental issues, HIV/AIDS, school violence, and tolerance. Grade 7-9

Eleven-year-old Augie Boretski dreams of escaping his run-down Camden, New Jersey, neighborhood, but things start to turn around with help from a Big Brother, a music teacher, and a mysterious bookstore owner, so when his school is in trouble, he pulls the community together to save it.

As punishment for her BIG mistake at the end of the school year, 13-year-old Jamie must spend her summer volunteering at Foxfield Public Library. As Jamie gets to know the library and the people in it, she finds--and gives--help where she least expects it. Grade 4-6

A collection of short stories set in a small Mexican-American community in southern Texas during the 1940s and 1950s, revealing the traditions, love, and social concerns of the families living there. Grade 6+ (Lexile: 810)

Life at Flint Hill Elementary School may seem normal, but seven friends find themselves on a path to crack the code for an epic life. Whether they're chasing their dreams on stage, searching for an elusive monster fish, or running a makeshift business out of a tree house, can these heroes find a way to work together to change their community? Grade 5-7

When seventh-grader Mango Delight Fuller accidentally breaks her BFF Brooklyn's new cell phone, her life falls apart. She loses her friends and her spot on the track team, and even costs her father his job as a chef. But Brooklyn's planned revenge--sneakily signing up Mango to audition for the school musical--backfires when Mango not only wins the lead role, but becomes a YouTube sensation and attracts the attention of the school's queen bee, Hailey Jo. Hailey Jo is from a VERY wealthy family, and expects everyone to do her bidding. Soon Mango finds herself forced to make tough choices about the kind of friend she wants to have . . . and, just as important, the kind of friend she wants to be. Grade 5-8 (Lexile: 820)

Moving to the small town of Pumpkin Falls to take over the family bookstore when her injured war veteran father cannot find other work, Truly finds an unsent letter in a valuable book and embarks on a madcap treasure hunt. Grade 3-7 (Lexile: 790)

A Pakistani-American Muslim girl struggles to stay true to her family's vibrant culture while simultaneously blending in at school after tragedy strikes her community in this sweet and moving middle grade novel from the award-winning author of It's Ramadan, Curious George and Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns .

Amina has never been comfortable in the spotlight. She is happy just hanging out with her best friend, Soojin. Except now that she's in middle school everything feels different. Soojin is suddenly hanging out with Emily, one of the "cool" girls in the class, and even talking about changing her name to something more "American." Does Amina need to start changing too? Or hiding who she is to fit in? While Amina grapples with these questions, she is devastated when her local mosque is vandalized.

Amina's Voice brings to life the joys and challenges of a young Pakistani American and highlights the many ways in which one girl's voice can help bring a diverse community together to love and support each other. Grade 3-6 (Lexile: 800L)

Merci Suárez knew that sixth grade would be different, but she had no idea just how different. For starters, Merci has never been like the other kids at her private school in Florida, because she and her older brother, Roli, are scholarship students. They don't have a big house or a fancy boat, and they have to do extra community service to make up for their free tuition. So when bossy Edna Santos sets her sights on the new boy who happens to be Merci's school-assigned Sunshine Buddy, Merci becomes the target of Edna's jealousy. Things aren't going well at home, either: Merci's grandfather and most trusted ally, Lolo, has been acting strangely lately -- forgetting important things, falling from his bike, and getting angry over nothing. No one in her family will tell Merci what's going on, so she's left to her own worries, while also feeling all on her own at school. Grade 4-7 (Lexile: 700)

One by one, a number of people of varying ages and backgrounds transform a trash-filled inner-city lot into a productive and beautiful garden, and, in doing so, the gardeners are themselves transformed. Grade 4-8

Twelve-year-old El has planned on making her first week at a new school fantastic. She won’t go by her given name, Laughter. She’ll sit in the back of the classroom where she can make new friends. She won’t even have time to think about all the fun her old friends are having without her. Everything will be great.

But when her dad picks her up after school and tells her that her younger sister, Echo, has a life-threatening illness, her world is suddenly turned upside down. And with her parents now pressed for time and money, El feels lost and powerless.

Then she befriends Octavius, the only other kid in school who gets what she’s going through. As El begins to adjust to her new life, she soon finds that maybe a little hope and a lot of love can overcome any obstacle. Grade 4-6

In the aftermath of a major earthquake, eleven-year-old Maya overcomes her own fear to help others at home and in northeast Japan, where a tsunami caused great damage. Includes author's note about the facts behind the story. Grade 4-8