Sherri L Smith Books in Order

Fifteen-year-old Lucy escapes bullying and an abusive father in her small Alaskan town. Mistaken for an adult, she joins a crabbing boat’s crew, finding friendship amid dangerous, exhausting work while struggling to keep her real age hidden.

After her grandmother dies, Kendall travels to New Orleans searching for the aunt who may be her last remaining family. Facing child services and housing uncertainty, she finds unexpected connections with a landlady, her daughter, and other young people.

Ana Shen invites her crush to dinner after eighth-grade graduation, leaving her Chinese American and African American grandparents four hours to prepare a meal. Their competing traditions and opinions force Ana to navigate family loyalties alongside her hopes for romance.

During World War II, Ida Mae Jones longs to join the Women Airforce Service Pilots. As a Black woman barred from the program, she uses her light skin to pass as white, pursuing flight while confronting the cost of concealing her identity.

After hurricanes and Delta Fever isolate the Gulf Coast, Fen de la Guerre survives among blood-based tribes. An attack on her community leaves her responsible for a baby, whose chance of a better life depends on escaping the quarantined region.

When his father is kidnapped, apprentice toymaker Stefan Drosselmeyer joins his mysterious cousin on a quest for a magical nut. Saving a princess transformed into a wooden doll draws him into a struggle against a Mouse Queen determined to destroy his family.

When Jude’s best friend is found dead in a swimming pool, family and friends offer explanations of accident or suicide. Convinced it was murder, Jude investigates their secrets, uncovering painful truths in Pasadena while risking exposure of her own past.

In Japan in 1945, violinist and kamikaze pilot Taro awaits his final mission. His connection with Hana, a girl traumatized by a bombing, brings music and affection into their brief time together as war threatens their hopes for life.

This picture-book biography introduces Misty Copeland, who began ballet near her thirteenth birthday and became American Ballet Theatre’s first Black principal dancer. Her journey follows the perseverance and achievements that opened possibilities for other young dancers.

Visiting relatives in Hiroshima when Pearl Harbor is attacked, Japanese-American teenager Amy cannot return to Hawaii. Forced to translate radio transmissions for Japan’s army, she questions her loyalties and worries about her family as the war transforms both countries.