Theme: Loneliness

Dancing to Freedom: The True Story of Mao’s Last Dancer

In a poor village in northern China, a small boy named Li Cunxin was given the chance of a lifetime. Selected by Chairman Mao’s officials from among millions of children to become a dancer, Li’s new life began as he left his family behind. At the Beijing Dance Academy, days were long and difficult. Li’s [...]
Descriptors: Biography, China, Picture Book, Primary (Gr. K-3) » Other Themes: , , , , , , , » Leave a comment

Safe Return

After struggling with the death of her mother and father, Ursula worries about her beloved Aunt Dana who boarded a ship during very rough seas weeks ago and has not returned home, and finds herself faithfully waiting with fear and hope.
Descriptors: Historical Fiction, Intermediate (Gr. 4-8), Sweden » Other Themes: , , , , , , , , , » Leave a comment

Lamplighter

Orphan Rossamünd Bookchild has been sworn into the Emperor’s service—his duty is to light the lamps along the Emperor’s highways and protect travelers from the ferocious bogles that live in the wild. But he’s found it no easier to fit in with the lamplighters than he did with the foundlings—always too small and too meek—and [...]
Descriptors: Australia, Fantasy, Oceania, Young Adult (Gr. 9-12) » Other Themes: , , , , , » Leave a comment

The Big Little Book of Happy Sadness

George lived alone with his grandmother and an empty place where his mother and father should be. One Friday on his way home from school, George visited the animal shelter. There, in the very last cage, was Jeremy, a dog who looked as lost and as lonely as George. When Jeremy goes home to live [...]
Descriptors: Australia, Picture Book, Primary (Gr. K-3), Realistic Fiction » Other Themes: , , , , , » Leave a comment

Straw Sense

An old man who makes dolls breaks through the loneliness of a young boy who doesn’t speak.
Descriptors: Database » Other Themes: » Leave a comment

The Tygrine Cat

Alone and lost, a young cat called Mati is struggling to be accepted by a colony of street cats in the bustling marketplace at Cressida Lock. What Mati doesn’t know is that he is the last of a vital, age-old breed and that a mysterious feline assassin named Mithos is close on his trail. With [...]
Descriptors: England (UK), Fantasy, Intermediate (Gr. 4-8) » Other Themes: , , , , » Leave a comment

The House of Djinn

It has been ten years since Shabanu staged her death to secure the safety of her daughter, Mumtaz, from her husband’s murderous brother. Mumtaz has been raised by her father’s family with the education and security her mother desired for her, but with little understanding and love. Only her American cousin Jameel, her closest confidant [...]
Descriptors: Pakistan, Realistic Fiction, Young Adult (Gr. 9-12) » Other Themes: , , , , » Leave a comment

The Baboon King

Morengaru, a strong young hunter, has been cast out by both his mother’s people, the Kikuyu, and his father’s people, the Masai. Every day he misses human companionship, and soon he feels as though he’s becoming more like the animals around him. When Morengaru has the chance to belong again, he seizes the opportunity. Then [...]
Descriptors: Africa, Kenya, Realistic Fiction, Tanzania, Young Adult (Gr. 9-12) » Other Themes: , , , , , , , , , » Leave a comment

The Scarlet Stockings

As an infant, Daphne was abandoned on the doorstep of an all-girls school. Now, at thirteen, she longs to discover the truth about her past and to fulfill her lifelong dream of becoming a prima ballerina. When a book containing a tantalizing riddle and a magical pair of stockings arrive, her dreams of glory and [...]
Descriptors: England (UK), Fantasy, France, Intermediate (Gr. 4-8) » Other Themes: , , , , , , , , , , » Leave a comment

A Dinosaur Called Tiny

When Tiny the Dinosaur hatches out of a great, big egg, no one can believe how small he is! Tiny grows—a little—and tries to make friends with the other young dinosaurs, but they laugh and say that he isn’t big enough to play their games. But when one of the other dinosaurs is suddenly in [...]
Descriptors: England (UK), Fantasy, Picture Book, Primary (Gr. K-3) » Other Themes: , , , » Leave a comment
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