Theme: bully

Brave Charlotte and the Wolves

Charlotte the sheep proves her courage once again when the rest of her flock, including Wolfi and his gang of pretend wolves, trembles in fear at the sound of howling in the forest.

Descriptors: Europe, Fantasy, Germany, Picture Book, Primary (ages 6-9) » Other Themes: , , , , , » Leave a comment

Johnny Swanson

The secret to instant height?  Stand on a box.Want to make your money go further? Roll it down a hill.The answer to smelly feet? Wear a clothes pin on your nose.Eleven-year-old Johnny Swanson is in business. He’s raking in the money with his advertising scams and his advice columnist persona, who offers advice on absolutely [...]

Descriptors: England (UK), Historical Fiction, Intermediate (ages 9-14) » Other Themes: , , , , , , » Leave a comment

Orchards

After a classmate commits suicide, Kana Goldberg—a half-Japanese, half-Jewish American—wonders who is responsible. She and her cliquey friends said some thoughtless things to the girl. Hoping that Kana will reflect on her behavior, her parents pack her off to her mother’s ancestral home in Japan for the summer. There Kana spends hours under the hot [...]

Descriptors: Asia, Intermediate (ages 9-14), Japan, Poetry » Other Themes: , , , , » Leave a comment

Wonderland

She’s back. Jude’s childhood friend sexy, daring Stella returns to their stifling hometown, and life will never be the same again. Sixteen-year-old Jude has to get out of tiny Churchtown. She has to escape her outcast status and her pathetic dad, who hasn’t gotten past her mother’s death. The one bright light is drama, her [...]

Descriptors: England (UK), Realistic Fiction, Young Adult (ages 14-18) » Other Themes: , , » Leave a comment

Garmann’s Street

After succumbing to peer pressure from a bully, an unusual friendship between Garmann and the Stamp Man arises out of a near-disaster.

Descriptors: Awards, Intermediate (ages 9-14), Norway, Picture Book, Primary (ages 6-9), Realistic Fiction » Other Themes: , » Leave a comment

The Present Tense of Prinny Murphy

  An alcoholic mother, a distracted father, a best friend who spends all his time with his new “girlfriend,” and three relentless schoolyard bullies: Prinny Murphy’s past, present, and future certainly are “tense.” Adding to her misery, she still can’t read well enough to escape from remedial lessons with the dour Mrs. Dooks. But when [...]

Descriptors: Awards, Canada, Fiction, Intermediate (ages 9-14), Realistic Fiction » Other Themes: , , , , , , , , , » Leave a comment

Knightley Academy

In Violet Haberdasher’s Knightley Academy, the first commoner accepted at a prestigous boarding school uncovers a conspiracy that could lead to war.

Descriptors: England (UK), Fantasy, Young Adult (ages 14-18) » Other Themes: , , , , , , , » Leave a comment

A Faraway Island

Torn from their homeland, two Jewish sisters find refuge in Sweden. It’s the summer of 1939. Two Jewish sisters from Vienna12-year-old Stephie Steiner and 8-year-old Nellieare sent to Sweden to escape the Nazis. They expect to stay there six months, until their parents can flee to Amsterdam; then all four will go to America. But [...]

Descriptors: Austria, Europe, Historical Fiction, Intermediate (ages 9-14), Sweden » Other Themes: , , , , , , , , , , » 1 Comment

First Day in Grapes (Pura Belpre Honor Book. Illustrator (Awards))

All year long, Chico’s family moves up and down the state of California to pick fruits and vegetables. Every September, Chico starts at a new school. Often, the other kids pick on him — maybe because he’s always new, or maybe because he speaks Spanish sometimes. But third grade promises to be different. He likes [...]

Descriptors: Primary (ages 6-9), Realistic Fiction, United States of America » Other Themes: , , , , , , » Leave a comment

Four Hens and a Rooster

Four hens live on a chicken farm. A little rooster lives there, too. “What a nice little rooster you have here,” everyone says when they come to visit. Indeed, it seems so for a while. But then the rooster begins to take more food for himself, and the hens get less. When the hens try [...]

Descriptors: Early Years (ages 2-6), Fantasy, Picture Book, Scandinavia, Sweden » Other Themes: , , , , , , , » Leave a comment