Theme: Determination

Jo Jo the Giant

By Book Importer | Published: April 10, 2012

JoJo may be small, but his heart is big and so are his dreams. The red Rocket Racers in the window of Smiling Sam’s Shoe Shop could be his, but only if he can stand up to the big kids and run the race of his life. The boy in the mirror looks doubtful, but [...]

Descriptors: Americas, Canada, Picture Book, Primary (ages 6-9), Realistic Fiction » Other Themes: , , , » Leave a comment

Snowmobile: Bombardier’s Dream Machine

By Book Importer | Published: April 10, 2012

The true story of Joseph-Armand Bombardier’s journey to invent the snowmobile.

Descriptors: Americas, Biography, Canada, Intermediate (ages 9-14) » Other Themes: , , , » Leave a comment

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

By Book Importer | Published: April 3, 2012

When 14-year-old William Kamkwamba’s Malawi village was hit by a drought in 2001, everyone’s crops began to fail. His family didn’t have enough money for food, let alone school, so William spent his days in the library. He came across a book on windmills and figured out how to build a windmill that could bring [...]

Descriptors: Africa, Biography, Malawi, Picture Book, Primary (ages 6-9) » Other Themes: , , , , , , , , » Leave a comment

Mermaid Queen

By Book Importer | Published: February 23, 2012

As a child growing up in Australia, Annette Kellerman was a frail ugly duckling who dreamed of becoming a graceful ballerina. With courage and determination, she confronted a crippling illness to become an internationally known record-setting athlete who revolutionized the sport of swimming for women, a movie star who invented water ballet, and a fashion [...]

Descriptors: Australia, Biography, Oceania, Picture Book, Primary (ages 6-9) » Other Themes: , , , , , , » Leave a comment

An Elephant in the Garden

By Book Importer | Published: January 11, 2012

Lizzie and Karl’s mother is a zoo keeper; the family has become attached to an orphaned elephant named Marlene, who will be destroyed as a precautionary measure so she and the other animals don’t run wild should the zoo be hit by bombs. The family persuades the zoo director to let Marlene stay in their [...]

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

A Girl Named Faithful Plum

By Book Importer | Published: December 12, 2011

In 1977, when Zhongmei Lei was eleven years old, she learned that the prestigious Beijing Dance Academy was having open auditions. She’d already taken dance lessons, but everyone said a poor country girl would never get into the academy, especially without any connections in the Communist Party of the 1970s. But Zhongmei, whose name means [...]

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

Nowhere Girl

By Book Importer | Published: December 5, 2011

Luchi Ann only knows a few things about herself: she was born in a prison in Thailand. Her American mother was an inmate there. And now that her mother has died, Luchi must leave the only place she’s ever known and set out into the world. Neither at home as a Thai, because of her [...]

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

The Secret Garden

By Book Importer | Published: October 26, 2011

“The Secret Garden” is the story of Mary Lennox, a sick young girl living in India with her parents. Mary rarely sees her parents though, as her sick and unsightly condition is too much for them to bother with. She is placed in the constant care of Indian servants until an outbreak of cholera kills [...]

Descriptors: England (UK), Fantasy, Intermediate (ages 9-14), Primary (ages 6-9), Young Adult (ages 14-18) » Other Themes: , , » Leave a comment

Trapped: How the World Rescued 33 Miners from 2,000 Feet Below the Chilean Desert

By Book Importer | Published: September 26, 2011

In early August 2010, the unthinkable happened when a mine collapsed in CopiapÓ, Chile, and 33 miners were trapped 2,000 feet below the surface. For sixty-nine days they lived on meager resources and increasingly poor air quality. When they were finally rescued, the world watched with rapt attention and rejoiced in the amazing spirit and [...]

Descriptors: Chile, Intermediate (ages 9-14), Latin America, Nonfiction » Other Themes: , , , , , , » Leave a comment

Sundiata: Lion King of Mali

By Book Importer | Published: August 15, 2011

The story of Sundiata, who overcame physical handicaps, social disgrace, and strong opposition to rule Mali in the thirteenth century.

Descriptors: Africa, Biography, Mali, Picture Book, Primary (ages 6-9) » Other Themes: , , , , , , , » Leave a comment