Theme: Family

Secret Letters from 0 to 10

By Yoo Kyung Sung | Published: December 1, 2008

Ernest Morlaisse leads an unadventurous life. He comes home every day and eats the same snack and sits down to his homework. Enter Victoria de Montardent, the new girl in class. When Victoria sees Ernest it’s love at first sight. And she makes her declaration to everyone: ” I love Ernest. . . . We’re [...]

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

The Gate In The Wall

By Kathy G. Short | Published: December 1, 2008

Pressed into service as a canal woman, ten-year-old Emma finds ways to utilize her artistic gifts. Although it is a better existence than her strenuous job in the English silk mill, she feels guilty over the sister she left behind. Authentic details make this an engaging story–one that reveals the hardships of the mid-1800s when [...]

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

Do You Know Me

By Yoo Kyung Sung | Published: December 1, 2008

Although he is continually getting into trouble, Tapiwa’s uncle becomes her best friend when he comes from Mozambique to live with her family in Harare, Zimbabwe.

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

Babies Can’t Eat Kimchee!

By Yoo Kyung Sung | Published: December 1, 2008

When a baby sister comes along, it seems she is just too little for anything! Will she ever be big enough to play? To whisper secrets? To eat kimchee? Will she always lie there? Scream for no reason? Be so helpless and little? When a baby sister is just too little to do anything, what’s her big [...]

Descriptors: Korea, Primary (ages 6-9), Realistic Fiction » Other Themes: , , , , » Leave a comment

Daisy and the Egg

By Yoo Kyung Sung | Published: December 1, 2008

Mama Duck and Aunt Buttercup are sitting on a new egg and Daisy is eagerly awaiting the arrival of her new brother or sister. Days pass, and Daisy waits and waits…until she finally awakened by a “Pip! Pip! Pip!”

Descriptors: England (UK), Fantasy, Primary (ages 6-9) » Other Themes: , » Leave a comment

Keeping Corner

By Yoo Kyung Sung | Published: December 1, 2008

Pretty as a peacock, twelve-year-old Leela had been spoiled all her life. She doesn’t care for school and barely marks the growing unrest between the British colonists and her own countrymen. Why should she? Her future has been planned since her engagement at two and marriage at nine. Leela’s whole life changes, though, when her husband [...]

Descriptors: Historical Fiction, India, Young Adult (ages 14-18) » Other Themes: , , , , , » Leave a comment

Theories of Relativity

By Yoo Kyung Sung | Published: December 1, 2008

Sixteen-year-old Dylan Wallace is living on the streets not through any choice of his own, unlike some of the teenagers he meets in the same situation. He’s been cut loose by his unstable mother, and lost most contact with his two younger brothers. He has nothing but his backpack stuffed with a few precious belongings and [...]

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

Porcupine

By Yoo Kyung Sung | Published: December 1, 2008

War-torn Afghanistan could not seem farther from Newfoundland, but it is about to change twelve-year-old tomboy Jack Cooper (or Jacqueline, as her mother insists on calling her) forever. When her father is killed in the war, she watches helplessly as her mother crumbles under sorrow and depression. Jack and her younger sister and brother, Tessa [...]

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

A Day with Dad

By Yoo Kyung Sung | Published: December 1, 2008

Tim lives with his mom. His dad lives in another town. But today, Tim’s dad is coming on the train so the two can spend the whole day together — just Tim and Dad. Everywhere the pair goes — the movie theater, the pizzeria, the library — Tim proudly tells the people they meet, “This [...]

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

The Big Little Book of Happy Sadness

By Yoo Kyung Sung | Published: December 1, 2008

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 (ages 6-9), Realistic Fiction » Other Themes: , , , , , » Leave a comment