Theme: loss of mother

Moon Pie

By Book Importer | Published: December 12, 2011

Someone has to keep their head, as Mum used to say, and 11-year-old Martha is used to being that someone in her family. Her little brother, Tug, is too small. Her dad has been acting too strange. And Mum’s not here anymore. So when Dad falls off the roof, it’s Martha who ices his knee [...]

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

The Scar

By Book Importer | Published: November 21, 2011

When his mother dies, a little boy is angry at his loss but does everything he can to hold onto the memory of her scent, her voice, and the special things she did for him, even as he tries to help his father and grandmother cope.

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

Sisters . . . No Way!

By Book Importer | Published: September 7, 2011

Cindy, a savvy yet cynical teenager, still traumatized by her mother’s recent death, is appalled when her father falls in love with one of her teachers, a woman with two teenage daughters of her own. She cannot imagine a worse fate than having her teacher as her stepmother, and as for the two prissy girls, [...]

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

Season of Secrets

By Book Importer | Published: February 15, 2011

Sent by their father to live in the country with their grandparents after the sudden death of their mother, Molly’s older sister Hannah expresses her grief in a raging rebellion while imaginative Molly finds herself increasingly distracted by visions, that seemingly only she can see, of a strange hunt in the nearby forest.

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

Good Night, Commander

By Book Importer | Published: July 23, 2010

The Commander has lost his mother and one of his legs in the Iran-Iraq war. Now he spends most of his time alone in his room where he recreates the conflict with an imaginary enemy and soldiers, trying to avenge his losses. His father urges him to take off his artificial leg when he is [...]

Descriptors: Intermediate (ages 9-14), Iran, Picture Book, Primary (ages 6-9), Realistic Fiction » Other Themes: , , , , , , » 1 Comment

Escaping into the Night

By Book Importer | Published: October 1, 2009

Thirteen-year-old Halina Rudowski narrowly escapes the Polish ghetto and flees to the forest, where she is taken in by an encampment of Jews trying to survive World War II.Based on historical events, this gripping tale sheds light on a little-known aspect of the Holocaust: the underground forest encampments that saved several thousand Jews from the [...]

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

Silent Observer

By Yoo Kyung Sung | Published: December 1, 2008

“I was born, like my seven brothers and sisters, in a house atop a hill overlooking lovely Bras d’Or Lake”. So begins Christy MacKinnon’s story of life as a little girl in 19th-century Nova Scotia, Canada. Through wonderful images created with her own words and her watercolors, she tells of a simple, charming life on [...]

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

Piratica: Being a Daring Tale of a Singular Girl’s Adventure upon the High Seas

By Yoo Kyung Sung | Published: December 1, 2008

Artemesia is the daughter of a pirate queen, and she’s sick of practicing deportment at the Angels Academy for Young Maidens. Escaping from the school, she hunts up her mother’s crew and breezily commands them out to sea in a leaky boat. Unfortunately, Art’s memories of her early life may not be accurate-her seasick crew [...]

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

Being Bee

By Yoo Kyung Sung | Published: December 1, 2008

Bee can’t understand what her father sees in Jazzi. Ever since Bee’s mom died, she, her dad, and her two guinea pigs, Fifi and Lulu, have been getting along just fine. Now Bee is supposed to welcome Jazzi, with her bangled skirts and her rock-hard scones and her new way of looking at everything. Imagine [...]

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

The Apple-Pip Princess

By Yoo Kyung Sung | Published: December 1, 2008

With sumptuous artwork, Jane Ray tells an original fairy tale of a humble princess whose love for nature’s beauty restores a kingdom. Once there was a kingdom full of laughter, happiness, trees, and birdsong. But when the queen dies, the land becomes quiet and barren, and everyone is filled with sadness. What will make the [...]

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