Theme: overcome

Desperate Measures

By Book Importer | Published: May 31, 2011

Vicky has always felt responsible for her mentally disabled twin sister, Rhianna, and their feisty little brother, Jamie. So when the foster care system threatens to split them up, they all run away together, heading for a distant relativeÕs home. After a difficult journey, they arriveÑonly to find strangers living there. With nowhere else to [...]

Descriptors: England (UK), Intermediate (ages 9-14), Realistic Fiction » Other Themes: , , , , , , , , , , , , , » 1 Comment

Subway Girl

By Book Importer | Published: May 10, 2011

He is shy. Unassuming. Inexperienced. She is Subway Girl. Cool. Unattainable. From the moment he sees her on a Hong Kong subway, Simon is intrigued by Amy, but he doesn’t have the nerve to talk to her. When he finally works up the courage, he realizes he can’t. Because Amy doesn’t speak Chinese, and Simon [...]

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

The Bite of the Mango

By Book Importer | Published: May 10, 2011

The astounding story of one girl’s journey from war victim to UNICEF Special Representative.As a child in a small rural village in Sierra Leone, Mariatu Kamara lived peacefully surrounded by family and friends. Rumors of rebel attacks were no more than a distant worry.But when 12-year-old Mariatu set out for a neighboring village, she never [...]

Descriptors: Africa, Nonfiction, Sierra Leone, Young Adult (ages 14-18) » Other Themes: , , , , , , , , , , , » 6 Comments

Waiting For The Rain (Laurel Leaf Books)

By Book Importer | Published: May 3, 2011

Tengo is the 10-year-old son of workers on Oom Koos’s large farm in the Transvaal. He longs to go to school like his friend Frikkie, who visits his uncle’s farm on holidays. But Tengo’s family is too poor to pay for the education that comes free to whites. He finally gets his wish at age [...]

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

Stones for My Father

By Book Importer | Published: May 3, 2011

The Boer War was disastrous for the British: 22,000 of them died. Close to 7,000 Boers died. Nobody knows how many Africans lost their lives, but the number is estimated to be around 20,000. This tragic, and little remembered, chapter in history is the backdrop for Trilby Kent’s powerful novel.Corlie Roux’s father has always told [...]

Descriptors: Africa, Historical Fiction, Intermediate (ages 9-14), South Africa, Young Adult (ages 14-18) » Other Themes: , , , , , , , , » Leave a comment

Nicholas Dane

By Book Importer | Published: February 15, 2011

When fourteen-year-old Nicholas Dane’s mother dies, social services sends him to a home for boys where intimidation and violence keep order. After a number of fights and brutal punishments, Nick thinks that life can’t possibly get any worse . . . until he realizes that the home’s respected deputy head, who has been grooming him [...]

Descriptors: England (UK), Rhymes/songs, Young Adult (ages 14-18) » 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

Saving Zasha

By Book Importer | Published: February 14, 2011

In 1945 Russia, those who own German shepherds are considered traitors, but thirteen-year-old Mikhail and his family are determined to keep the dog a dying man brought them, while his classmate Katia strives to learn his secret.

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

Saraswati’s Way

By Book Importer | Published: February 14, 2011

Leaving his village in rural India to find a better education, mathematically gifted, twelve-year-old Akash ends up at the New Delhi train station, where he relies on Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of knowledge, to guide him as he negotiates life on the street, resists the temptations of easy money, and learns whom he can trust.
See [...]

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

Before There Was Mozart: The Story of Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier De Saint-George

By Book Importer | Published: February 10, 2011

The musical superstar of 18th-century France was Joseph Boulogne—a black man. This inspiring story tells how Joseph, the only child of a black slave and her white master, becomes “the most accomplished man in Europe.” After traveling from his native West Indies to study music in Paris, young Joseph is taunted about his skin color. [...]

Descriptors: Biography, Caribbean, Picture Book, Primary (ages 6-9), West Indies » Other Themes: , , , , , , , , , » Leave a comment