Theme: Survive

Give Me Shelter

By Book Importer | Published: February 14, 2011

The phrase “asylum seeker” is one heard in the media all the time. It stimulates fierce and controversial debate, in arguments about migration, race, and religion. The movement of people from poor or struggling countries to those where there may be opportunities for a better life is a constant in human history, but it is [...]

Descriptors: Intermediate (ages 9-14), International, Short Stories, Young Adult (ages 14-18) » Other Themes: , , , , , , » Leave a comment

A Hare in the Elephant’s Trunk

By Book Importer | Published: February 2, 2011

In the little village of Duk Padiet in southern Sudan, a boy named Jacob Deng thrives on the love of his mother, the companionship of his sisters, the excitement of learning how to look after his uncle’s herds of cattle. The year is 1987, and suddenly in the night soldiers from the north invade the [...]

Descriptors: Africa, Awards, Fiction, Intermediate (ages 9-14), Realistic Fiction, Sudan » Other Themes: , , , , , , , , , , » 1 Comment

Escape Under the Forever Sky

By Book Importer | Published: October 1, 2009

Loosely based on real-life events this suspenseful story by a debut novelist is also funny and touching and will have readers riveted from start to finish. Lucy’s mother is the U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia so Lucy’s life must be one big adventure right? Wrong. Lucy’s worrywart mother keeps her locked up inside the ambassador’s residence. [...]

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

Ookpik: The Travels of a Snowy Owl

By Yoo Kyung Sung | Published: December 1, 2008

Here is the story of one snowy owl’s first year and its struggle to survive. Fed by his parents, Ookpik, which means snowy owl in the Inuit language, grows quickly in the short Arctic summer. By autumn he has learned to hunt on his own, but prey is scarce on the tundra that year. The [...]

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

The Tent Of Orange Mist

By Yoo Kyung Sung | Published: December 1, 2008

In December 1937 the city of Nanking, China, falls to brutal Japanese invaders, and thus begins a compelling drama of widespread chaos and personal courage. Against a backdrop of burning buildings and random atrocities stands Scald Ibis, the teenage daughter of an eminent scholar, who must transform herself completely in order to survive. With her [...]

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Freedom Child of the Sea

By Yoo Kyung Sung | Published: December 1, 2008

A young man, swimming off the shore of a Caribbean island, is saved from drowning by a mysterious boy who appears from the depths. His body is scarred, yet his face is beautiful, and he leaps and swims as joyously as the dolphins. When the young man tells this to a passing stranger, he in [...]

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

Popol Vuh: A Sacred Book of the Maya

By Yoo Kyung Sung | Published: December 1, 2008

One of the few Maya documents to survive the Spanish conquest, the Popol Vuh describes the creation of the Maya universe and of humans. It tells the tale of the Hero Twins, who defeated the gods of the underworld in a ball game, and details the legendary history of the Quiche Maya rulers until their [...]

Descriptors: Folklore, Guatemala, Intermediate (ages 9-14), Myth, Young Adult (ages 14-18) » Other Themes: , , , , , , , , , , , » Leave a comment

A Handful of Seeds

By Yoo Kyung Sung | Published: December 1, 2008

One sad day, Grandmother died. “You cannot stay here,” said the man who owned the land. “I have a family ready to move in.” Young Concepcion has no choice but to move to the [barrio] of the nearby city. There she meets children who, in order to survive, must steal the good they eat. But [...]

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

Asphalt Angels

By Yoo Kyung Sung | Published: December 1, 2008

A raw, poignant story of a band of Brazilian street kids who survive — if they can — by their wits alone. Asphalt Angels centers around a boy named Alex, a street child of 13 in Brazil who has been kicked onto the city streets by his stepfather after his mother dies. He is alone [...]

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

The Black Canary

By Yoo Kyung Sung | Published: December 1, 2008

Twelve-year-old biracial James has grown up in a musical family. Not only are both of his parents musicians, but his four grandparents are as well. Everyone assumes that James will pursue music, yet he would rather become a newspaper reporter…or an astronomer…or a cook…anything that will let him leave music behind and be his own [...]

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