Thirteen-year-old Mai and her family embark on a dangerous sea voyage from Vietnam to Hong Kong to escape the unpredictable and often brutal Vietnamese government.

Eight-year-old Arun waits impatiently while international adoption paperwork is completed so that he can meet his new baby sister from India.

In a small town in northern India, three siblings await their father’s youngest brother, Younguncle, who is said to be somewhat eccentric.

With the impending death of her mother, Kati, a young Thai girl, completes the puzzle of her past and discovers the reason that her mother gave her up as a baby.

Relates the life experiences, from birth to beginning boarding school, of a boy growing up on a rubber plantation in rural Malaysia.

During the Israeli occupation of Ramallah in the West Bank of Palestine, twelve-year-old Karim and his friends create a secret place for themselves where they can momentarily forget the horrors of war.

In ancient times, the Chinese saw the dragon as both a protector and a threat, able to bring on rain or cause droughts. To honor this powerful creature, people created long narrow boats that they raced in an annual rainmaking festival. From the wearing of fragrant pouches, to the consumption of rice dumplings, to thrilling boat races, the dragon boat festival of today is a celebration of Chinese traditions all over the world. Arlene Chan, a respected librarian and an experienced dragon boat racer, explores the origins of the festival, it’s customs, and the races themselves. Beautifully detailed illustrations by Song Nan Zhang let you experience the beauty and energy of this ancient festival.

In Japan, the ship The Jade Lotus takes a calico cat aboard for good luck, but the crew still runs into all kinds of trouble.

When a giant tsunami approaches his village, seven-year-old Dinakaran is saved by the family dog. Based on a true story; includes facts about the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

Determined to follow the laws set down in the Qur’an, seventeen-year-old Nadia becomes involved in a violent revolutionary movement aimed at supporting Muslim rule in Syria and opposing the Western politics and materialism that increasingly affect her family.