Chirri & Chirra, In The Night (Chirri & Chirra, 8)

With the light of their trusty bicycles and a glorious full moon illuminating the darkness, Chirri and Chirra take on the night, accompanied by their new cat friends.

Chirri and Chirra in the Night is a WOW Recommends: Book of the Month for March 2023.

Halley’s Comet

in the final years of South Africa’s Apartheid era, an unlikely trio-a sheltered white rugby player, a black farmworker’s son, and an Indian shopkeeper’s daughter-discover the consequences of knowing the truth and having the courage to speak it. Halley’s Comet is the coming-of-age story of Pete de Lange, a white 16-year-old schoolboy, set in small-town South Africa in 1986. Pete lives a relatively sheltered life, primarily concerned with girls and rugby- until one January night changes everything.

Thrust together with two complete strangers-Petrus, a black farmworker’s son and Sarita, an Indian shopkeeper’s daughter-the trio find themselves running for their lives from the vicious Rudie, whose actions will ripple far beyond that fateful night. This era-defying friendship-sparked by a shared secret- challenges everything Pete thought he knew and believed. And when anti-Apartheid revolutionaries set their sights on the town, it will change the course of the three young people’s lives forever.

Halley’s Comet is a story of friendship, love, change, taking chances, hope, a comet, and some pretty cool 80s music.

The Secrets Of Cricket Karlsson

Eleven-year-old Cricket Karlsson is a warm and complex character with an artistic soul. Written as a diary, tween readers will fall in love with Cricket’s tough yet charming voice as she shares her secret thoughts about her best friend break-up, her Aunt’s breakdown and experimental chewing gum sculptures. Punkish and surprising comic-style illustrations perfectly compliment this coming of age story

We Are Many

In a field outside the city, some children are playing a game. They chase a kicked ball, then throw themselves on it in a laughing heap. But then the adults arrive. Lots of adults. They want to join the “people pile.” Soon, the pile has become so big, some people are uncomfortable. They have questions. Lots of questions. Like, should they be in two piles, or one? Meanwhile, the children wonder, what are all these adults doing? Can’t we just get back to our game?

Dragonfly Eyes

Ah-Mei and her French grandmother, Nainai, share a rare bond. Maybe it’s because Ah-Mei is the only girl grandchild. Or maybe it’s because the pair look so much alike and neither resembles the rest of their Chinese family. Politics and war make 1960s Shanghai a hard place to grow up, especially when racism and bigotry are rife, and everyone seems suspicious of Nainai’s European heritage and interracial marriage. In this time of political upheaval, Ah-Mei and her family suffer much-and when the family silk business falters, they are left with almost nothing. Ah-Mei and her grandmother are resourceful, but will the tender connection they share bring them enough strength to carry through? This multigenerational saga by one of China’s most esteemed children’s authors takes the reader from 1920s France to a ravaged postwar Shanghai and through the convulsions of the Cultural Revolution.

The Beach

“A day at the beach, from dawn to dusk: the award-winning Chilean illustrator Sol Undurraga shares her vision of life at a seaside town. From the fishermen and women who head out to sea at five in the morning to the bathers packing the beach at four in the afternoon, every page is a gorgeous new adventure full of fun creatures both real and imaginary. Undurraga’s striking illustrations, accompanied by brief, evocative texts, bring to life the idiosyncrasies and dynamics of a beach in Latin America … or anywhere in the world. This captivating celebration of summertime is the English-language debut of Undurraga and a beautiful, summery gift for readers of all ages”–