What a relief when the old story-book is republished and the characters who live inside it suddenly discover they have Readers again — lots of Readers! Princess Sylvie finds herself rushing to get to her place whenever a new Reader — whether in Boston or Bangkok — opens the book. Her mother, the queen, is especially frazzled when the popular story is loaded onto the Web, a weightless, “virtual” world of unforeseen challenges. To cope with the stress, Sylvie convinces the Writer to add a new character, who gives yoga instruction to the storybook’s cast in those moments when they have time off. But stress proves the least of their problems as strange things start happening — words get changed around, scenes disappear — and Sylvie and her friends must launch themselves into the labyrinth of cyberspace to confront a twenty-first-century evil that threatens to destroy their world.
Intermediate (ages 9-14)
Material appropriate for intermediate age groups
The Wreck Of The Zanzibar
When a boy inherits his great-aunt’s diary, he begins to learn fascinating things about her life, including the long-hidden secret to a family mystery, as he reads about her youthful dreams to help her father salvage ships wrecked at sea.
Hare’s Choice
A hare killed by a car is found by two children who take it to school where they and their classmates write stories about it–giving it both a new life and a choice to make in the afterworld.
The Riddle Of The Rosetta Stone
Describes how the discovery and deciphering of the Rosetta Stone unlocked the secret of Egyptian hieroglyphics.
Beat The Story-Drum, Pum-Pum (Aladdin Books)
Five traditional Nigerian tales include “Hen and Frog,” “Why Bush Cow and Elephant are Bad Friends,” “The Husband Who Counted the Spoonfuls,” “Why Frog and Snake Never Play Together,” and “How Animals Got Their Tails.”
Bright Star
When she meets the famous Australian astronomer John Tebbutt, Alicia realizes that she is no longer doomed to a life of needlework and milking cows but that her future is as limitless as the stars.
Dance For The Land
When twelve-year-old Kate, who is half-white, moves to Hawaii with her brother and father, she becomes a victim of racial prejudice but also learns the meaning of her middle name.
Sweet Dried Apples: A Vietnamese Wartime Childhood
A Vietnamese child remembers wartime and her relationship with her grandfather, the village herb doctor.
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes
Hospitalized with the dreaded atom bomb disease, leukemia, a child in Hiroshima races against time to fold one thousand paper cranes to verify the legend that by doing so a sick person will become healthy.
The Great Wall Of China
A brief history of the Great Wall of China, begun about 2,200 years ago to keep out Mongol invaders.