Intermediate (ages 9-14)

Material appropriate for intermediate age groups

Home Is Beyond The Mountains

When the Turkish army invades northwestern Persia in 1918, nine-year-old Samira and her parents, brother, and baby sister are driven from their tiny village. Taking only what they can carry, they flee into the mountains, but the journey is so difficult that only Samira and her older brother survive. Shunted from one refugee camp to another, from Persia to Iraq and back again, Samira finally ends up in an orphanage, where it seems that she will live out her childhood. Then Susan Shedd, the new orphanage director, arrives and, to Samira’s amazement, announces that she will take all the children back to their villages to make new lives for themselves. With wonder and fear, Samira and three hundred other orphans embark on an epic march of three hundred miles through the mountains towards home.

Dragon’s Boy

“In order to gain wisdom, you must learn to read inter linea, between the lines.” Artos doesn’t know who his parents are, just that kindly Sir Ector and Lady Marion took him into their castle when he was a baby. Though Sir Ector raises him as one of his sons, Artos never feels he truly belongs. The other boys of the castle — Cai, Bedvere, and Lancot — make fun of him and never invite him to join in their games. One day, while searching for Sir Ector’s missing brachet hound in the fens around the castle, Artos stumbles across a musty cave in a hill where a very old dragon lives. Though he is afraid, he is drawn to the beast by both the dragon’s knowledge and his promise to teach Artos the game of wisdom. With the dragon’s guidance, Artos begins the slow journey to his destiny-one that he never dreamed could belong to him. Notable 1990 Children’s Trade Books in Social Studies (NCSS/CBC)

Merlin

In flight from the magic visions that plague him, Merlin falls into the hands of the wodewose–wild folk who, according to legend, live in the company of wolves and devour children. But far from being wild, the wodewose are an enormous family of the unwanted, the abandoned, and the homeless. For once Merlin has found a place where an orphan like himself belongs.

This is the third book in  the “Young Merlin Trilogy.”

Queen’s Own Fool: A Novel Of Mary Queen Of Scots

When twelve-year-old Nicola leaves Troupe Brufort and serves as the fool for Mary, Queen of Scots, she experiences the political and religious upheavals in both France and Scotland.

 

Legion Of The Dead

Barnaby Grimes is pitted against an army of Victorian-era zombies. The funeral of a master criminal brings a dozen squabbling gangs together for a moment of peace, but when Barnaby shortcuts through the graveyard and sees the body rise from the earth, a terrifying mystery is born.

Keeper Of The Grail

As an orphan, Tristan never dreamed he would travel the world or discover the truth about his past. But all that changes when the Knights Templar ride through the abbey on their way to battle. Suddenly, Tristan finds himself as a squire to one of the most respected knights. While exciting, it is also dangerous, as Tristan gets caught between rival knights desperate for power and entrusted with the most sacred relicthe Holy Grail. With the help of a young archer and a deadly warrior, can Tristan safely bring the Holy Grail back to England? Or will he succumb to the dangers of the evil men who follow in its wake?