Intermediate (ages 9-14)

Material appropriate for intermediate age groups

Good Night, Commander

The Commander has lost his mother and one of his legs in the Iran-Iraq war. Now he spends most of his time alone in his room where he recreates the conflict with an imaginary enemy and soldiers, trying to avenge his losses. His father urges him to take off his artificial leg when he is at home, to join his uncles and aunties who have arrived for dinner. But when he does, he finds out that they are all about to go off to meet his “new mother.” Back in his room the imaginary war continues, and he confronts an enemy soldier who is also missing a limb. A battle seems inevitable until The Commander offers the enemy his artificial leg.

See the reviews at WOW Review, Volume 2, Issue 4 & Volume 5, Issue 3.

Camel Rider

Adam and his family live comfortably in a compound with other foreigners who work in the Middle East. When war breaks out and all foreigners try to escape, Adam runs away in an effort to save his dog, which has been left behind. Alone and without resources in the desert, Adam meets Walid, an abused camel boy who has run away from his cruel masters. Together they struggle to bridge wide gulfs between their cultures and languages in order to survive. Ultimately both boys learn about true friendship.

Click here to read the Worlds of Words review.

The Boy and the Wall

The Boy and the Wall is a children’s book made and illustrated by youth at the Lajee Centre in the Aida Refugee Camp in the West Bank, telling the story of their everyday lives and struggles as refugees.

Click here to read the Worlds of Words Review.

Courage In The Storm

She urged the horse on with a jerk at the reins. Judy went on a few steps and stopped again. The object stretched right across her path. It was close and clear now, and Greta gasped. Her very heart seemed to stop beating. For there, like a ghost risen out of the ice, lay a ship. A ship, of all things! A big schooner with three tall masts, all crusted with snow. What was it doing here? Slowly her mind filled with awful suspicion. She tried to put it aside, but it came back. At last she faced the truth.

The little mare had been lost all this time. Instead of crossing the ice, they had been wandering down the river, towards the open sea.

The Legend Of Ninja Cowboy Bear

The ninja, the cowboy and the bear do everything together — they paint pictures, compare cloud shapes in the sky, fly kites and much more. Though each friend is very different from one another, they enjoy each other’s company. Until one day when they begin quarreling and compete to see which one is the best. The bear can pile up rocks the highest. The cowboy can collect the most raspberries. The ninja can catch the most rabbits. When each contest leads to more resentment, it seems the friends will never stop disagreeing. Only when they learn to be considerate of their differences do they finally realize how much they appreciate each other. The cute, yet stylized artwork combined with a fun story about friendship and celebrating differences make this legend an unforgettable one. This playfully illustrated picture book also includes instructions for the Ninja-Cowboy-Bear game, which is similar to Rock Paper Scissors except that kids use their whole body.

Where Poppies Grow: A World War I Companion

Finalist for the Silver Birch AwardWinner of the 2002 Information Book Award When World War I began in 1914, no one knew that millions of young people would die in the agonizing years ahead. No one imagined the effect it would have on family life, or that whole villages would disappear, or thatentire nations would be changed forever. They believed their sons and daughters, mothersand fathers would be home by Christmas. They were tragically mistaken. With photos, memorabilia, and anecdotes, Linda Granfield brings us face-to-face withpeople from all walks of life who risked everything for their country. These painstakingly-gathered bits and pieces are remnants of conflict on a scale never before witnessed. Hastily-penned letters, notes written in code, and prayers for deliverance form an eloquent portrait of humanity, and a startling comment on the devastation of war.

50 Burning Questions

A red-hot feast of fiery facts — the first book in Annick’s new 50 Questions seriesIf we took the time to examine flames in our world — fires that have built civilizations, sparked entire religions and literally changed the surface of the Earth — can you imagine how many questions we would have? The 50 questions in this book may be just the beginning, but they will intrigue and excite young readers.From “Who’s for dinner?” (before mastering fire, humans were more likely to be prey than predators) to “Who were the first firefighters?” (Romans over 2,000 years ago), the amazing questions and answers in this book reveal fire’s crucial role in our world.With a humorous touch (“Who was the first hairy potter?”), Tanya Lloyd Kyi presents fascinating facts alongside innovative activities for kids, like sending breath through a glass jar and playing spy games with a flashlight. Sidebars turn up the heat on the subject, while comical illustrations make for a fun and fiery visual presentation.

Camilla D’errico’s Burn

Burn was once human.He also had a family and friends, until a metallic angel of death took everything from him. This mechanical monster, Shoftiel, was one of many living machines made to help humanity that revolted and declared war on their creators. It tore through Burn’s home and wreaked havoc on his city until the buildings collapsed, crashing down upon them.Emerging from the rubble, Burn and Shoftiel discover their once separate bodies have become one — neither human nor machine, but a freak union of both. Internally their minds are caught in a raging battle for control. Just as mankind must struggle against the sentients for survival, Burn must find the strength to overcome Shoftiel’s genocidal programming to retain whatever’s left of his humanity.

Hannah

Life is incredibly hard for all the immigrant families who work in the mine, but harder still for Hannah’s – her father recently killed in the mine, her mother nearly dead from giving birth to the latest child. Hanna defies all convention and passes herself off as a boy to get into the mine that is their only real hope of salvation. Common wisdom is that women are bad luck in a mine, so when her secret is discovered, the superstitious miners are furious. Will she survive this too? Author Diana Vazquez paints a gritty portrait of the bleak mining shanty town and the lives of the people who live there. But it is the indomitable spirit of her unsentimental, blunt, and fearless heroine that will remain memorable to all who encounter her.