When young English woman Grace Darling spots a wreck offshore, she enlists the aid of her father to rescue the survivors–an act that brings her the adoration and rejection of her nation. By the author of A Chance Child.
Intermediate (ages 9-14)
Material appropriate for intermediate age groups
Heroes of the Valley
Halli Sveinsson has grown up in the House of Svein, listening to the legends of the heroes as all his forefathers did. His is a peaceful society where the violence of the past has been outlawed and disputes are settled by the Council. But young Halli has never quite seemed to fit in with the others. For starters, he was not at all handsome or tall, like his attractive blond siblings. He’s stumpy and swarthy, with a quick mind and aptitude for getting in trouble. Bored with the everyday chores and sheep herding, he can’t help himself from playing practical jokes on everyone, from Eyjolf the old servant, to his brother and sister. But when he plays a trick on Ragnor of the House of Hakonsson, he goes too far, setting in motion a chain of events that will forever alter his destiny. Because of it, Halli will have to leave home and go on a hero’s quest. Along the way, he will encounter highway robbers, terrifying monsters, and a girl who may finally be his match. In the end, he will discover the truth about the legends, his family, and himself. Jonathan Stroud’s new novel is a hero’s saga and coming-of-age–as well as a surprising look at what bravery really means.
Heartsinger
Smee was born with a great gift: the ability to sing other people’s stories and heal their pain. But Smee also carries his own pain — his failure to reach his deaf mother and heal her grief at his father’s death. As he travels the country, he eases many people’s sorrows, but he cannot connect with anyone himself. Mitou also has a gift: spreading joy through a few notes from her accordion. When she hears about Smee–who was born on the same day she was–she knows that surely they belong together, each of them helping others through their music. They finally meet on the way to the king’s castle to sing for the beautiful Princess Esperanza. But will Mitou’s hopes be fulfilled–or is the pain of the past too great?
The Onlyhouse (Northern Lights Young Novels)
Red Cedar Award nominee, 1997 Life in her new neighborhood isn’t going to be easy for Croatian immigrant Lucy Vakovik. Her mother has saved enough to buy them an onlyhouse: a single detached home. But to Lucy’s friends, her mother says, “My sometime English is broking.” What’s a kid to do? Lucy’s got a fight ahead of her and important choices to make. But she knows she’s not a stereotype like some people think – she’s Lucy and that’s a good place to start.
The Suitcase Kid
Shuffling back and forth between her parents’ new homes, Andy struggles to fit in with stepparents and five stepsiblings while wishing she could have her old family back.”
The Tomorrow Code
THE END OF THE WORLD started quietly enough for Tane Williams and Rebecca Richards. . . .Tane and Rebecca aren’t sure what to make of it – a sequence of 1s and 0s, the message looks like nothing more than a random collection of alternating digits. Working to decode it, however, Tane and Rebecca discover that the message contains lottery numbers . . . lottery numbers that win the next random draw! Suddenly Tane and Rebecca are rich, but who sent the numbers? And why? More messages follow, and slowly it becomes clear – the messages are being sent back in time from Tane and Rebecca’s future. Something there has gone horribly wrong, and it’s up to them to prevent it from happening. As they follow the messages’ cryptic instructions, Tane and Rebecca begin to suspect the worst – that the very survival of the human race may be at stake.
The Champion
During World War II, Rex, a young New Zealand boy, finds his life irrevocably changed by the arrival of a wounded American soldier, Jackson Coop, an African American private with a hatred for war, who stays with Rex’s family while recuperating.
Atlas of Firsts
This informative book of first facts is divided into world regions. It provides a brief description of the region, and various first facts.
Dance, Nana, Dance / Baila, Nana, Baila: Cuban Folktales In English And Spanish
If you travel to Cuba, the people will greet you with a smile. Right away they’ll want you to come to their home and eat a meal. In the meal, you’ll find a mixture of foods and flavors from Spain and Africa-and from many Caribbean cultures as well. In Cuban folktales, you will taste the same delicious mixture of flavors.Folklorist and storyteller Joe Hayes first visited Cuba in 2001. He fell in love with the island and its people and began to look for opportunities to meet and listen to Cuban storytellers and to share the stories he knew from the American Southwest. He has returned every year, establishing a rich cultural exchange between US and Cuban storytellers. Out of that collaboration came this savory collection of Cuban folktales, which Joe frames with an introduction and an all-important Note to Storytellers.Joe Hayes is one of America’s premier storytellers. His bilingual Spanish-English tellings have earned him a distinctive place among America’s storytellers. Joe has published over twenty books. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and travels extensively throughout Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California.Mauricio Trenard Sayago was born in Santiago de Cuba in 1963. He was raised in a home that was closely linked with art and was surrounded by the artistic debates sustained by the various artists and art history professors in his family. This environment strongly influenced him. Mauricio came to the United States in 2000, and now lives in Brooklyn.
Giants!: Stories from around the World
Paul Robert Walker has gathered seven giant stories from around the world, some familiar, such as “Jack and the Beanstalk” and “The Cyclops,” and others new to us and delightfully strange such as “Kana, The Stretching Wonder” from Hawaii and “Coyote and the Giant Sisters” from the Pacific Northwest.