Intermediate (ages 9-14)

Material appropriate for intermediate age groups

Out of Bounds: Seven Stories of Conflict and Hope

We are the young people, We will not be broken! For almost fifty years, apartheid forced the young people of South Africa to live apart as Blacks, Whites, Indians, and “Coloreds.” This unique and dramatic collection of stories—by native South African and Carnegie Medalist Beverley Naidoo—is about young people’s choices in a beautiful country made ugly by injustice. Each story is set in a different decade during the turbulent years from 1948 to 2000, and portrays powerful fictional characters who are caught up in very real and often disturbing events.

The Book of Time

A statue; a coin; an old book. They look as dusty as everything else in the Faulkner Antiquarian Bookstore, where 14-year-old Sam Faulkner seeks his father, who’s been missing for days. But when Sam slips the coin into the statue, he’s swept back in time — to Scotland in 800 A.D. — where he must find both the statue and another coin in order to return to the present. It’s the first step in an adventure that will take him to ancient Egypt, World War I, even Dracula’s castle and a mystery that will end only when Sam saves his father, or loses him in time.

Escape the Mask

Coriko has never known a world beyond his cell and the fields where he toils all day. He does what he’s told and tries not to anger the Spears, the cruel, masked jailers who guard him and the other child slaves. If he gathers baskets of shards and keeps quiet and orderly, then he can spend time with his cellmate and best friend, Pippa. But without warning, the children’s orderly lives begin to change—slowly at first, with the arrival of a pair of siblings who speak Coriko and Pippa’s language. Soon after, violent events shake up the quiet world of Grassland, and Coriko must find the strength to grasp his freedom.

Quetzal: Sacred Bird of the Forest

Dorothy Patent explores the many facets of this shimmering bird, from its illustrious past to its life cycle and daily existence in the wild. Accompanied by Neil Waldman’s luminous illustrations, this unique survey book examines an endangered animal that has a powerful symbolic meaning to a culture.

Egyptian Diary: The Journal of Nakht

In ancient Egypt, Nakht records his experiences as his family moves from small town Esna to the big, exciting city of Memphis, where he studies to be a scribe like his father and helps discover who has been robbing graves.

Hopscotch around the World

All you need is a rock, some chalk, and a friend to join in the funHopscotch has been played throughout history in nearly every country in the world. From Alaska to Aruba, Italy to India, Bolivia to Brooklyn, here are nineteen versions of this classic game. Complete with rules, patterns, and interesting facts, this is an unrivaled look at a timeless, universal game of childhood.