Intermediate (ages 9-14)

Material appropriate for intermediate age groups

Sugar Comes From Arabic: A Beginner’s Guide to Arabic Letters and Words

This book presents clear directions for learning and writing Arabic letters, in large, bright red shapes with step-by-step instruction on how to draw each one. The Arabic letters are introduced in the order of the English alphabet, the script goes from right to left, and illustrations show how to connect the letters in a word. In addition, there are colorful illustrations and stories about products that have origins in the Arab World.

Part of the Middle East and South Asia/Arabic Language and Culture Kit

Genius of Islam: How Muslims Made the Modern World

The Muslim world has often been a bridge between East and West, but many of Islam’s crucial innovations are hidden within the folds of history.

Part of the Middle East and South Asia/Arabic Language and Culture Kit

Maya And The Rising Dark

Twelve-year-old Maya is the only one in her South Side Chicago neighborhood who witnesses weird occurrences like werehyenas stalking the streets at night and a scary man made of shadows plaguing her dreams. Her friends try to find an explanation—perhaps a ghost uprising or a lunchroom experiment gone awry. But to Maya, it sounds like something from one of Papa’s stories or her favorite comic

The Shadow Crosser

Zane Obispo has been looking forward to his training at the Shaman Institute for Higher Order Magic, and not only because it means he’ll be reunited with his best friend, Brooks. Anything would be better than how he has spent the last three months: searching for the remaining godborns with a nasty demon who can sniff them out (literally). But when Zane tracks down the last kid on his list, he’s in for a surprise: the “one” is actually a pair of twins, and they’re trying to prevent a mysterious object from falling into the wrong hands.

The Last Train- A Holocaust Story

The Last Train is the harrowing true story about young brothers Paul and Oscar Arato and their mother, Lenke, surviving the Nazi occupation during the final years of World War II.

The International Day Of The Girl: Celebrating Girls Around The World

This introduction to the International Day of the Girl and its worldwide significance encourages children to recognize their own potential to make change, providing both a perfect lesson in social justice and a celebration of girl power.

Maurice And His Dictionary

This is the story of one refugee family’s harrowing journey, based on author Cary Fagan’s own family history. The graphic novel follows a young Jewish boy, Maurice, and his family as they flee their home in Belgium during the Second World War. They travel by train to Paris, through Spain to Portugal, and finally across the ocean to Jamaica, where they settle in an internment camp.

All the while, Maurice is intent on continuing his education and growing up to be a lawyer. He overcomes obstacles to find a professor to study with, works toward a high school diploma while in the camp, and is ultimately accepted to university in Canada. His English dictionary becomes a beloved tool and beacon of hope through the danger and turmoil of the family’s migration.

Moments of lightness and humor balance the darkness in this powerful story of one refugee family’s courage and resilience, and of the dictionary that came to represent their freedom.

Asterix Omnibus #1

Asterix is celebrating 60 sensational years as an international comics superstar, and in the first collected edition from Papercutz, the stories are newly translated into American English for a new generation of fans! The story of Asterix starts here. These are the first three adventures of Asterix as he defends his tiny village from the overwhelming forces of the Roman Empire. Join the short, spunky, and super-powerful warrior from Gaul and his faithful friends–including the boar-eating delivery man Obelix and the ecologically-minded canine, Dogmatix–as they battle to protect their village against impossible odds. Asterix Omnibus volume one collects “Asterix the Gaul,” “Asterix and the Golden Sickle,” and “Asterix and the Goths.” Three classic adventures in one great volume

Across a Dark and Wild Sea

Columcille was born in a remote corner of Ireland in the year 521. Legend has it that as a child, he was fed a cake filled with the letters of the alphabet, and so learned to love writing. He grew up to become a monk and a scribe a thousand years before the invention of printing, when books had to be copied by hand. There was one book, a beautiful volume of psalms from distant Rome, that Columcille especially loved, and even though its owner refused him permission, Columcille secretly copied it. The copy was discovered, and a dispute arose over who it belonged to: Columcille, who made it, or the owner of the original. So better was the argument that a battle was fought between the two men’s powerful friends; although Columcille’s side won, the victory felt hollow to him. To punish himself, he set out in a tiny boat, vowing to leave Ireland forever.