Intermediate (ages 9-14)

Material appropriate for intermediate age groups

Afrika

For thirteen-year-old Kim, travel to South Africa with her journalist mother will mark the end of her childhood and the beginning of a remarkable journey. Expecting nothing more than three months in her mother’s homeland, Kim comes to terms with the country’s diverse and often shocking history. The Truth and Reconciliation Hearings in post-apartheid South Africa open her eyes to the tragedy and brutality of its segregationist policies.

Kim’s first meeting with her relatives, her contact with schoolmates and cousins, bring her face-to-face with the realization that she is not as removed from this powerful story as she thought. As her mother struggles with her past, Kim becomes more and more determined to unlock the secret that has always kept her from knowing her father. Helped by the young son of a long-time family servant, whose own father was a casualty of Apartheid history, Kim eventually unlocks her mystery and brings her mother and herself to their own truth and reconciliation.

Quantum Prophecy: The Awakening

It has been ten years since the great battle that wiped out all the superhumans. Whether they all died that day or simply lost their powers and blended back into society, only one thing is certain: They are gone. Or are they? Thirteen-year-olds Danny and Colin have recently begun changing. How can they explain Danny’s newfound ability to move at the speed of light, or Colin’s surprising strength? They can’t, but their parents—the lost generation of superhumans—can. They have been watching and waiting for these changes. So have others—and not everyone is happy about the boys’ new powers. Some will do anything to stop them.

The London Eye Mystery

Ted and Kat watched their cousin Salim board the London Eye. But after half an hour it landed and everyone trooped off–except Salim. Where could he have gone? How on earth could he have disappeared into thin air? Ted and his older sister, Kat, become sleuthing partners, since the police are having no luck. Despite their prickly relationship, they overcome their differences to follow a trail of clues across London in a desperate bid to find their cousin. And ultimately it comes down to Ted, whose brain works in its own very unique way, to find the key to the mystery. This is an unput-downable spine-tingling thriller–a race against time.

Corydon And The Fall Of Atlantis (Corydon Trilogy)

In this second book in the Corydon trilogy, trouble has invaded the Island of Monsters once again. The peace-loving Minotaur has been kidnapped! Signs suggest he’s been taken to the city of Atlantis, and so Corydon and his fellow monsters set sail to rescue their friend. Their travels across Poseidon’s treacherous waters involve one narrow escape after another—from the volcanic forge of Hephaistos, and the seductive song of the Sirens, from the licentious lair of Dionysos, and the grasping tentacles of the Kraken—until at last they reach Atlantis. And Atlantis turns out to be more seductive, monstrous, and volatile than anything they’ve encountered yet.

The Little Blue House

In a very small town in rural Argentina there is a magical house. The house is vacant and has been for as long as anyone can remember, but once a year, at midnight, the house turns blue, and 24 hours later it turns back to white again. Twelve-year-old Cintia lives with her father, an angry man who is sometimes violent. But Cintia finds comfort at her grandmother’s home, where there is always delicious food and fascinating tales about the town and about Cintia’s own family. Cintia is drawn to the little blue house even though both her father and grandmother forbid her to go there. And the town’s mayor, who hopes to turn the house into a money-making tourist attraction, tries to prevent anyone from visiting the place without paying. As the time approaches for the annual transformation of the house, more mysteries crop up. Cintia and her grandmother must make peace with Cintia’s father. The mayor’s plans must be confronted, and an old bookseller needs to find a way to save what is most important. And what about the rumors of buried treasure?

Nim at Sea

This time Nim’s the fish-out-of-water as she stows away on a cruise ship to save her kidnapped sea lion friend. Accompanied by her likeable iguana, Fred, the island girl lands with a splash in Manhattan, on the run from a very Bad Guy, and on her way to reunite with her friend, cowardly adventure novelist Alex Rover.

Lost City: The Discovery of Machu Picchu

In 1911, Hiram Bingham, the young Yale professor, set out on his expedition in search of Inca ruins. Guided the last steps by a young Quechua boy, he discovered not the rumored lost city, but the ruins of Machu Picchu, a city totally unknown to the outside world, and one of the wonders of the world.

The Road of Bones

In school, Yuri is taught that the revolution liberated his country. He learns how the new leaders are always working for the greater good. But the truth is that life for his family and those around him is a brutal, poverty-stricken struggle. The government does nothing except punish those who protest. And one day, to his shock and horror, Yuri himself is branded an “enemy of the state” simply for dropping a few careless words.

In an author’s note, Anne Fine describes The Road of Bones as an adventure-escape story set in “a sort-of Russia, in a sort-of 1930s, under a Stalin-type leader.” This chilling political thriller follows the frantic footsteps of a teenager on the run, a criminal who hasn’t committed a crime, a young man on a path to discovering the truth about how far he will go in order to survive.

The Story of Religion

This book introduces the history of religious belief and the practice of religion in the world today. It illuminates the differences that make each religious group unique and the fundamental beliefs that all groups share. This text encourages children to recognize, understand and value the diversity of the world’s religions and the universal concerns they address.

A Song for Cambodia

The true story of Arn Chorn-Pond, Cambodian American musician and human rights activist, who as a young boy survived Khmer Rouge work camps by learning to play a musical instrument.