Material appropriate for intermediate age groups
Puzzling and mysterious, mazes and labyrinths have fascinated people around the world for centuries. From England to Egypt, Greece to South Africa and beyond, travel on an exciting journey as you discover the secrets of these patterns.
Anne Frank takes young readers back to the dark days of World War II through the story of the famous young diarist. Like teenagers everywhere, Anne wrote about friends, family, movies, her greatest joys, and her deepest fears. Through her vivid, tender entries we experience Anne’s changing world, as persecution, hiding, and betrayal, become part of daily life in Nazi Europe. Ann Kramer’s superbly illustrated book also celebrates the enduring legacy of Anne Frank. Her story, now known to millions, is an inspiration for young readers, and writers, everywhere.
For children, here is a simple and creative introduction to the Buddhist way of life and to the teachings of the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism. Text and photos explain the beautiful and intricate Kalachakra ceremony and initiation, and the meaning of the sand mandala and its symbols. Features a foreword by Richard Gere. Full color.
Outspoken Mags decides to help her new friend Gillian, a talented violin student, reconcile with her estranged father so that he will allow her to attend a prestigious music school in England.
Books can be dangerous, and so can imagination. This is the story of Annice, who has too much of both. Annice is fascinated by a picture in an art gallery. Taken by surprise, she finds herself going in to the picture, and watching the lives of the people there. She doesn’t realize the danger at first. Not until it’s too late. Annice finds herself sucked further and further into the world of the painting, until it becomes more real to her than real life. Like sleepwalking, like fantasy, she becomes part of other people’s lives, until she no longer knows what is real and what isn’t. Imagination, stories, and lies become so closely linked that Annice can’t distinguish between them. She’s told so many lies that she can no longer remember them all. Soon, she knows, she’ll be found out. And all the while, inside the world of the painting, there is an alternative life, a beautiful garden, and a tragedy waiting to happen. Interest age: 12+.
For Kariuki, life in a small village in Kenya is one great adventure. The best part of his day is the walk home from school, when he is free from both his bullying headmaster and his mother’s long list of chores. The landscape around his village is beautifully wild, and Kariuki knows it well. One day Kariuki meets Nigel, a boy from England who has come to visit his grandfather, the fearsome Bwana Ruin, who owns the farm where the villagers work. The villagers call Nigel the mzungu boy (westerner), and view him with suspicion and fear, but not Kariuki. One day the boys decide to hunt down the meanest warthog in the forest. The hunt takes them deeper into the jungle than Kariuki has ever gone, and all at once his beloved forest becomes a frightening place. Dangerous creatures live in the jungle, including the mau-mau, the men with guns who are plotting against Bwana Ruin and the white soldiers. And when Nigel suddenly disappears, will Kariuki be able to save his friend?In this novel, the author captures a time of innocence, wild beauty, and the growing violence that eventually changed the entire structure of colonial Africa.
Although the Iron Curtain is gone, the memory of the high drama, tragedy, and comedy that was life in the Soviet Union remains. It meant endless lineups in the cold — lineups enlivened by poetry and paranoia. It meant family life lived in two small rooms, but a family life that was rich in love and laughter. It meant trying to escape all-seeing eyes, especially those of the old ladies in their babushkas who guarded every courtyard.
Tina Grimberg brings color and perception to a life we think of as gray, impersonal, and foreboding. She was born in Kiev and grew up feisty, bright, and funny in a tiny flat with her parents and her older sister. Her descriptions of life in that grand and beleaguered city are by turn hysterical and heartbreaking. When Tina turned fifteen, the government, desperate for foreign wheat, traded “undesireables” for food, and that meant that many Jewish families like Tina’s could leave. Until they could leave on the hair-raising journey that would eventually bring them to Indiana, she was publicly shamed and cut off, but she never lost her affectionate and clear-eyed view of her homeland. This brilliant collection of memories is an unforgettable look behind what was the Iron Curtain; at a way of life that was reality for millions of people in the twentieth century.
When the Nazis announce that all orphans in Athens are to be rounded up and sent to Germany, Theo and his older brother Soc travel to a small village where they can hide and join the resistance movement. But Soc is executed for sabotage, leaving Theo to be taken in by the resistance fighters Patir Alex and his wife. Now Theo’s only companion from before the war is his shadow puppet, Karagiozis, a beloved and heroic character in Greek puppet theater. The young puppeteer puts on shows with Karagiozis, depicting scenes of Nazi defeat and re-enacting tales about the history of Greece, as he struggles to understand the meaning of heroism and to make sense of what is happening in the world around him. Against the bleak backdrop of the fiercely beautiful Greek landscape, this moving, dramatic story is about kindness, bravery, and the perseverance of humanity even in the most devastating of times.
After receiving the gift of Second Sight from his old friend, the Bodach, 10-year-old Donald becomes responsible for safeguarding the ancient power of the walking stones before their glen is flooded by a hydroelectric company.
Every day, eight-year-old Christine’s walk to school takes her past a talking alley cat. Christine stops and feels its warm head beneath her hand, and the cat’s insights invariably give her something to ponder. One day her teacher asks her why she’s always late for school. Frightened, she reveals her secret. Her punishment: she must write 200 lines stating repeatedly, “There are no talking cats, and from now on I will arrive at school on time.” However, the cat is real, no matter how many lines Christine writes and she might just as well leave out the “no” — the headmaster won’t even notice, says the clever cat. That’s what the cat always says — that life is all about being clever and looking out for yourself, first and foremost. Christine isn’t so sure, and she is a little scared of the cat, too. There must be more to life than self-interest.