Intermediate (ages 9-14)

Material appropriate for intermediate age groups

Once Upon an Eid: Stories of Hope and Joy by 15 Muslim Voices

Once Upon an Eid is a collection of short stories that showcases the most brilliant Muslim voices writing today, all about the most joyful holiday of the year: Eid! Eid: The short, single-syllable word conjures up a variety of feelings and memories for Muslims. Maybe it’s waking up to the sound of frying samosas or the comfort of bean pie, maybe it’s the pleasure of putting on a new outfit for Eid prayers, or maybe it’s the gift giving and holiday parties to come that day. Whatever it may be, for those who cherish this day of celebration, the emotional responses may be summed up in another short and sweet word: joy. The anthology will also include a poem, graphic-novel chapter, and spot illustrations.

The 10pm Question

Tackling the difficult question of mental health this is a book to make you laugh and cry in equal measures. Twelve-year-old Frankie Parsons asks questions about everything but cannot bring himself to ask the one question that worries him more than all the others. This is a wonderfully written story by award-winning author Kate de Goldi

Music For Tigers

From Governor General’s Literary Award finalist Michelle Kadarusman comes a novel about a young violinist who discovers her mother’s family secretly harbor a sanctuary for extinct Tasmanian tigers in the remote Australian rainforest

Story Boat

Baby blue background with illustration of refugee children in boatWhen a little girl and her younger brother are forced along with their family to flee the home they’ve always known, they must learn to make a new home for themselves — wherever they are. And sometimes the smallest things — a cup, a blanket, a lamp, a flower, a story — can become a port of hope in a terrible storm. As the refugees travel onward toward an uncertain future, they are buoyed up by their hopes, dreams and the stories they tell — a story that will carry them perpetually forward.

This timely, sensitively told story, written by multiple award–winner Kyo Maclear and illustrated by Sendak Fellowship recipient Rashin Kheiriyeh, introduces very young readers in a gentle, non-frightening and ultimately hopeful way to the current refugee crisis.

The Wolf in Underpants

In this witty graphic novel, a community of forest animals trades scary rumors about a nearby wolf. Some critters have even gone into business selling wolf traps and anti-wolf fences. But when the wolf appears in a pair of striped underpants, everyone rethinks their fears. This is a heartwarming story about understanding differences, told with an oddball sense of humor.

Monument Maker: Daniel Chester French And The Lincoln Memorial

When Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, fifteen-year-old Dan French had no way to know that one day his tribute to the great president would transform a plot of Washington, DC marshland into America’s gathering place. He did not even know that a sculptor was something to be. He only knew that he liked making things with his hands. This is the story of how a farmboy became America’s foremost sculptor. After failing at academics, Dan was working the family farm when he idly carved a turnip into a frog and discovered what he was meant to do. Sweeney’s swift prose and Fields’s evocative illustrations capture the single-minded determination with which Dan taught himself to sculpt and launched his career with the famous Minuteman Statue in his hometown of Concord, Massachusetts. This is also the story of the Lincoln Memorial, French’s culminating masterpiece. Thanks to this lovingly created tribute to the towering leader of Dan’s youth, Abraham Lincoln lives on as the man of marble, his craggy face and careworn gaze reminding millions of seekers what America can be. Dan’s statue is no lifeless figure, but a powerful, vital touchstone of a nation’s ideals. Now Dan French has his tribute too, in this exquisite biography that brings history to life for young readers.

The Flag Book

Welcome to the amazing world of flags! Did you know that each flag is actually a picture that sends a message to everyone who sees it?
In The Flag Book, Lonely Planet Kids introduces you to the flags of every country in the world, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, and tells you what their design, colors, and images represent, along with lots of other incredible facts. What’s the only country that doesn’t have a rectangular flag? Why does Hawaii’s state flag feature the UK’s Union Jack in one corner? And what do the 13 stripes of the USA’s Star Spangled Banner represent? You’ll find out the answer to all these and much, much more. And then we’ll show you the other fascinating ways flags are used throughout the world. Learn the International Code of Flag Symbols to communicate with ships at sea; read about flags used in sports, like Formula 1’s checkered flag; marvel at flags commemorating world records and incredible human achievements; and peer with a microscope at the planet’s smallest flag, which is no wider than a human hair.

Lily The Thief

Lily is a young novice who dreams of being a master thief. That’s not easy when the Guildmaster of Thieves only assigns you the lowliest jobs: pick-pocketing, trespassing, and petty theft. But on one of these meager quests, Lily unearths a plot involving a mysterious cult and long-forgotten gods a secret that could destroy the whole world. Lily must fight to save the same people who have branded her an outcast.