The Frozen Waterfall

When she finally joins her father and brothers in their new home in Switzerland, a twelve-year-old Turkish girl encounters the tremendous difficulty of living in a foreign country without knowing the language and customs.

Rex Zero and the End of the World

Why does everyone seem so scared? That’s what the new boy in town, Rex Norton-Norton, aka Rex Zero, wonders as he rides his bike through Ottawa’s streets. Is it spies? Kidnappers? Or is it because of the shadowy creature some say is stalking Adams Park? One thing is certain in this summer of 1962 as the Cold War heats up: nothing is quite what it seems. What’s a boy to do? If his name is Rex Zero and he has a bike he calls “Diablo,” five wild and funny siblings, an alpha dog named Kincho, a basement bomb shelter built of old Punch magazines, and a mind that turns everything inside out, he’s bound to come up with an amazing idea.

A Song for Ba

In the Chinese opera, men traditionally sing both male and female parts. Wei Lim’s father, Ba, however, usually plays masculine characters and sings in a deep bass voice. But Wei’s grandfather played female roles, and has secretly taught Wei to sing these difficult parts. When the New World’s entertainments begin to cause a shrinking audience for the opera company, Ba is forced to play female characters.

One Beastly Beast: Two Aliens, Three Inventors, Four Fantastic Tales

A collection of four fantasy tales in which a boy joins a strange navy in pursuit of video pirates, a neglected princess seeks adventure, an orphaned inventor seeks the perfect parents, and a genius girl faces a sea serpent.

Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood

In this groundbreaking memoir set in Ramallah during the aftermath of the 1967 Six-Day War, Ibtisam Barakat captures what it is like to be a child whose world is shattered by war. With candor and courage, she stitches together memories of her childhood: fear and confusion as bombs explode near her home and she is separated from her family; the harshness of life as a Palestinian refugee; her unexpected joy when she discovers Alef, the first letter of the Arabic alphabet. This is the beginning of her passionate connection to words, and as language becomes her refuge, allowing her to piece together the fragments of her world, it becomes her true home.

Featured in Volume II, Issue 2 of WOW Review.

The Shadow World

Ben Arnold had hoped that exposing Mr. Dodds’s vile Pet Emporium — abusiness that stole magical creatures from Eidolon to sell to England’s rich and curious — would prevent the Secret Country from fading away into ruin. However, it soon becomes clear that the evil, dog-headed Dodman’s reign of terror has only just begun. Ben’s mother, Queen Isadora, returns to her homeland to lead its creatures against the Dodman. Unwilling to be left behind, Ben’s sister, Ellie, crosses into the Secret Country and walks straight into a trap. Ben and his father follow close behind, and soon the entire Arnold family is scattered across Eidolon’s magical and dangerous terrain. The Arnold children are destined to save the Secret Country, but first they must save each other.

A Company of Fools

Before Micah came to St. Luc’s, he knew how to beg, how to steal, and how to run from a beating. He did not know how to comb his hair, walk in line when he felt like running, or obey anyone’s whim but his own. He was a stranger in a strange land. Henri has been living within abbey walls all his life, first in the care of nuns, then as a choirboy at St. Luc’s, not far from Paris. He expects to spend the rest of his life there, copying books in the Scriptorium with the other brothers, and singing Mass in the great cathedral. Then Micah arrives, a streetwise ragamuffin with the voice of an angel, saved from certain hanging to sing for God instead of coins. Micah comes like a fresh breeze into dead places, bringing exuberant joy at a time when Henri most needs it. For the plague is coming, the grim reaper that will slash at the very roots of Henri’s security. And neither Henri nor Micah nor anyone else in their world will ever be the same.

I Very Really Miss You

Sam’s big brother Ben is going away on a school trip for an entire week and Sam is thrilled: for one whole week he can play with all the toys and have the whole bedroom to himself. What’s more, he certainly won’t be getting squirted by Ben’s water pistol. But it’s too quiet without Ben, so Sam writes his brother to say he “very really” misses him.

When I Met the Wolf Girls

Two little girls—raised by wolves—have just arrived at the orphanage, and life will never be the same. Based on a true story, this book is about many things at once: family, friendship, and what it means to have a home.