In Search Of Safety- Voices of Refugees

An Iraqi woman who survived capture by ISIS. A Sudanese teen growing up in civil war and famine. An Afghan interpreter for the U.S. Army living under threat of a fatwa. They are among the five refugees who share their stories in award-winning author and photographer Susan Kuklin’s latest masterfully crafted narrative.

Featured in WOW Review Volume XIII, Issue 1

A Suitcase Of Seaweed And More

In A Suitcase of Seaweed, an NYPL Best Book for the Teen Age originally published in 1996, Janet Wong explored issues of identity in sections defined as Korean Poems, Chinese Poems, and American Poems. In this new book, A SUITCASE OF SEAWEED & MORE, readers will find the original text plus new reflections, insights, and writing prompts accompanying each poem.

Featured in WOW Review Volume XIII, Issue 1

Flowers In The Sky

Fifteen-year-old Nina Perez is faced with a future she never expected. She must leave her Garden of Eden, her lush island home in Samana, Dominican Republic, when she’s sent by her mother to live with her brother, Darrio, in New York, to seek out a better life. As Nina searches for some glimpse of familiarity amid the urban and jarring world of Washington Heights, she learns to uncover her own strength and independence. She finds a way to grow, just like the orchids that blossom on her fire escape. And as she is confronted by ugly secrets about her brother’s business, she comes to understand the realities of life in this new place. But then she meets him—that tall, green-eyed boy—one that she can’t erase from her thoughts, who just might help her learn to see beauty in spite of tragedy.

Featured in WOW Review Volume XIII, Issue 1

Anklet For A Princess-A Cinderella Story from India

Cinduri, hungry and ragged, is befriended by Godfather Snake, who feeds her delicacies and dresses her in gold cloth and anklets with bells and diamonds, to meet the prince.

Featured in WOW Review Volume XIII, Issue 1

The Maps Of Memory: Return To Butterfly Hill

In This Inspiring Sequel To The Pura Belpré Award–winning, “dazzling And Insightful” (bccb) I Lived On Butterfly Hill, Thirteen-year-old Celeste Marconi Returns Home To A Very Different Chile And Makes It Her Mission To Rebuild Her Community, And Find Those Who Are Still Missing. During Celeste Marconi’s Time In Maine, Thoughts Of The Brightly Colored Cafes And Salty Air Of Valparaíso, Chile, Carried Her Through Difficult, Homesick Days. Now, She’s Finally Returned Home To Find The Dictatorship Has Left Its Mark On Her Once Beautiful And Vibrant Community. Celeste Is Determined To Help Her Beloved Butterfly Hill Get Back To The Way It Was And To Encourage Her Neighbors To Fight To Regain What They’ve Lost. More Than Anything, Celeste Wishes She Could Bring Back Her Best Friend, Lucilla, Who Was One Of Many To Disappear During The Dictatorship. Celeste Tries To Piece Together What Happened, But It All Seems Too Big To Fix—until She Receives A Letter That Changes Everything. When Celeste Sets Off On Her Biggest Adventure Yet, She’ll Uncover More Heartbreaking Truths Of What Her Country Has Endured. But Every Small Victory Makes A Difference, And Even If Butterfly Hill Can Never Be What It Was, Moving Forward And Healing Can Make It Something Even Better.

In A Flash

In 1940, when Simona is eight and her sister, Carolina, is five, their father becomes the cook to the Italian ambassador to Japan, and the family leaves Italy for Tokyo. The girls learn perfect Japanese, make friends, and begin to love life in their new home. But soon Japan is engaged in a world war. In 1943, when all Italians in Japan are confined to internment camps as enemy aliens, Papà and the girls are forced to part, and Simona and Carolina embark on a dramatic journey. Anyone who aids them could be arrested for treason. All the sisters have is each other: their wits, courage, and resilience, and the hope that they will find people who see them not as the enemy, but simply as children trying to survive.

Santiago’s Road Home

The coins in Santiago’s hand are meant for the bus fare back to his abusive abuela’s house. Except he refuses to return; he won’t be missed. His future is uncertain until he meets the kind, maternal María Dolores and her young daughter, Alegría, who help Santiago decide what comes next: He will accompany them to el otro lado, the United States of America. They embark with little, just backpacks with water and a bit of food. To travel together will require trust from all parties, and Santiago is used to going it alone. None of the three travelers realizes that the journey through Mexico to the border is just the beginning of their story.

Santiago’s Road Home is a WOW Recommends: Book of the Month for December 2020.

The Greats

Winning a national high-school geography competition should be the high point of Jomon’s life. So why does he find himself running through the streets of Georgetown, Guyana, later that same night ― so angry and desperate? Why does he heave his hard-won medal through the front window of a liquor store?
Why does a teenaged boy decide life is not worth living?
Arrested by police and detained in a jail cell, Jomon is jolted out of his suicidal thoughts by the sudden appearance of another teenaged boy ― who claims to be his great-great-grandfather …