One girl’s struggle to find her true home. It was meant to be like coming home…All her life, Safi’s parents have dreamed of returning to Grandpa’s native village in Crimea. But exchanging their sunny Uzbekistan house for a squalid camp is more like a nightmare. Will the return to a country where no one welcomes them tear Safi’s family apart, or can this strange land ever become home? This is a compelling story about the Crimean Tatars’ struggle to reclaim the land from which they were exiled in the Second World War.
Age
Catalog sorted by age group
Egg & Spoon
Elena Rudina lives in the impoverished Russian countryside. Her father has been dead for years. One of her brothers has been conscripted into the Tsar’s army, the other taken as a servant in the house of the local landowner. Her mother is dying, slowly, in their tiny cabin. And there is no food. But then a train arrives in the village, a train carrying untold wealth, a cornucopia of food, and a noble family destined to visit the Tsar in Saint Petersburg — a family that includes Ekaterina, a girl of Elena’s age. When the two girls’ lives collide, an adventure is set in motion, an escapade that includes mistaken identity, a monk locked in a tower, a prince traveling incognito, and — in a starring role only Gregory Maguire could have conjured — Baba Yaga, witch of Russian folklore, in her ambulatory house perched on chicken legs.
Severn and the Day She Silenced the World
“We raised all the money ourselves to come six thousand miles to tell you adults you must change your ways.” So began Severn Suzuki’s speech to the international delegates at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio De Janeiro. Only twelve years old, she was the only child given the chance to speak at the conference, and the media—and the world—took notice.
It’s Not About the Tiny Girl!
The series follows three friends who love to share stories. In each book, one is reminded of a well-known story: It’s Not About the Ball! is based on The Frog Prince; It’ Not About the Tiny Girl! is based on Thumbelina; It’s Not About the Diamonds! is based on the story of Diamonds and Toads; It’s Not About the Straw! is based on Rumpelstiltskin and It’s Not About the Beanstalk! is based on Jack and the Beanstalk.
It’s Not About the Straw!
The series follows three friends who love to share stories. In each book, one is reminded of a well-known story: It’s Not About the Ball! is based on The Frog Prince; It’ Not About the Tiny Girl! is based on Thumbelina; It’s Not About the Diamonds! is based on the story of Diamonds and Toads; It’s Not About the Straw! is based on Rumpelstiltskin and It’s Not About the Beanstalk! is based on Jack and the Beanstalk.
Danny, Who Fell in a Hole
Danny’s parents have always been a bit flaky, but this time they have gone too far! Their latest plan to follow their dreams means Danny and his older brother will spend six months in Banff (wherever that is) and six months in New York City. Furious, Danny runs out of the house and straight into a very, very large hole. When it appears that help is not on the way, Danny becomes a subterranean Robinson Crusoe, creating shelter (garbage bag and paper clips), cereal (coffee creamer, rainwater, granola bars, and a few rogue raisins), and a washroom (a hole in a hole).
Ting Ting
Like any other eight-year-old, Ting has lots to complain about: too much homework, boring lessons, having to live with her annoying cousin. And missing her parents, of course. She’s in China, they’re far away in Canada, and she wishes they would come home right away.
A Song for Bijou
Seventh-grader Alex Schrader’s life changes when he meets Bijou Doucet, a Haitian girl recently relocated to Brooklyn, and while he is determined to win her heart Alex also learns about dating rules and Haitian culture.
The Power Of Harmony
Jennifer’s dream is to become a famous singer–except she’s terrified of singing in public. Since her best friend moved away, Jenn has become the target of the bullies at school. But when a Native girl, Melody, joins the class, the bullies have a new victim. Jenn’s heard what people, including her own grandmother, say about “those people.”
Outside In
Lynn’s life is full — choir practice, school, shopping for the perfect jeans, and dealing with her free-spirited mother. Then one day her life is saved by a mysterious girl named Blossom, who introduces Lynn to her own world and family — both more bizarre, yet somehow more sane, than Lynn’s own. Blossom’s family is a small band of outcasts and eccentrics who live secretly in an ingenious bunker beneath a city reservoir.