Tells the story of a young girl’s dramatic escape from slavery via the Underground Railroad, from the perspective of her beloved rag doll.
(Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book)
Almost To Freedom
Awards
Freedom River
Describes an incident in the life of John Parker, a formerly enslaved person who became a successful businessman in Ripley, Ohio, and who repeatedly risked his life to help other slaves escape to freedom.
Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Books
Rex Zero, King of Nothing
In 1962 Ottawa, 11-year-old Rex Norton-Norton faces several confusing mysteries, including his father’s troubling secrets from World War II, the problems of a beautiful but unhappy woman named Natasha, what to do about his mean and vindictive teacher, and whether or not he should even be concerned about these things.
Before We Were Free
Anita de la Torre never questioned her freedom living in the Dominican Republic. But by her 12th birthday in 1960, most of her relatives have emigrated to the United States, her Tío Toni has disappeared without a trace, and the government’s secret police terrorize her remaining family because of their suspected opposition of el Trujillo’s dictatorship. Using the strength and courage of her family, Anita must overcome her fears and fly to freedom, leaving all that she once knew behind.
Brothers in Hope: The Story of the Lost Boys of Sudan
A young boy unites with thousands of other orphaned boys to walk to safety in a refugee camp in another country, after war destroys their villages in southern Sudan. Based on true events.
Awards:
Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Books
Brave Story
Young Wataru Mitani’s life is a mess. His father has abandoned him and his mother has been hospitalized after a suicide attempt. Desperately he searches for some way to change his life—a way to alter his fate. To achieve his goal, he must navigate the magical world of Vision, a land filled with creatures both fierce and friendly. And to complicate matters, he must outwit a merciless rival from the real world. Wataru’s ultimate destination is the Tower of Destiny where a goddess of fate awaits. Only when he has finished his journey and collected five elusive gemstones will he possess the Demon’s Bane—the key that will unlock his future. Charity, bravery, faith, grace and the power of darkness and light: these are the provinces of each gemstone. Brought together, they have the immeasurable power to bring Wataru’s family back together again.
Elena’s Serenade
Who ever heard of a girl glassblower? In Mexico, where the sun is called el sol and the moon is called la luna, a little girl called Elena wants to blow into a long pipe… and make bottles appear, like magic. But girls can’t be glassblowers. Or can they? Join Elena on her fantastic journey to Monterrey — home of the great glassblowers! — in an enchanting story filled with magic realism.
Americas Award For Children’s And Young Adult Literature. Commended.
The Baboon King
Morengaru, a strong young hunter, has been cast out by both his mother’s people, the Kikuyu, and his father’s people, the Masai. Every day he misses human companionship, and soon he feels as though he’s becoming more like the animals around him. When Morengaru has the chance to belong again, he seizes the opportunity. Then he faces the greatest challenge of his life: living among the baboons, still clinging to his humanity, hoping someday to return to his people.
The Shadows of Ghadames
At the end of the nineteenth century in Libya, 11-year-old Malika simultaneously enjoys and feels constricted by the narrow world of women, but an injured stranger enters her home and disrupts the traditional order of things.
Rose Blanche
A young German girl watches as the streets of her town fill with soldiers and tanks. Then, one day, she follows a truck into the woods and discovers a secret.