Fiction genre
A twelve-year-old Jose Maldonado used to dream of becoming a fine artist. Now all he worries about is survival. Since his mother died and his father left for work in the U.S., he’s been on his own in Mexico. But when at last it’s time to reunite with his father in the U.S., everything goes wrong.
When John, a British demolitions expert, is supposedly killed blowing up a building in Siberia, his fiance Annie insists on investigating, despite being in a wheelchair, and John’s teenage sister Hayley goes along and finds that the Russian Mafia is involved.
A boy who experiences the Bosnian War and finds the secret to survival in language and stories is bound to dazzle a whole new readership. Aleksandar Krsmanovic, Grandpa Slavko’s stories endow life in Višegrad with a kaleidoscopic brilliance. Neighbors, friends, and family past and present take on a mythic quality; the River Drina courses through town like the pulse of life itself. So when his grandfather dies suddenly, Aleksandar promises to carry on the tradition.
After seeing his father hauled off to debtor’s prison, Tom Tin sets out to take revenge on Mr. Goodfellow, the man responsible for his family’s misfortunes. But the fog-filled London streets are teeming with sinister characters. Tom encounters a blind man who scavenges the riverbed for treasure—and wants what Tom digs up; Worms, a body snatcher who reveals a shocking surprise; and a nasty gang of young pickpockets who mistake Tom for someone ominously known as the Smasher. And ultimately, Tom comes up against the cruel hand of the law. Accused of murder, Tom is given a seven-year sentence. He is to be transported to Van Diemen’s Land with other juvenile convicts.
Andy Flynn is one of those saved, but his mother and stepfather both die in the flood. Suddenly the only world Andy has ever known is gone and he is alone. Aunt Mona, whom he has never met, takes him to live with her in Halifax, on the opposite side of the country. During the trip, Aunt Mona reveals to him that his father is still alive – and living in Halifax. As soon as they reach their destination, Andy escapes to find his father. Although Vincent Flynn may not be the perfect father, Andy wants to stay with him rather than live with his harsh aunt.
After seeing a Christmas show, Max decides he’d like to write a play, so he asks D.J. Lucas to help him. At the same time, he has to cope with a bossy, talkative babysitter and a new man in his mother’s life. Little by little Max comes to terms with sharing his mother, and his play reveals some of the turmoil in his life.
When she takes money from her neighbor’s wallet in order to buy a kitten, Sophie finds that she cannot live with the guilt.
The son of a Jewish father and black mother, high school senior Zack has never been allowed to meet his mother’s family, but after doing a research project on a former slave, he travels from his home in Canada to Natchez, Mississippi to find his grandfather.
Full of heart and humor, this coming-of-age tale is no small thing — the tale of a boy’s search for love and identity in the face of longing, abandonment, and uncertainty. When twelve-year-old Nathaniel and his two sisters discover an ad in the paper for a free pony, they can hardly believe their luck. But what will their mother say? Mom’s been having a hard time ever since Dad walked out on them four years ago. But caring for a pony might keep Nat and his older sister, Cid, from bickering, and it would mean so much to eight-year-old Queenie. It takes some serious persuasion — and a promise to use Nat’s paper route money for the pony’s keep — but Mom finally relents. And so begins a year of self-discovery, as Nat struggles to deal with his father’s absence; look out for his younger sister, who is “different”; and recover from having his heart broken by a rich, pretty girl from school. Life is not always easy, but Nat knows that Smokey, his very own pony, will be waiting for him at the end of each day. Or will he?
Taylor loves birds and collects eggs. He has the rare opportunity to enhance his collection when a pair of red kites nest nearby. The only problem is, the red kites are extremely rare – only twenty-five are left in the country. Taylor’s father, a gamekeeper, is under orders from his boss, the landowner Reg Harris, to kill the kites, who are birds of prey and will go after Harris’s grouse population. For Taylor, the temptation also to take the eggs from the kites’ nest becomes insurmountable when Harris actually asks him to do the job, even though it is illegal. Pangs of terrible guilt follow, and although Taylor tells Harris he’s gotten rid of the incriminating evidence, he secretly salvages and hatches one egg. But as soon as the bird is born, elaborate plans must be made to keep its existence a secret in order to save it from being shot during the approaching hunting season.