A young Aboriginal girl is taken from the north of Australia and sent to an institution in the distant south. There, she slowly makes a new life for herself and, in the face of tragedy, finds strength in new friendships. Poignantly told from the child’s perspective, Sister Heart affirms the power of family and kinship.
Historical Fiction
Historical Fiction genre
In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse
Jimmy, a young Lakota boy, struggles with fitting in on his reservation because he does not look like the other Lakota boys; he has light hair, blue eyes, and his father is of Scottish decent. Grandpa Nyles sees an opportunity to introduce Jimmy to another Lakota who had fair hair and light skin—the famous Crazy Horse. Over the course of their trip, Grandpa Nyles recounts history and stories about the life of the Lakota hero and the events that shaped him into a powerful leader, including famous battles and standoffs against the white settlers.
Her Land, Her Love
A sobering perspective of what it was like to be forced on the Navajo Long Walk, one of our nation’s most traumatizing events. Ninaanibaa’, the young woman whose family the story centers on, is the heart of the novel. Two of her young daughters are kidnapped prior to removal. Through the love of her warrior husband, Haske Yil Naanaah, she never gives up hope of reuniting again with her daughters.
Flowers For Sarajevo
In 1992, a young boy whose father is away at war discovers, from their flower stall, the power of beauty and kindness in the wake of the bombing of Sarajevo.
This book has been included in WOW’s Kids Taking Action Booklist. For our current list, visit our Boolist page under Resources in the green navigation bar.
Featured in WOW Review Volume IX, Issue 4.
Seeking Refuge
Eleven-year-old Marianne is fourntunate. She is one of the first two hundred Jewish children in the heroic rescue operation known as the Kindertransport, which arrived in London, England in December 1938.
The Hawk Of The Castle
Join a young girl and her father, the falconer at a medieval castle, as they experience the joys of taking a goshawk out for a training flight.
The Last Execution
Based on the true story of the last execution in Denmark’s history, this novel asks a question that plagues a small Danish town in 1853: does a fifteen-year-old boy deserve to be put to death?
The Pact
Peter Gruber is a ten year old German boy who, in May of 1939, is dealing with the drowning death of his closest friend, living with his mother in Hamburg.
The Pact is a WOW Recommends: Book of the Month for September 2016.
The Tin Snail
Thirteen-year-old Angelo knows that his father’s job is in jeopardy. Only one thing can save it: inventing a car the world has never seen before. On vacation in the French countryside, Angelo gets an idea. So far, cars have only been made for the rich. Someone should create a car for everyday working people. Angelo thinks he’ss up to the challenge!
Winter’s Bullet
In January 1945, fifteen-year-old Tygo Winter, a locksmith’s son who has been forced by the Nazis to loot abandoned Dutch homes, finds himself protecting a Jewish girl he has found in a villa, and in possession of information about a German super-weapon that the Nazi high command plans to use to defeat the Allied forces in the Battle of the Bulge–information that the Resistance wants.