Genre

Catalog sorted by genre

The Silver Cup

It’s the year 1095, and fifteen-year-old Anna longs for a different life in her small German village. But as the seasons turn, the year proves anything but ordinary. Her beloved youngest cousin disappears, and another cousin, Martin, runs away to join a murderous army of renegade Crusaders. When Anna risks everything to rescue Leah, an orphaned Jewish girl whose only connection to her former life is a silver cup, the two girls forge a friendship that defies the intolerance of their time. Filling her story with fascinating period details, debut novelist Constance Leeds paints a rich, colorful picture of an eleventh-century life marked by courage, will, and most of all-hope.Winner of the 2008 IRA Children’s and Young Adult Book Award in the Intermediate Fiction Category.

A Gift of Gracias: The Legend of Altagracia

After their olive crop fails, Maria fears that her family will have to abandon their farm on the new island colony. Then, one night she dreams of a mysterious beautiful lady shrouded by trees with branches hung with hundreds of little suns. They are oranges like the ones Maria’s parents once ate in their homeland, Valencia, Spain. That very day Maria and her family plant the seeds that soon yield a magnificent orange grove and save the farm. But who was the mysterious lady who appeared in her dream and will Maria ever find her again?

Hue Boy

Everybody talks about little Hue Boy’s size. He gets teased by his friends at school, his mother worries day and night, and his grandma sews up clothes for him to grow into. Buy he does not change at all, even though just about everyone in the village offers advice. Yet in time Hue Boy grows to understand what it really means to stand tall, no matter what his height.

Ransom for a River Dolphin

Finding a seriously hurt dolphin in the Amazon near her small Colombian village and suspecting her stepfather of having wounded it, Carmenza nurses it back to health and turns to the wise old Indian Omar to appease its spirit.

Iguana Beach

Little Reina persuades her mother to let her go to the beach with her uncle and cousins, but she has to promise to not go near the waves. It becomes intolerable for her to keep that promise as her cousins frolic in the water–and then she finds a solution to her problem.

The Kite Festival

One Sunday morning, Fernando Flórez, his parents, grandparents, and sister head to a random destination for an outing — San Vicente. When they arrive in the center of town, they see many people preparing for a kite festival. The Flórez family waste no time joining in the fun. Unfortunately, all the stores are closed, so buying a kite’s out. But by using their ingenuity — along with found objects — they successfully put one together. Although they encounter some challenges along the way, they can always find a solution with a little thinking. A surprise comes at the end of the day, with the mayor of San Vicente on hand to deliver it.A warm family story set at a festival much like one Leyla Torres attended as a child in her native country of Colombia.

Going Home

Carlos and his family are going home for Christmas across the border from California to Mexico. Mama and Papa are excited, but Carlos and his sisters are not so sure. To them, California is home now, even though they were born in Mexico. But as the family drives to their hometown through festive villages and sun-kissed landscapes, Carlos and his sisters discover there’s magic in their roots and that—whether in Mexico or California—home is where the heart is: with one’s family.

See the review at WOW Review, Volume VI, Issue 4

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

When the government of the magic world and authorities at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry refuse to believe in the growing threat of a freshly revived Lord Voldemort, fifteen-year-old Harry Potter finds support from his loyal friends in facing the evil wizard and other new terrors.

The Last Polar Bears

Grandfather is off on an expedition to the North Pole to find the Last Polar Bears. Accompanying him is Roo, a remarkable little dog with strong views and a short attention span, and a golf cart full of equipment. The intrepid explorers set sail on the good ship Unsinkable and embark on the adventure of a lifetime. Grandfather and Roo endure storms, high seas, a temperamental sea captain, and seasickness until the ship reaches Walrus Bay. In the primitive coastal town of Walrus, Grandfather gets in a game of golf but unscrupulous wolves plague him and Roo. Finally, Grandfather and Roo and a penguin companion head off on foot to find the Great Bear Ridge, home to the Last Polar Bears.