Almost Eden

Growing up in Mennonite community on the Canadian prairie in the late 1960s, Elsie, 12, blames herself when Mom is once again hospitalized for depression. Elsie has conversations with God, struggles to overcome guilt, and shares her honest desire to prove herself. Almost Eden is a beautiful portrait of a town, a family, and a young woman willing to challenge the things that don’t make sense to her, and to fix the things that don’t seem right.

Kanada

During World War II, life for Jutka, a Hungarian Jew and her family are transported to Auschwitz, where her mother and grandmother perish. Dreams of Canada, inspired by a book from a Canadian relative, sustain her. After the liberation, Jutka falls in love with Sandor, who dreams of relocating to Israel.

Ryan and Jimmy: And the Well In Africa that Brought Them Together

In Agweo, Uganda, villagers were used to walking a long way every day in search of water. It costs a lot of money to build a well in Africa. The 6-year-old, Ryan Hreljac, kept doing chores around his parents’ house, even after he learned it could take him years to earn enough money to build one. Then a friend of the family wrote an article in the local newspaper about Ryan’s wish to build a well in Africa to supply people with clean water. After Ryan’s well was built, a young orphan named Akana longed for a chance to thank Ryan in person for this gift of life-clean water.

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.