Americas

Materials from the Americas

Cantora

The folk rhythm of the bombo drum beats like a heart, with a resonant voice singing the truth of her people. Mercedes Sosa sang about what it means to be human, and her songs of struggle always spoke the truth of the injustice that so many workers and families in Latin America faced. As a teen, she won a local radio contest, and as her confidence grew, so did her fame. From a folk festival to Carnegie Hall and the Sistine Chapel, Mercedes performed the world over, sharing stories through song. But not everyone loved her singing: a military dictatorship ruled over Argentina, and they saw the power of her voice. Even from exile, Mercedes Sosa was a beacon of freedom for her people, and when she returned to her homeland, she persisted in her work: to be the voice of the voiceless.

No Place Like Home

Opin, his brother Emjay, and their mother live in a car and are trying to get to Los Angeles where they hope an uncle and a new life are waiting, but even after finding a stray dog, Opin’s longing for a stable home intensifies as his brother’s reckless ways hit a new high.

Sinner’s Isle (Joy Revolution)

A spellbinding romantic fantasy about a powerful witch who will do anything to escape the remote island she’s being held captive on, including blackmail a notorious, charming pirate who washes up on shore, from debut author Angela Montoya. Rosalinda is trapped on Sinner’s Isle, an island filled with young women like her—Majestics, beautiful witches loathed by society for their dangerous magic yet revered by powerful men who want to use them. For years, she has been kept under the watchful, calculating eye of Doña Lucia. Now eighteen, Rosa will be the prized commodity at this year’s Offering, a fiesta for the wealthy to engage in drink, damsels, and debauchery. That is why she must flee—before someone forces the vicious phantoms within her to destroy everything she touches.

Handsome, swashbuckling Mariano has long sailed the high seas as the Prince of Pirates. Then the king’s fleet attacks his father’s infamous ship, leaving him marooned on Sinner’s Isle with only an enchanted chain meant to lead him to his heart’s desire. Instead, he falls into the hands of a brazen (although) bewitching headache—Rosa. Together they must outwit each other and their enemies before the Offering ends and it’s too late to escape the perils of Sinner’s Isle.

Flora La Fresca & The Art Of Friendship

Ten year old larger than life Flora Violeta LeFevre uses humor and a little mischief to navigate her best friend moving away, her sister’s overbearing and all-consuming quince preparations, and a surprising new friendship.

Skating Wild On An Inland Sea

Two children wake up to hear the lake singing, then the wind begins wailing or is it a wolf? They bundle up and venture out into the cold, carrying their skates. On the snow covered shore, they spot tracks made by fox, deer, hare, mink, otter and the wolf! In the bay, the ice is thick and smooth. They lace up their skates, step onto the ice, stroking and gliding, and the great lake sings again.

Alone: The Journeys Of Three Young Refugees

Each year, more than 400 minors arrive alone in Canada requesting refugee status. They arrive without their parents, accompanied by no adult at all. Alone relates the journey of three of them: Afshin, Alain and Patricia. Their story opens a window onto the many heartbreaks, difficult sacrifices and countless hardships that punctuate their obstacle filled path. But Alone most especially tells of the courage and resilience that these young people demonstrated before being able to finally obtain a life where threats and danger are no longer a part of their everyday existence.

Hopeless In Hope

We live in a hopeless old house on an almost-deserted dead end street in a middle of nowhere town named Hope. This is the oldest part of Hope; eventually it will all be torn down and rebuilt into perfect homes for perfect people. Until then, we live here: imperfect people on an imperfect street that everyone forgets about. For Eva Brown, life feels lonely and small. Her mother, Shirley, drinks and yells all the time. She’s the target of the popular mean girl, and her only friend doesn’t want to talk to her anymore. All of it would be unbearable if it weren’t for her cat, Toofie, her beloved nohkum, and her writing, which no one will ever see.

When Nohkum is hospitalized, Shirley struggles to keep things together for Eva and her younger brother, Marcus. After Marcus is found wandering the neighbourhood alone, he is sent to live with a foster family, and Eva finds herself in a group home. Furious at her mother, Eva struggles to adjust and being reunited with her family seems less and less likely. During a visit to the hospital, Nohkum gives Eva Shirley’s diary. Will the truths it holds help Eva understand her mother?