At a beachside birthday party, a young girl finds a way to give her grandmother the perfect present plus the courage to plan a trip to her home country, Cape Verde.
Seaside Dream
Americas
Materials from the Americas
The Three Little Pigs And The Somewhat Bad Wolf
In this original version of the traditional tale, the three little pigs are in their usual trouble with the somewhat bad wolf–who is really just very hungry and frustrated that the pizza parlor will not serve him.
The Language Inside
Raised in Japan, American-born tenth-grader Emma is disconcerted by a move to Massachusetts for her mother’s breast cancer treatment, because half of Emma’s heart remains with her friends recovering from the tsunami.
This book has been included in WOW’s Language and Learning: Children’s and Young Adult Fiction Booklist. For our current list, visit our Booklist page under Resources in the green navigation bar.
Featured in Volume VI, Issue 1 of WOW Review.
Bluefish
Thirteen-year-old Travis has a secret: he can’t read. But a shrewd teacher and a sassy girl are about to change everything in this witty and deeply moving novel. Travis is missing his old home in the country, and he’s missing his old hound, Rosco. Now there’s just the cramped place he shares with his well-meaning but alcoholic grandpa, a new school, and the dreaded routine of passing when he’s called on to read out loud. But that’s before Travis meets Mr. McQueen, who doesn’t take “pass” for an answer—a rare teacher whose savvy persistence has Travis slowly unlocking a book on the natural world. And it’s before Travis is noticed by Velveeta, a girl whose wry banter and colorful scarves belie some hard secrets of her own. With sympathy, humor, and disarming honesty, Pat Schmatz brings to life a cast of utterly believable characters—and captures the moments of trust and connection that make all the difference.
The Art Of Miss Chew
Describes how a teacher named Miss Chew encouraged individuality, and accepted learning differences, and helped a young student with academic difficulties get extra time to take tests and permission to be in advanced art classes. Inspired by the author’s memories of her art teacher.
Each Kindness
When Ms. Albert teaches a lesson on kindness, Chloe realizes that she and her friends have been wrong in making fun of new student Maya’s shabby clothes and refusing to play with her.
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 XIII, Issue 4.
Wonder
I won’t describe what I look like. Whatever you’re thinking, it’s probably worse. August (Auggie) Pullman was born with a facial deformity that prevented him from going to a mainstream school—until now. He’s about to start 5th grade at Beecher Prep, and if you’ve ever been the new kid then you know how hard that can be. The thing is Auggie’s just an ordinary kid, with an extraordinary face. But can he convince his new classmates that he’s just like them, despite appearances?R. J. Palacio has written a spare, warm, uplifting story that will have readers laughing one minute and wiping away tears the next. With wonderfully realistic family interactions (flawed, but loving), lively school scenes, and short chapters, Wonder is accessible to readers of all levels.
See the review at WOW Review Volume 5, Issue 4
Green
Die cut pages bring surprise after surprise in this magical new book from the “Queen of the concept book”—an intricate and satisfying homage to green, the color of all creation. How many kinds of green are there? There’s the lush green of a forest on a late spring day, the fresh, juicy green of a just-cut lime, the incandescent green of a firefly, and the vivid aquamarine of a tropical sea. In her newest book, Caldecott and Geisel Honor Book author Laura Vaccaro Seeger fashions an homage to a single color and, in doing so, creates a book that will delight and, quite possibly astonish you.
See the review at WOW Review, Volume 5, Issue 4
The Smart Princess, And Other Deaf Tales
A unique and much-needed collection, The Smart Princess takes readers inside the fantasies, dreams and disappointments of young people who are deaf. This book is written and illustrated by winners of the Ladder Awards, organized by the Canadian Cultural Society of the Deaf. In one tale a princess runs away when her intolerant aunt forbids her to sign. Another story looks at the experience of being a deaf child at a hearing school. Two strangefriendrs, one giant and one tiny, become friends despite their difficulties in seeing each other. In another, a spaceship lands on a planet of the Deaf, forcing hearing astronauts to reconsider their ways. And in a poetic adventure, an imaginary tiger wreaks havoc.
See the review at WOW Review Volume 5, Issue 4
Waiting For No One
Taylor Jane Simon is an eighteen-year-old girl with Asperger’s Syndrome who has a refreshingly different view of the people she encounters and the life she wants to have. Young adult readers will identify with Taylor’s struggle for independence and self-control, and empathize as she outlines the ways—both positive and negative– that her Asperger’s Syndrome affects her daily life. Connecting with a play by Samuel Beckett, Taylor explores a fear of solitary existence while reaching out to a world at times perplexing. Most important, Taylor wants to be seen as an individual, not as a stereotypical “person with special needs,” or a rare wild flower—images that haunt her from the past. A cameo performance by Taylor’s new gerbil — Harold Pinter– adds further emphasis to themes of existentialism and humour.
See the review at WOW Review Volume 5, Issue 4