Materials from the Americas
Set in the year 2021, this fantastic YA novel explores the tension between a young woman’s future building infrastructure for Augmented Reality, and the commitment she makes to her dying grandmother to honour ancient Chinese magic. The Geomancer’s Compass imagines a world in the near future while exploring the Chinese immigrant experience and the expanding, elastic and shifting nature of reality.
Thirteen-year-old Rabia, along with her mother and younger brother, flees Afghanistan and the brutal Taliban for Pakistan. Some months later, they take part in a program that is relocating refugee widows and orphans to America. However, their flight falls on the fateful morning of 9/11. After the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City, their plane is diverted to Gander, Newfoundland. Also on the plane is a boy named Colin, who struggles with his prejudices against Rabia and her family after they are all stuck in Gander. The people in the small community open their hearts and their homes to the stranded passengers, and their kindness might be the bridge to bring Rabia and Colin’s families together.
Kek comes from Africa where he lived with his mother, father, and brother. But only he and his mother have survived. Now she’s missing, and Kek has been sent to a new home. In America, he sees snow for the first time, and feels its sting. He wonders if the people in this new place will be like the winter—cold and unkind. But slowly he makes friends: a girl in foster care, an old woman with a rundown farm, and a sweet, sad cow that reminds Kek of home. As he waits for word of his mother’s fate, Kek weathers the tough Minnesota winter by finding warmth in his new friendships, strength in his memories, and belief in his new country.
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.
Before two-leggeds walked on Mother Earth there was a great cold. The animals formed a council; someone had to seek help from the Creator. Rainbow Crow, a most colorful bird, was selected because he had a beautiful voice that would surely impress the Creator. He flew into the heavens and won fire from above. But on the way back the fire began to burn his plumage black and destroy his beautiful voice. But Rainbow Crow persevered, bringing the life-saving fire safely back to his friends.
Students in grade 5/6 at Springvale Elementary, Halifax, have written and illustrated a book to address a variety of world issues in a positive manner. They wished to raise awareness about problems faced by kids all over the world by imagining what it would be like if the problems didn’t exist. All messages and illustrations depict positive images that send a message of hope and provide concrete ways for readers to take action to celebrate and improve our world wordby word.
From our earliest beginnings, we have shared our lives with animals. Explore the ties that people and their pets have formed from prehistoric times to present day. With fun and fascinating facts, learn whether you are a Dog Person or a Cat Person, how to pick and care for your pet, and which animals are most closely linked to their wild roots. Discover purebreds and hybrids, rare and unusual pets, horses, birds, fish, guinea pigs, reptiles, and rodents. Part social history, part owner manual, Ann Love and Jane Drake present irresistible and heartwarming stories of pets through the ages, complemented by the captivating pen-and-inkwith- watercolor illustrations of artist Bill Slavin.
The war between Great Britain and the United States was a bitter one. For two years, from the summer of 1812 to the winter of 1814, fierce and bloody battles were fought. Laura Secord never thought of herself as brave. She was gentle, shy, and soft-spoken. But she was brave. When American officers took over her home, demanding food, she heard them boasting about a plan that would give them an easy victory over the British troops. Laura’s husband, James, would have gladly warned the British, but he had been badly injured. It fell to Laura to make the grueling trip. Janet Lunn, one of the country’s finest writers of historical fiction, recounts the tale of Laura’s dreadful journey with fresh detail and masterly prose. Her writing is perfectly complemented by Maxwell Newhouse’s astounding paintings.
When the city restricts water usage, Luz, with her friends and neighbors, strive to conserve and reuse what little water they have access to. They protest the new soda factory using the spring water at a nearby pond.
Mr. King likes new things. When his stuff gets the slightest bit old, he just tosses it into the pond. But when a pond monster frightens Mr. King, he must think of new ways to deal with old messes — with delightful results!
Long ago, when the Earth was young, there were no winds at all. In that time lived a couple who, more than anything else, longed for a child. A moon spirit driving a mysterious flying dogsled took pity upon the grieving wife. He showed the woman a strange tree and told her to make a doll from the trunk of the tree. The husband and wife followed the spirit’s commands – and were rewarded when the doll turned into a bright/eyed, smiling little boy. But to their amazement, their doll/child was not content to stay at home. Instead, he traveled off on a great adventure that brought good fortune to everyone in the world. A lovely story based on a legend from the Lower Yukon section of Alaska, originally collected by Edward William Nelson and published in a 500 page report titled “Eskimo About the Bering Strait”.