When Manny moves on to Raleigh Middle School, he’s relieved that he’ll be with his other Latino friends from elementary school. Hanging out with his vatos is great; but before Manny knows it, kids are calling the clique the Emperors and saying that they are a gang. Gradually Alex, whose older brother is in prison, starts calling the shots; and the pressure is on Manny ”first to shave his head and eventually to get drugs for the vatos. Close calls with the authorities become more and more frequent, and Manny can see where it’s all headed. Does he have the guts to turn his back on his oldest friends so he can keep clean? This riveting novel about peer pressure and core values highlights a hot-button topic.
Americas
Materials from the Americas
Right Behind You
When he was nine, Kip set another child on fire. Now, after years in a juvenile ward, he is ready for a fresh start. But the ghosts of his past soon demand justice, and he must reveal his painful secret. How can Kip tell anyone that he really is–or was–a murderer?
Crazy
Fifteen-year-old Jason has fallen upon bad times: his mother has died and his father has succumbed to mental illness. As he tries to hold his crazy father and their crumbling home together, Jason relies on a host of imaginary friends for guidance as he stumbles along trying not to draw attention to his father’s deteriorating condition. Both heartbreaking and funny, CRAZY lives up to the intense and compelling characters Han Nolan is praised for. As Jason himself teeters on the edge of insanity, Nolan uncovers the clever coping system he develops for himself and throws him a lifeline in the guise of friendship.
Call Me Maria
Fifteen-year-old Mara leaves her mother and their Puerto Rican home to live in the barrio of New York with her father, feeling torn between the two cultures in which she has been raised.
When I Was Puerto Rican
Esmeralda Santiago’s story begins in rural Puerto Rico, where her childhood was full of both tenderness and domestic strife, tropical sounds and sights as well as poverty. Growing up, she learned the proper way to eat a guava, the sound of tree frogs in the mango groves at night, the taste of the delectable sausage called morcilla, and the formula for ushering a dead baby’s soul to heaven. As she enters school we see the clash, both hilarious and fierce, of Puerto Rican and Yankee culture. When her mother, Mami, a force of nature, takes off to New York with her seven, soon to be eleven children, Esmeralda, the oldest, must learn new rules, a new language, and eventually take on a new identity.
Lifecycles: Rainforest
The rainforest is one of the most bio-diverse environments on the planet with some of the most amazing creatures on earth. In this first introduction to lifecycles in three different rainforests, young readers learn how animals they might not expect-like the Amazon’s leaf cutter ant and the jaguar, or Borneo’s butterflies and saltwater crocodiles-are part of the same food chain. At the end of each spread, readers use a picture clue to guess which predator is about to pounce. At the end of the book, young scientists explore how the three chains interact to form a food web, the basis for all life in an ecosystem. Age appropriate text and dynamic photographs make this a perfect introduction to this core scientific concept.
Explorers: Rainforests
Readers can dive into one of the most biologically diverse environments in the world, and explore the plants, animals, and people of the rainforest through a series of story scenes designed to highlight key topics in rainforest education. From the towering trees, to life in the canopy, dwelling in the dark on the forest floor, and the role the river plays in the rainforest environment.
Ones and Twos
This concept book explores numeracy, sorting, and pairing. Each brightly illustrated page invites children to identify familiar objects ranging from kites to socks, from one nest to the two birds sitting in it. Ones and Twos gives little toddlers and their caregivers much to discuss and to enjoy together, and it introduces an exciting new creative team.
Joy to the World!: Christmas Stories from around the Globe
All over the world, there is a wealth of fascinating traditions and legends surrounding the Christmas story. Here are five festive folk tales, retold by Saviour Pirotta, originating from places as far-flung as Mexico and the Middle East, Northern Europe and North Africa. Sheila Moxley’s vivid artwork adds to the seasonal spirit, making this a true celebration of Christmas, throughout the world.
Read how the lost little camel’s perseverance, resourcefulness and bravery led him back to his mother and baby Jesus’ manger; How an old Baker woman’s kindness and ingenuity saves the life of Baby Jesus and feeds a starving village; The story of a how a goatherding father and daughter, guided by angels, journey to meet the newborn Saviour and present him with weeds that have been transformed into beautiful red Christmas flowers; How selfless little Kumbi puts the needs of others before her own and is rewarded with a gourd of overflowing water to replenish supplies amid drought in her village; Lastly, a Russian variation of the Father Christmas story, where Babushka delivers presents to children from her bottomless basket of toys.
The Christmas Coat
Virginia and her brother are never allowed to pick first from the donation boxes at church because their father is the priest. Virginia is heartbroken when another girl gets the beautiful coat that she covets. Based on the author’s memoirs of life on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota.