Americas

Materials from the Americas

The War Within

Holly Springs, Mississippi, 1862: The Green family owns a general store in this small Southern town where they have lived for many years. But ever since the Union army occupied her beloved town, Hannah Green has been furious. Her sister, Joanna, has fallen in love with Captain Mazer of the Union — the same Union that has been fighting against her brothers in the Confederate army to destroy the Southern way of life. Now General Grant has issued General Order #11, which commands all Jews to evacuate the territory under his command. The Greens are forced to follow the Union army to Memphis. For the first time Hannah and her family face discrimination simply because of their religion. She begins to realize that not everyone believes the basic truths she has always accepted. While the battles rage around her, Hannah begins to fight another war — the war within — which could destroy everything she has ever believed. With the historical accuracy for which she is known, best-selling author Carol Matas turns her attention to an unexamined chapter of the Civil War and creates a thought-provoking and heart-racing masterpiece.

Guttersnipe

Early in the twentieth century, ten-year-old Ben and his family live in the poorest part of their city with other Jewish immigrants. There is never enough money to make ends meet, so Ben, determined to do his part, lands a job delivering hat linings to a hat factory after school. He sets out on his boss’s bicycle feeling strong and free, and has a grand time until, on his way up Hill Street, he gets a harsh comeuppance, one that hurts his body and threatens to destroy his dreams as well. Based on the experiences of the author’s father and illustrated in Emily Arnold McCully’s signature style, this book celebrates a boy who nearly loses hope, but then learns that the future shines bright and full of second chances.

Summer of Madness

This story is about a girl named Karen who has to take over her family’s household for three weeks while her mother goes away. While her mother is away, Karen finds out that someone had been trespassing on their land and poisoning her cows. So, aside from doing all the household chores she is also on the look out.

 

The Onlyhouse (Northern Lights Young Novels)

Red Cedar Award nominee, 1997 Life in her new neighborhood isn’t going to be easy for Croatian immigrant Lucy Vakovik. Her mother has saved enough to buy them an onlyhouse: a single detached home. But to Lucy’s friends, her mother says, “My sometime English is broking.” What’s a kid to do? Lucy’s got a fight ahead of her and important choices to make. But she knows she’s not a stereotype like some people think – she’s Lucy and that’s a good place to start.

Big and Small, Room for All

A captivating look at how a child, fits into the great, big universe around us. “Big sky, big sky, what is bigger than the sky? ”In this clever concept book for young readers, award-winning author Jo Ellen Bogart explores the size of animate and inanimate objects and their place in the universe. She introduces children to the concept of “we” — that humans are a big part of the world, but a small part of existence. In the vastness of the universe, with galaxies swirling through space, the book begins with simple words printed on the darkness. Moving closer to our world, we see the solar system, our sun at the center. Closer still, we see the huge ball of fire, which is the sun, and the third planet out from it — our blue Earth. From Earth looming huge on the page, young readers view smaller and smaller objects, from mountain to tree to man to child to kitten to mouse to flea to microscopic beings, amazing in their complexity. Accompanied by artist Gillian Newland’s lavish watercolor paintings, Big and Small, Room for All places the immensity and wonder of space in perspective so young readers comprehend they are part of creation, but a small part of all that exists.

Who Likes The Snow? (Exploring The Elements)

Snow — it crunches when we walk on it, floats down like feathers onto our faces and makes our sleds zoom. But what is snow? And how does it transform the world around us? With a wonderful sense of movement and color, this unique book in the Exploring the Elements series invites children to explore their world with delight and curiosity. Young readers will open the flaps to find the science of snow and related topics clearly explained. Inside, they will discover why snow is white, what snowflakes look like up close, how snow makes the night brighter and much more.