Materials from the Americas
An Iraqi woman who survived capture by ISIS. A Sudanese teen growing up in civil war and famine. An Afghan interpreter for the U.S. Army living under threat of a fatwa. They are among the five refugees who share their stories in award-winning author and photographer Susan Kuklin’s latest masterfully crafted narrative.
Featured in WOW Review Volume XIII, Issue 1
When a boy anonymously shares his snack with a homeless man, he begins a cycle of good will.
Featured in WOW Review Volume XII, Issue 4
In A Suitcase of Seaweed, an NYPL Best Book for the Teen Age originally published in 1996, Janet Wong explored issues of identity in sections defined as Korean Poems, Chinese Poems, and American Poems. In this new book, A SUITCASE OF SEAWEED & MORE, readers will find the original text plus new reflections, insights, and writing prompts accompanying each poem.
Featured in WOW Review Volume XIII, Issue 1
Fifteen-year-old Nina Perez is faced with a future she never expected. She must leave her Garden of Eden, her lush island home in Samana, Dominican Republic, when she’s sent by her mother to live with her brother, Darrio, in New York, to seek out a better life. As Nina searches for some glimpse of familiarity amid the urban and jarring world of Washington Heights, she learns to uncover her own strength and independence. She finds a way to grow, just like the orchids that blossom on her fire escape. And as she is confronted by ugly secrets about her brother’s business, she comes to understand the realities of life in this new place. But then she meets him—that tall, green-eyed boy—one that she can’t erase from her thoughts, who just might help her learn to see beauty in spite of tragedy.
Featured in WOW Review Volume XIII, Issue 1
In This Inspiring Sequel To The Pura Belpré Award–winning, “dazzling And Insightful” (bccb) I Lived On Butterfly Hill, Thirteen-year-old Celeste Marconi Returns Home To A Very Different Chile And Makes It Her Mission To Rebuild Her Community, And Find Those Who Are Still Missing. During Celeste Marconi’s Time In Maine, Thoughts Of The Brightly Colored Cafes And Salty Air Of Valparaíso, Chile, Carried Her Through Difficult, Homesick Days. Now, She’s Finally Returned Home To Find The Dictatorship Has Left Its Mark On Her Once Beautiful And Vibrant Community. Celeste Is Determined To Help Her Beloved Butterfly Hill Get Back To The Way It Was And To Encourage Her Neighbors To Fight To Regain What They’ve Lost. More Than Anything, Celeste Wishes She Could Bring Back Her Best Friend, Lucilla, Who Was One Of Many To Disappear During The Dictatorship. Celeste Tries To Piece Together What Happened, But It All Seems Too Big To Fix—until She Receives A Letter That Changes Everything. When Celeste Sets Off On Her Biggest Adventure Yet, She’ll Uncover More Heartbreaking Truths Of What Her Country Has Endured. But Every Small Victory Makes A Difference, And Even If Butterfly Hill Can Never Be What It Was, Moving Forward And Healing Can Make It Something Even Better.
The coins in Santiago’s hand are meant for the bus fare back to his abusive abuela’s house. Except he refuses to return; he won’t be missed. His future is uncertain until he meets the kind, maternal María Dolores and her young daughter, Alegría, who help Santiago decide what comes next: He will accompany them to el otro lado, the United States of America. They embark with little, just backpacks with water and a bit of food. To travel together will require trust from all parties, and Santiago is used to going it alone. None of the three travelers realizes that the journey through Mexico to the border is just the beginning of their story.
Santiago’s Road Home is a WOW Recommends: Book of the Month for December 2020.
Winning a national high-school geography competition should be the high point of Jomon’s life. So why does he find himself running through the streets of Georgetown, Guyana, later that same night ― so angry and desperate? Why does he heave his hard-won medal through the front window of a liquor store?
Why does a teenaged boy decide life is not worth living?
Arrested by police and detained in a jail cell, Jomon is jolted out of his suicidal thoughts by the sudden appearance of another teenaged boy ― who claims to be his great-great-grandfather …
It’s been three years since ICE raids and phone calls from Mexico and an ill-fated walk across the Sonoran. Three years since Sia Martinez’s mom disappeared. Sia wants to move on, but it’s hard in her tiny Arizona town where people refer to her mom’s deportation as “an unfortunate incident.”
A gorgeous and inspiring picture book based on the life of José Alberto Gutiérrez, a garbage collector in Bogotá, Colombia who started a library with a single discarded book found on his route.
Un espléndido e inspirador álbum ilustrado acerca de la vida de José Alberto Gutiérrez,
un recolector de basura de Bogotá, Colombia, que creó una biblioteca a partir de un libro que rescató de la basura mientras realizaba su ruta.