Americas

Materials from the Americas

The Mystery of the Martello Tower

Hazel and Ned are home for summer vacation and looking forward to long, lazy days of sleeping late, shooting hoops, building stink bombs, and spending time with their art-dealer father. But when he disappears without saying good-bye, their summer plunges into chaos. The babysitter leaves town, their apartment is burgled, and two menacing thugs start turning up everywhere. Ned and Hazel try escaping to an island castle belonging to long-lost relatives, only to find there’s no escaping this adventure. As the siblings work to untangle the threads that ensnare their father, they learn of a second, darker secret—one that surrounds their mother’s death years ago. Only by solving both mysteries can they bring their father home.

The Little Blue House

In a very small town in rural Argentina there is a magical house. The house is vacant and has been for as long as anyone can remember, but once a year, at midnight, the house turns blue, and 24 hours later it turns back to white again. Twelve-year-old Cintia lives with her father, an angry man who is sometimes violent. But Cintia finds comfort at her grandmother’s home, where there is always delicious food and fascinating tales about the town and about Cintia’s own family. Cintia is drawn to the little blue house even though both her father and grandmother forbid her to go there. And the town’s mayor, who hopes to turn the house into a money-making tourist attraction, tries to prevent anyone from visiting the place without paying. As the time approaches for the annual transformation of the house, more mysteries crop up. Cintia and her grandmother must make peace with Cintia’s father. The mayor’s plans must be confronted, and an old bookseller needs to find a way to save what is most important. And what about the rumors of buried treasure?

Pay Dirt: The Search For Gold In British Columbia

They came from China and Australia, from Scotland, England and Wales, from across Canada and the United States. They came from one thing: Gold!

Some stayed forever; some gave up and left; others lost their lives. But as the more determined struggled into the heart of the new region, they dug roads, built cities and established businesses. And by the time it was all over, the new providence of British Columbia was formed.

Some struck it rich; many more did not. This is their story.

Grab Hands And Run

An El Salvadorian family flees political oppression in their homeland and takes a perilous journey north, through Mexico to America, where they hope they will find a better life. A compelling, provocative, and exciting novel. Details of the brutal realities in El Salvador are dexterously woven into the story of one family?s struggle to beat the odds.

Lost City: The Discovery of Machu Picchu

In 1911, Hiram Bingham, the young Yale professor, set out on his expedition in search of Inca ruins. Guided the last steps by a young Quechua boy, he discovered not the rumored lost city, but the ruins of Machu Picchu, a city totally unknown to the outside world, and one of the wonders of the world.

Asphalt Angels

A raw, poignant story of a band of Brazilian street kids who survive — if they can — by their wits alone. Asphalt Angels centers around a boy named Alex, a street child of 13 in Brazil who has been kicked onto the city streets by his stepfather after his mother dies. He is alone and scared. This is the story of how he adapts to life in the streets with a group of other children. Hazards are everywhere: drug-dealing, theft, glue-sniffing, harassment, brutality, even murder. It is not easy steering clear of them, yet Alex manages to survive, eventually making a home with 14 other boys in a house, working in an office, and attending evening school. This story grew from the real-life drama the author observed while on assignment. In an afterword, she reports that some 10,000 children sleep in Rio’s streets, and many more roam them by day, victims of inadequate nutrition, education, and shelter, and prey to drugs and violence. Alex does exist, but under another name.

Ahmek

This is the story of Ahmek, a young beaver, going about the business of living in his natural habitat. Through his eyes, we see a man, an artist painting the wilderness. Slowly, cautiously, Ahmek and the man establish a rapport, only to have it shattered when poachers destroy the beaver dam and threaten Ahmek’s life. In a desperate escape, Ahmek sets out alone on his life’s great adventure. He meets a charming cast of characters, his life true love, and he does find happiness. But there is always that feeling that one day he should return. When he does, he becomes part of a significant mystery that to this day has never been solved.