While vacationing in Hawaii, sixteen-year-old Arron becomes involved with a tour guide, his beautiful daughter, and a ruthless developer who seeks an ancient secret hidden on the island of Kauai.
United States
Materials from United States of America
The Singing Mountain
When sixteen-year-old Carlie learns that her older cousin Mitch is staying in Israel to study at an Orthodox yeshiva, she is upset and angry. Since she was orphaned years ago, Carlie and Mitch have lived together like brother and sister. In Israel Mitch finds fulfillment in studying the Torah, in his work as an artist, and in his new relationship with an Israeli girl.
In California, Carlie, her aunt Vivian and uncle Harry grow increasingly alarmed at Mitch’s defection. They fear he has been brainwashed. Aunt Vivian decides to take Carlie to Israel to lure Mitch back home. Once there, Carlie is awakened by Mitch’s new spirituality. After surviving a traumatic incident she realizes that she has a strength of her own. Finally, Carlie holds the key to the changing paths that each of them will take.
1968
1968, the year America grew up from racial and gender equality fights to the struggle against the draft and the Vietnam war. In 1968 Americans asked questions and fought for their rights. Now, 30 years later, we look back on that seminal year–from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assasination to the Columbia University riots to our changing role among other nations–in this gripping introduction to the events home and abroad. The year we first took steps in space, the year we shaped the present, 1968 presented by a former New York Times writer who lived through it all, shares the story with detail.
Br’er Rabbit Captured!: A Dr. David Harleyson Adventure
World-renowned painter Dr. David Harleyson and his nephew John D. are about to set off another adventure! This time they’re headed down South to Sandy Creek, where Dr. David plans on capturing the famous trickster Br’er Rabbit on canvas—a portrait he’s always dreamed of painting. Br’er Fox has “thoughtfully” agreed to help.
But getting Br’er Rabbit to sit for his portrait is easier said than done because he has to keep slipping away from Br’er Fox and Br’er Wolf, who also want to capture him—to barbecue! It will be a summer of adventure—and misadventure—for John D. as he meets all the favorite characters from Uncle Remus and retells their classic tales in funny letters home to his dad.
But getting Br’er Rabbit to sit for his portrait is easier said than done because he has to keep slipping away from Br’er Fox and Br’er Wolf, who also want to capture him—to barbecue! It will be a summer of adventure—and misadventure—for John D. as he meets all the favorite characters from Uncle Remus and retells their classic tales in funny letters home to his dad.
The China Year: A Novel
Henrietta Rich, a New York City teenager, spends a year in China when her father accepts a teaching position in Beijing.
Red Midnight
When guerrilla soldiers strike Santiago’s village, they shoot at everyone in their path. Dos Vías is on fire, and the night glows red. “Take the cayuco and sail to the United States of America. Now go!” Santiago’s uncle Ramos tells him, and Santiago, twelve, and his four-year-old sister, Angelina, flee.
With a map, a machete, and very little food, Santiago and Angelina set sail in their uncle Ramos’s sea kayak, built for just such an escape, but not for a sailor who is only a boy. Santiago heads for the United States on a voyage that will take them through narrow channels guarded by soldiers, shark, infested waters, and days of painful heat and raging storms. Santiago knows that he and Angelina probably will die trying to make the voyage, but they certainly will die at the hands of rebels or government soldiers if they do not try.
Under the Ramadan Moon
Ramadan is one of the most special months of the Islamic year, when Muslims pray, fast, and help those in need. This story serves as an introduction to Ramadan.
Gothic Lolita: A Mystical Thriller
TWO GIRLS, THOUSANDS OF MILES APART…Chelsea lives in Los Angeles; Miya lives in Tokyo. Other than the fact they’re both half Japanese and obsessed with dressing like Gothic Lolitas, they would seem to have nothing in common. Or do they? THE BLOG THAT WENT AWAY. They got to know each other through their blogs. But three years ago something happened to Chelsea, an event so terrible that she stopped writing altogether. Miya’s been checking Chelsea’s blog ever since, to see if she’s come back, but she never has. Until today. A LIFE AND DEATH CONNECTION. Today is the day Chelsea finally goes back online and tells Miya everything. And today is the day that Miya’s life could change forever because of it. Like a Japanese manga come to life, Gothic Lolita is a mythic fairy tale about love, death, and rebirth…and the courage it takes to reach out to another soul.
Ask Me No Questions
Nadira and her family are undocumented, fleeing to the Canadian border as they run from the country they thought was their home. For years since emigrating from Bangladesh, they have lived on expired visas in New York City, hoping they could someday realize their dream of becoming legal citizens. But after 9/11, everything changes. Suddenly, being Muslim means being dangerous, a suspected terrorist. And when Nadira’s father is arrested and detained at the border, Nadira and her older sister, Aisha, are sent back to Queens and told to carry on, as if everything is the same. Nadira and Aisha live in fear they’ll have to return to a Bangladesh they hardly know. Aisha, always the responsible one, falls apart. It’s up to Nadira to find a way to bring her family back together again. Critically acclaimed author Marina Budhos has written a searing portrait of contemporary America in the days of terrorism, orange alerts, and the Patriot Act, and a moving and important story about something most people take for granted — citizenship and acceptance in their country.
Gemini Summer
In the quiet of Hog’s Hollow, each member of the River family pursues a dream. Old Man River sets out to build a fallout shelter in case the war in Vietnam “brings the end of everything;” his wife Flo, who collects Gone with the Wind dolls, attempts to pen her own Southern saga; Beau, their older son, suffers from “space fever” and aspires to be an astronaut. As for Danny, the younger River boy, well, he just dreams of having a dog. Then in the spring of 1965 tragedy befalls the Rivers–a tragedy that makes the Old Man wish he’d never started building the shelter, stops Flo from finishing her bestseller, and leaves Beau grounded rather than airborne. But the tragedy does finally bring a dog into Danny’s life. And not just any old dog. Danny comes to believe that the mixed-breed stray embodies the spirit of someone he dearly loves. He won’t allow anyone to separate him from the dog, not even after it bites the neighborhood bully and the police are sent to take it away. Together Danny and his dog run off, heading toward Cape Caneveral, where the Gemini missions blast off from, and where dreams come true.