United States

Materials from United States of America

Touching Snow

‘”The best way to avoid being picked on by high school bullies is to kill someone.\”Karina has plenty to worry about on the last day of seventh grade: finding three Ds and a C on her report card again, getting laughed at by everyone again, being sent to the principal — again. She\’d like this to change, but with her and her sisters dodging their stepfather\’s fists every day after school, she doesn\’t have time to do much self-reflecting. Finally her stepfather is taken away on child abuse charges, and Karina thinks things might turn into something resembling normal. The problem is, he\’s not gone for good. And as Karina becomes closer with a girl at the community center where her stepfather is not showing up for his parenting classes, she starts to realize a couple things. First, for all the problems her family had tried to escape by immigrating from Haiti, they brought most of them along to upstate New York. And second, if anything is going to change for this family, it is going to be up to Karina and her sisters to make it happen.M. Sindy Felin\’s debut novel is the story of a young girl\’s coming-of-age amid the violent waters that run just beneath the surface of suburbia — a story that has the courage to ask: How far will you go to protect the ones you love?

Stuff: The Life of a Cool Demented Dude

Stuff. My head’s full of it. I don’t even know where most of it comes from. I just seem to pick it up, like my brain emits a special sort of tractor beam that locks on to pointless information. But in the face of my problems, all the extra stuff is proving useless. What problems? you ask. I shall tell you. Problem 1: The invasion of my home. Dad’s new girlfriend moved in, and, even worse, she brought along her daughter, who has no sense of humor and no taste in music. Problem 2: My girlfriend, Delfine. Her brother would break both my arms if I broke up with her. Problem 3: The new girl at school. Stunning. Gorgeous. Willowy. My Destiny (but see Problem 2). Problem 4: My comic strip. At first it was cool to anonymously author the strip in the school paper, but now that everyone suspects who they are in the strip, I run the risk of getting my legs broken in addition to my arms (see above). Clearly, I need to plan The Great Escape! Part hilarious musings, part graphic novel, stuff is the quirky exposé of a fourteen-year-old boy who, let’s face it, could use a little help.

The Best Eid Ever

It’s Eid, and Aneesa should be happy, but her parents are thousands of miles away in Saudi Arabia for the Hajj pilgrimage. To cheer her up, her grandmother gives her a gift of beautiful clothes from Pakistan, one outfit for each of the three days of Eid. She even prepares lamb korma, Aneesa’s favorite dinner, which they will enjoy when they return from prayers. At the prayer hall, Aneesa meets two sisters who are not dressed in new clothes for the holiday. Aneesa discovers that the girls are refugees. With their father, they have fled from their war-torn country. Aneesa can’t stop thinking about the girls and what Eid must be like for them. That’s when Aneesa comes up with a plan to help the girls celebrate Eid and make it the best Eid holiday ever.

Capoeira: Game! Dance! Martial Art!

CAPOEIRA—it’s a game, a dance, a martial art! It’s a way of expressing oneself through movement and music. With action-packed photographs and accessible text, readers are introduced to this exciting, popular game. At Madinga Academy in Oakland, California, a group of girls and boys practice the acrobatic moves of capoeira. Then they begin to play games to the infectious, rhythmic beat of traditional music and singing. On to Brazil to experience capoeira in its historic birthplace, where it dates back four hundred years. Capoeira developed as a way of fighting among enslaved Africans, was outlawed the the government, and was permitted once again in 1930 as a martial art and game. Back in Oakland, at an end-of-year ceremony, students receive their colored ropes indicating their levels of accomplishment. They also look forward to next year, and the fun of expressing themselves through the game, dance and martial art of capoeira.

Hiromi’s Hands

Growing up in New York City, Hiromi Suzuki misses spending time with her father, a sushi chef who works long hours in the family’s Japanese restaurant. So one day when she is eight years old, Hiromi begs her father to take her to the Fulton Fish Market, where he buys fresh fish. Hiromi is fascinated by what she sees and learns; by the time she is thirteen, she is ready to take the next step. She asks her father to teach her to make sushi. Little does Hiromi realize that her request would lead her to the forefront of a minor culinary revolution, as women claimed their place in the once all-male world of sushi chefs. Hiromi’s Hands is the true story of a young girl’s determination to follow her dream, and a tribute to the loving family who supported her.

Lord Of The Deep

Fishing. This is it, the big time. Mikey’s 13, a deckhand working on a charter boat in Hawaii. Working for the best skipper anywhere, his stepdad, Bill. Before Bill came along, it was just Mikey and his mom. Now they’re a real family, and Mikey has a little brother. He can’t believe how lucky he is. And now he’s learning from the best, even though he’s only 13. Because Bill believes in him. And Mikey won’t let him down. He loves fishing and being out on the boat. But some seas, some fish, and some charter clients are a lot tougher to handle than Mikey ever imagined. Take Ernie and Cal—they chartered Bill’s boat for three days and they’re out for the adventure of their lives. Now it’s up to Mikey and Bill to deliver it.

Cyberia

The premise: It’s the future. Zane lives in a completely wired world, with completely wired parents. Technology has progressed so that every pet has a microchip in it that allows the pet to talk. Zane’s happy about that. Until one day a strictly contraband wild animal — a mole — comes into his life. He smuggles it into his apartment — and learns that the pets aren’t actually saying what the chip is translating. In fact, they aren’t happy that all animals have been domesticated. So they enlist Zane to help them fight back and ensure their freedom.

The Deep Freeze of Bartholomew Tullock

In a land of never-ending snow, Rufus Breeze and his mother must protect the family home from being seized by tyrant Bartholomew Tullock. His sister Madeline and her father, an inventor of fans that are now useless, join forces with a ne’er-do-well adventurer and his blue-haired terrier, hoping to make some money.

The Sign of the Beaver

Young Matt is alone in the Maine wilderness awaiting his father’s return to their cabin when he is attacked by a swarm of bees. To his surprise, he is saved by an Indian chief and his grandson, Attean. The boys come to know each other, many months pass without a sign of Matt’s family. Then Attean asks Matt to join the Beaver tribe. Should Matt abandon his hopes for his father’s return and join his new family up north?

Estrellita en la ciudad grande / Estrellita in the Big City

Relates, in Spanish and English, a telephone conversation  in which young Estrellita, who has recently moved to Brooklyn, New York, tells her grandmother, who still lives in  Puerto Rico, all about her adventures in and near Manhattan.
Text in English and Spanish.