Asia

Materials from Asia

Fifteen Lanes

Noor has lived all of her fourteen years in the fifteen lanes of Mumbai’s red light district. Born into a brothel, she is destined for the same fate as her mother: a desperate life trapped in the city’s sex trade. She must act soon to have any chance of escaping this grim future.

Across the sprawling city, fifteen-year-old Grace enjoys a life of privilege. Her father, the CEO of one of India’s largest international banks, has brought his family to Mumbai where they live in unparalleled luxury. But Grace’s seemingly perfect life is shattered when she becomes a victim of a cruel online attack.

Samurai Rising

When Yoshitsune was just a baby, his father went to war with a rival samurai family and lost. His father was killed, his mother captured, and his surviving half-brother banished. Yoshitsune was sent away to live in a monastery.

Samurai Rising is a WOW Recommends: Book of the Month for February 2017.

Bronze and Sunflower

When Sunflower, a young city girl, moves to the countryside, she grows to love the reed marsh lands – the endlessly flowing river, the friendly buffalo with their strong backs and shiny round heads, the sky that stretches on and on in its vastness. However, the days are long, and the little girl is lonely. Then she meets Bronze, who, unable to speak, is ostracized by the other village boys. Soon the pair are inseparable, and when Bronze’s family agree to take Sunflower in, it seems that fate has brought him the sister he has always longed for. But life in Damaidi is hard, and Bronze’s family can barely afford to feed themselves.

Hans Christian Andersen Award

This book is a focus book for August 2017’s My Take/Your Take and a WOW Recommends: Book of the Month selection for December 2017.

What Elephants Know

When the king’s government threatens to close the stable, Nandu, now twelve, searches for a way to save his family and community. A risky plan could be the answer. But to succeed, they’ll need a great tusker. The future is in Nandu’s hands as he sets out to find a bull elephant and bring him back to the Borderlands.

What Elephants Know is a WOW Recommends: Book of the Month for July 2016.

Be The Change

In this breathtaking companion to the award-winning Grandfather Gandhi, Arun Gandhi, with Bethany Hegedus, tells a poignant, personal story of the damage of wastefulness, gorgeuously illustrated by Evan Turk. At Grandfather Gandhi’s service village, each day is filled, from sunrise to sunset, with work that is done for the good of all. The villagers vow to live simply and non-violently. Arun Gandhi tries very hard to follow these vows, but he struggles with one of the most important rules: not to waste. How can throwing away a worn-down pencil hurt anyone? How can wastefulness lead to violence? With the help of his grandfather, Arun learns how every wasteful act, no matter how small, affects others. And in time he comes to understand the truth of his grandfather’s words: “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

The Fox And The Crow

In this timeless Aesop’s fable, a fox and a crow vie for a piece of bread. The crow has it, but can the fox get it? This breathtakingly beautiful picture book adapted by Manasi Subramaniam and by Culpeo S. Fox is an exploration of this tale. Each page stands alone like a brilliant painting; when the pages come together, they tell us the story like never before.