Pip is proud of his big red balloon, but when he lets go of it and it floats away out of reach, Posy cheers him up with lots of bubbles.
Pip and Posy: The Big Balloon
Germany
Materials from Germany
The Neighbor’s Son
What if you awakened one day and realized your parents were part of unspeakable evil? Do you turn away from them and therefore yourself? The unique coming of age story of Liesel and her preoccupation with finding her neighbor’s son is extremely eventful and takes the reader from postwar Germany to England, Africa and the United States. It explores interconnectedness between victim and perpetrator and touches on universal themes of family, forgiveness, guilt and justice. This candid account of a family’s history combined with a flawed protagonist’s sexual history will strike deep emotional responses in a thoughtful reader.
The Ruby Red Trilogy: Sapphire Blue
Sixteen-year-old Gwen, the newest and final member of the secret time-traveling Circle of Twelve, searches through history for the other time-travelers, aided by friend Lesley, James the ghost, Xemerius the gargoyle demon, and Gideon, the Diamond, whose fate seems bound with hers.
Baby’s in Black
Baby’s In Black is based on a true story. Meet the Beatles… during their stint in Hamburg right at the beginning of the band’s career. This gorgeous, accessible book is an intimate peek into the early years of the world’s greatest rock band. The story follows a small group of German artists, led by photographer Astrid Kirchherr, who fall in love with the Beatles’ music and soon become good friends with the original five band members. The heart of Baby’s In Black is a love story. The “fifth Beatle,” Stuart Sutcliffe, fell in love with the beautiful Astrid Kirchherr when she recruited the Beatles for a sensational (and famous) photography session. When the band returned to the UK, Sutcliffe quit, became engaged to Kirchherr, and stayed in Hamburg to study painting at a prestigious art school. His meteoric career as a modern artist was cut short when he died unexpectedly a year later. The book ends as it begins, with Astrid, alone and adrift; but with a note of hope: her life is incomparably richer and more directed thanks to her friendship with the Beatles and her love affair with Sutcliffe.
The Brixen Witch
Twelve-year-old Rudi stumbles upon a witch’s lair while out hunting, takes a gold coin he finds there but loses it again, then must deal with the witch’s servant who promises to end the town’s rat infestation only if he receives that gold coin, in a story reminiscent of The Pied Piper of Hamelin.
The Bremen Town Musicians
While on their way to Bremen, four aging animals who are no longer of any use to their masters find a new home after outwitting a gang of robbers.
The Man in the Clouds
The Man in the Clouds lives up a mountain and shares his treasure–a beautiful painting–with all the people from the village below. Those whose lives are touched by unkindness and cruetly are especially moved by the painting, finding comfort in its promise of a beautiful world that does not know pain and suffering.
One day, a stranger comes up and tells the Man in the Clouds how much his painting is actually worth. Bit by bit, this changes how he perceives his art and begins to think of it in terms of monetary value. In fear of his precious painting being stolen, the Man in the Clouds puts locks on his doors and chases people away. Finally, he is all alone, then finds out that his painting has lost all its beauty.
He destroys the painting, opens his doors and windows, and discovers the real beauty lies outside.
Ruby Red
Sixteen-year-old Gwyneth discovers that she, rather than her well-prepared cousin, carries a time-travel gene, and soon she is journeying with Gideon, who shares the gift, through historical London trying to discover whom they can trust.
The Story of Little Red Riding Hood
From the Caldecott Honor illustrator of Casey at the Bat comes a rich and exquisitely crafted edition of one of the best-known tales by the Brothers Grimm. Christopher Bing captures the light and darkness, as well as the deep emotional core, of the story of an innocent girl and the wolf who would devour her in this most magnificent and definitive version of the tale.
The Berlin Boxing Club
In 1936 Berlin, fourteen-year-old Karl Stern, considered Jewish despite a non-religious upbringing, learns to box from the legendary Max Schmeling while struggling with the realities of the Holocaust.