Germany

Materials from Germany

The Mozart Question

Like any young boy, Paolo becomes obsessed with what he can’t have — in his case, a violin. Hidden away in his parents’ room, it beckons the boy to release the music inside it. The music leads Paolo to a family secret, a story of World War II that changed the course of his parents’ lives. But once the truth is told, the family is reunited in a way no one had thought possible.

The Bremen Town Musicians

This is the classic tale of four beleaguered animals—a donkey who can no longer work, a hound who can no longer hunt, a cat who’s too old to chase mice, and a rooster who’s scheduled to become dinner—who decide to run off to be musicians in the town of Bremen. But they get more than they bargained for when they stumble upon a frightful gang of robbers.

Greater Than Angels

In 1940, Anna Hirsch and her family are captured by the Nazis and deported to a refugee camp in the south of France. The children held in the camp are sent to Le Chambon, a tiny village whose citizens have agreed to care for deported children. There, in the face of escalating dominance and threats from the Nazi party, the good people of Le Chambon protect the refugees.

The Silver Cup

It’s the year 1095, and fifteen-year-old Anna longs for a different life in her small German village. But as the seasons turn, the year proves anything but ordinary. Her beloved youngest cousin disappears, and another cousin, Martin, runs away to join a murderous army of renegade Crusaders. When Anna risks everything to rescue Leah, an orphaned Jewish girl whose only connection to her former life is a silver cup, the two girls forge a friendship that defies the intolerance of their time. Filling her story with fascinating period details, debut novelist Constance Leeds paints a rich, colorful picture of an eleventh-century life marked by courage, will, and most of all-hope.Winner of the 2008 IRA Children’s and Young Adult Book Award in the Intermediate Fiction Category.

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

Johanna’s grandfather founded the largest clothing store in town and built up his wealth with his own hands–at least that’s the family legend. But when Johanna travels to Israel for a class project, she finds out that the family of Meta Levin originally owned the store. She learns that her grandfather legally acquired the company during the Nazi regime according to the anti-Semitic laws of the Third Reich. Johanna is worried: her family’s wealth is obviously founded on injustice. Should she keep silent, or should she wake the sleeping dogs?

A Frost in the Night

Joan BlosIt is Germany in 1932, and Hitler is rising to power. This critical place and time in modern history is poignantly re-created through the observations of a young Jewish girl named Eva, who is caught up in the sense of dread shared by the adults around her.

A Promise Is a Promise

Bruno the marmot hibernates all winter, and upon waking in the spring, he discovers the most beautiful dandelion outside his burrow. The two quickly become friends, playing together every day. But when summer comes, the dandelion asks Bruno to trust her, so he obliges her request to blow her seeds away into the wind. Devastated that his friend is no longer with him, Bruno is lonely until next winter’s hibernation. When he wakes again, he discovers that an amazing surprise sprouted while he slept.

In Mozart’s Shadow: His Sister’s Story

Nannerl Mozart was a musical prodigy who seemed to have a brilliant future. But once her younger brother, Wolfgang, began composing symphonies at the age of five, her career and talents were utterly eclipsed. Here, at last, is Nannerl’s heart-wrenching tale. It’s the story of her undying passion for music; her relationship with her “miracle boy” brother; and her life as the “other Mozart,” the one forgotten by history.           The acclaimed Carolyn Meyer has written a powerful historical novel about a little-known but gifted musician who never stopped dreaming. Includes an author’s note.

The Collector Of Moments

A solitary boy is drawn to his mysterious new neighbor, an artist named Max. He spends hours in Max’s studio, but Max is secretive and does not show the boy his pictures — until he departs on a journey and leaves behind a surprise exhibition for his young friend. Max’s pictures are strange and beautiful. They depict a realm where things, familiar at first glance, nevertheless behave in the most surprising and unpredictable ways. In this spellbinding picture book, the reader joins the boy in contemplating these challenging images, in a celebration of the power of art to transform the everyday into something magical.