The Russian Federation has been an independent country since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. For Russian teenagers, this change has presented many opportunities. At school, teens are learning about a history that the communist government tried to hide. In their free time, they are learning to express themselves in ways their parents were not allowed. Teens in Russia is part of Global Connections, a series that uncovers the challenges, pastimes, and customs of teens around the world.
Europe
Materials from Europe
Puppet
A heartbreaking episode in history, explained through the story of a young servant girl in the late 1800s. The year is 1882. A young servant girl named Esther disappears from a small Hungarian village. Several Jewish men from the village of Tisza Eszvar face the ‘blood libel’ — the centuries-old calumny that Jews murder Christian children for their blood. A fourteen-year-old Jewish boy named Morris Scharf becomes the star witness of corrupt authorities who coerce him into testifying against his fellow Jews, including his own father, at the trial.
This powerful fictionalized account of one of the last blood libel trial in Europe is told through the eyes of Julie, a friend of the murdered Esther, and a servant at the jail where Morris is imprisoned. Julie is no stranger to suffering herself. An abused child, when her mother dies her alcoholic father separates her from her beloved baby sister. Julie and Morris, bound by the tragedy of the times, become unlikely allies. The novel is based upon a real court case that took place in Hungary in 1883. In Hungary today, the name Morris Scharf has become synonymous with “traitor.”
The Fairy Ring or Elsie and Frances Fool the World: A True Story
Frances was nine when she first saw the fairies. They were tiny men, dressed all in green. Nobody but Frances saw them, so her cousin Elsie painted paper fairies and took photographs of them “dancing” around Frances to make the grown-ups stop teasing. The girls promised each other they would never, ever tell that the photos weren’t real. But how were Frances and Elsie supposed to know that their photographs would fall into the hands of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle? And who would have dreamed that the man who created the famous detective Sherlock Holmes believed ardently in fairies
Horton Halfpott
Tom Angleberger’s latest, loopiest middle-grade novel begins when M’Lady Luggertuck loosens her corset (it’s never been loosened before!), thereby setting off a chain of events in which all the strict rules of Smugwick Manor are abandoned. When, as a result of “the Loosening,” the precious family heirloom, the Luggertuck Lump (quite literally a lump), goes missing, the Luggertucks look for someone to blame. Is it Horton Halfpott, the good-natured but lowly kitchen boy who can’t tell a lie? Or one of the many colorful cast members in this silly romp of a mystery.
The Cheshire Cheese Cat: A Dickens of a Tale
Skilley, an alley cat with an embarrassing secret, longs to escape his hard life dodging fishwives’ brooms and carriage wheels and trade his damp alley for the warmth of the Cheshire Cheese Inn. When he learns that the innkeeper is looking for a new mouser, Skilley comes up with an audacious scheme to install himself in the famous tavern. Once established in the inn, Skilley strikes a bargain with Pip, the intelligent mouse-resident, and his fellow mice. Skilley protects the mice and the mice in turn give Skilley the delectable Cheshire cheese of the inn. Thus begins a most unlikely alliance and friendship. The cat and mouse design a plan to restore Maldwyn–wounded raven and faithful guard in the service of Queen Victoria–to his rightful place in The Tower, but first they must contend with a tyrannical cook, a mouse-despising barmaid, and an evil tomcat named Pinch. Will the famous author suffering from serious writer’s block who visits the Cheshire Cheese pub each day be able to help?
Breaking Stalin’s Nose
In the Stalinist era of the Soviet Union, 10-year-old Sasha idolizes his father, a devoted Communist, but when police take his father away and leave Sasha homeless, he is forced to examine his own perceptions, values and beliefs.
Martha, No!
Martha Felicity Molly-Anne May has a habit of losing her nannies. She’s so naughty that even Mary Poppins wouldn’t know what to do!
Can the newest nanny, Miss Harrington-Chive, keep track of the little angel during their day out on the town? Or will Martha’s behavior have the nanny screaming “Martha, no!” until her voice goes hoarse?
And if Martha loses this nanny, what’s her mommy to do?
Pop-Up London
Welcome to the great city of London! Are you ready for your tour? Open this inviting, large-format book and follow the river Thames as it winds through the heart of the celebrated capital. Peer inside Buckingham Palace, spin the London Eye, whisper in Saint Paul’s Cathedral gallery, and raise the historic Tower Bridge. Lift the flaps, and you’ll find famous faces, spooky stories, and surprising secrets. Turn the book around to look inside buildings and find out even more. Be inspired by the magic of London in three dimensions.
Puffling Patrol
Ted and Betsy Lewin detail the annual rescue of baby puffins by the children of Heimaey, the largest island in the Westman Islands off the coast of Iceland. Includes additional information about puffins and the Westman Islands, glossary, and further reading.
Authors Ted and Betsy Lewin discuss Puffling Patrol.
The Deserter
To save the members of his tribe from being devoured by the beasts that share their primitive world, Stopmouth must make his way to the mysterious, futuristic world above, even though a virus is destroying the Upstairs and driving millions of refugees to seek shelter below.