Europe

Materials from Europe

Patterns

Who but this author and artist could see a rhinoceros in a train locomotive or a kangaroo in a baby carriage? With perfect accord this creative team from very different parts of the world see the possibility of animals in stripes, spots, dots, and rows. With quirky energy and electric imagination, a gifted poet and a brilliant artist cast a sharp eye on design and transportation in a new pair of Animagicals titles. In each book, twelve poems pose riddles that are answered in twelve full-page, fold-out paintings of animals, each portrayed with humor, empathy, and sensitivity. Whether it’s comparing a dragonfly with helicopter in the On the Go, or describing the titles on a turtle’s shell in Patterns, Animagicals engage the mind and delight the eye of both children and adults.

The King’s Day

A day in the life of France’s King Louis XIV, focusing on the elaborate ceremonies which took place when he dressed in the morning, ate his meals, conducted affairs of state, entertained, and finally, when he prepared to go to bed at night.

Then

“Then is the second story of Felix and Zelda. They escaped from the Nazis, but how long can they now survive when there are so many people ready to hand them over for a reward? Thanks to the courage of a kind, brave woman they are able to hide for a time in the open, but Felix knows he has a distinguishing feature that identifies him as a Jew and that it is only a matter of time before he is discovered, which will mean death for them all. Even though he promised Zelda he would never leave her, he knows he has to, before it is too late…”–Provided by publisher.

Fragments Of Memory

The extermination of Jews, political prisoners, homosexuals and other undesirables by the Nazis during the 1940’s is very well documented in hundreds of historical books, but without the eye witness testimony of the few who survived this period they become almost hollow.
In Fragments of Memory, Hana Greenfield relives the horrors of the European Jewish population, during what came to be known as the Holocaust, in spellbinding and horrifying detail.

She remembers family, friends and neighbors who were subjected to inhumane treatment, humiliation, hunger and brutality on a daily basis. She recalls horror, fear and sadness, but also brief and all too infrequent moments of hope and happiness, which are often followed by yet more despair.

Each story is well written in small, bite-sized chunks, and each can be read as a stand-alone piece or as part of the whole book, making it easy for the reader to dip in and out of the chapters as they please.

The sheer horror of Hana’s time in different camps, including the notorious Auschwitz, and the constant fear in which she was forced to live, is conveyed through these tales in a way that only one who had lived through it could deliver.

Passage to Freedom: The Sugihara Story

In 1940, Chiune Sugihara-a Japanese diplomat stationed in Lithuania-risked his life to issue thousands of exit visas to Jewish refugees fleeing from the Nazis. Seen through the eyes of his son, Hiroki, who was five years old at the time, this moving story shows how one person can truly make a difference.

My Havana: Memories of a Cuban Boyhood

Relates events in the childhood of architect Secundino Fernandez, who left his beloved Havana, Cuba, with his parents, first to spend a year in Spain, and later to move to New York City.

Numbers

Whenever Jem meets someone new, no matter who, as soon as she looks into their eyes, a number pops into her head. That number is a date: the date they will die. Burdened with such an awful awareness, Jem avoids relationships. Until she meets Spider, another outsider, and takes a chance. But while they’re waiting to ride the Eye Ferris wheel, Jem notices that all the other tourists in line flash the same number. Today’s number. Today’s date. Terrorists are going to attack London. Jem’s world is about to explode!

No and Me

The international award-winning story of two girls from different backgrounds, united in friendship Parisian teenager Lou has an IQ of 160, OCD tendencies, and a mother who has suffered from depression for years. But Lou is about to change her life—and that of her parents—all because of a school project about homeless teens. While doing research, Lou meets No, a teenage girl living on the streets. As their friendship grows, Lou bravely asks her parents if No can live with them, and is astonished when they agree. No’s presence forces Lou’s family to come to terms with a secret tragedy. But can this shaky, newfound family continue to live together when No’s own past comes back to haunt her? Winner of the prestigious Booksellers’ Prize in France, No and Me is a timely and thought-provoking novel about homelessness that has far-reaching appeal.

See the review at WOW Review, Volume 4, Issue 1

The Shadow Hunt

Wolf is on the run from the oppressive monastery where he was raised, from the ghosts and demons that haunt the windswept moors of Devil’s Edge, and from the shadows in the landscape that resemble the Devil himself. When Wolf rescues a strange child on Devil’s Edge, he takes her to a grand castle hoping to win the favor of its ruler. There he strikes up an unlikely friendship with a girl named Nest, and he thinks he’s finally found a place to call home. Wolf is determined to fit in, but not everything is as it seems at the castle. Dark forces are conspiring against Wolf and Nest, and a sinister enemy is looming closer than they could ever realize. With lies masquerading as reality, will Wolf and Nest learn who they can trust before it’s too late? Critically acclaimed author Katherine Langrish has created a wonderfully spooky and richly imagined world of ghosts and magical creatures, where good may be evil and light may give way to dark.

Wishing For Tomorrow

The sequel to A Little Princess, Sara Crewe has gone away with the Indian gentleman, and now nothing is the same at Miss Minchin’s. Spoiled Lottie, awful Lavinia, and shy Ermengarde are all left behind at the Select Seminary for Young Ladies, and the new maid, Alice from Epping, is a bright girl from the country whose practicality and confidence are a refreshing change from the stodgy Miss Minchin. Lottie learns to notice things and has adventures, Lavinia dreams of earning a place at Oxford, and Ermengarde realizes that friendship sometimes means keeping secrets.