Europe

Materials from Europe

Heartsinger

Smee was born with a great gift: the ability to sing other people’s stories and heal their pain. But Smee also carries his own pain — his failure to reach his deaf mother and heal her grief at his father’s death. As he travels the country, he eases many people’s sorrows, but he cannot connect with anyone himself. Mitou also has a gift: spreading joy through a few notes from her accordion. When she hears about Smee–who was born on the same day she was–she knows that surely they belong together, each of them helping others through their music. They finally meet on the way to the king’s castle to sing for the beautiful Princess Esperanza. But will Mitou’s hopes be fulfilled–or is the pain of the past too great?

The Princess Plot

Jenna has just won the starring role in a film about a princess. In the wink of an eye, she’s whisked off to a remote, romantic kingdom for the “shoot.” But something’s amiss: First, she finds out she bears an uncanny resemblance to the real princess, who has run away following the death of her father, the king. Then she learns that the conniving regent plans to use her to take control of the country, now being fought over by rebels. As the plot twists and turns, Jenna discovers just what she’s made of–and just why she resembles the missing princess so much.

The Real Plato Jones

Thirteen-year-old Plato Jones comes to terms with his mixed heritage when he visits Greece and finds out about his Welsh grandfather, a World War II hero, and his Greek grandfather, who is rumored to have been a traitor.

Pretty Things

Brie is in love with Lancôme Juicy Tubes, Louis Vuitton accessories, and Charlie, her gay best friend. Charlie is in love with 1960s pop art, 1980s teen movies, and serial heart breaker Walker. Walker has only ever been in love with his VW Bug, until he meets Daisy. And Daisy is too busy hating everyone to know what love is. Friendships shift and relationship melodrama rules during a summer theater production of The Taming of the Shrew as Brie, Charlie, Walker and Daisy fall in and out of love and hate with each other. Their four voices alternate throughout the narrative, revealing the delicious inside scoop on each player’s secret thoughts and exposing the real person inside, which is always more than the exterior reveals.

Shopaholic

Taylor, Sam, and Sophie have been best mates forever. But lately things have been changing. Taylor is starting to sense that maybe Sam and Sophie would rather hang out only with each other rather than with her. And she can’t talk to her mum about it — she’s been acting even more depressed than usual, spending the day watching the telly in her bathrobe and only eating when Taylor makes her dinner. Then Taylor meets Kat while out shopping one day. Kat is glamorous. Kat is planning on becoming a model. Kat has dozens of older blokes following her around. And suddenly Taylor’s life is looking brighter. Kat seems to understand exactly how Taylor feels and Taylor is willing to do anything to be friends with her. The thing is, Kat loves to go shopping and if Taylor wants to continue to be her friend, then she’ll have to come up with the money to keep Kat happy…even if that means going against everything Taylor knows is right. An emotionally-charged novel about what loneliness can drive you to do, and how a little credit card can lead to lots of trouble.

The War Of The Witches

Outsider Anaíd leads a solitary life in a small village in the Pyrenees with her mother Selene. She does not suspect there is anything particularly strange about her family, aside from her mother’s personal eccentricities . . . until one day Selene disappears without a trace and Anaíd is confronted with a shocking truth: her mother is a witch, prophesied to be the chosen one to end an ancient war between two feuding clans.

Puppet

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 belief 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 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: abused by her alcoholic father and separated from her beloved baby sister, she is as bound up in the tragedy of the times as is Morris. The book 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.”

Don Quixote

Don Quixote has forever memorialized the story of a Spanish gentleman who reads so many books about chivalric knighthood that he is convinced his own destiny is to become a knight-errant. And so he embarks upon a series of fantastical adventures across sixteenth-century Spain, accompanied by his faithful and philosophical squire, Sancho Panza.

Oddly

When a little boy bursts into their world, three unusual creatures find answers to their questions in this whimsical story from a stellar pair.The Lostlet twirls a golden leaf and asks, Where am I? What do I hope for? The Strangelet holds a smooth white pebble and wonders, What am I? What do I dream of? The Oddlet listens to a seashell and muses, Who am I? What do I wish for? Lost in their own worlds, the creatures are powerless to find answers, until a small boy appears who seems stranger, odder, and even more lost than they. As the three creatures comfort the child, they discover their hearts’ desires — while their new friend finds surprising ways to make all their dreams and wishes come true.

Rhymes Round the World

Sweet and full of wonder, from catchy to quiet, children’s poems captivate readers of all ages. Here, familiar nursery rhymes and folk songs join poetry selections from many traditions. Recall old favorites and discover new poems, from Poland to Mozambique, Japan to Mexico, and every corner in between. Cheerful illustrations capture the beauty of diversity the world over.