Europe

Materials from Europe

Alis

At fourteen, Alis has never been outside her strict religious community. But when her parents arrange for her to marry a forty-year-old man, she flees desperately to the dangerous, unfamiliar city. She learns quickly that the only way to survive there is to become a thief—or worse. Facing an impossible choice between a forced marriage or life on the streets, Alis seizes control of her own fate. But the path she chooses sets off a disastrous chain of events that leave her accused of murder. Steadfastly loyal, Alis must decide: will she betray a loved one or sacrifice herself?

The Kin

It is two hundred thousand years ago. A small group of children are cut off from their Kin, the Moonhawks, when they are driven from their Good Place by violent strangers. While searching for a new Good Place, they face the parched desert, an active volcano, a canyon flood, man-eating lions, and other Kins they’ve never seen before. These young Moonhawks are brave, clever, and warmhearted, and all three traits are crucial to their survival. Told from four points-of-view, with tales of the Kins’ creation interspersed throughout, this epic novel humanizes early man and illuminates the beginning of language, the development of skills, and the organization of society. Winner of a Printz Honor for The Ropemaker, Peter Dickinson has won most of the major British writing awards (some of them twice). With The Kin, he more than lives up to his honored reputation.

The Fetch

Calder is a Fetch, a death escort, the first of his kind to step from HeavenAfter 350 years as a Fetch, or death escort, Calder breaks his vows and enters the body of Rasputin, whose spirit causes rebellion in the Land of Lost Souls while Calder struggles to convey Ana and Alexis, orphaned in the Russian Revolution, to Heaven.

The Queen’s Soprano

Seventeen-year-old Angelica Voglia has the voice of an angel. But in seventeenth-century Rome, the pope has forbidden women to sing in public. To make matters worse, her controlling mother is determined to marry her off to a wealthy nobleman, even though Angelica is in love with a poor French artist. Angelica’s only hope to sing before an audience—and escape a forced marriage—is to flee to Queen Christina’s court, where she will become the queen’s soprano. But she soon discovers that the palace walls are not completely secure . . . and her freedom will require even greater sacrifice than she imagined.

Firefight

Recruited into a black ops unit after bringing down an illegal fight club, Freedom Smith is now an agent for Phoenix, investigating criminal underworlds. His next assignment: Solve the mystery of the Screamer–a viral video that’s already made 13 kids vanish. Freedom faces the music, soon finding himself imprisoned in a nightmare fortress. To escape, he’ll have to master Dragon Fire, the ultimate fighting technique, and battle a supernatural enemy immune to his strength. Freedom may be on the ropes, but he’d better rally–his girl Java is about to be sacrificed to a serpent goddess!

Rita and Whatsit

Rita is a little girl with a big personality. Whatsit is a dog without a name. Rita enjoys dressing up running around and being in charge. Whatsit enjoys chewing on things sleeping and cheating at checkers. Together they are perfect friends. In the first book of a series, Rita is not pleased with any of her birthday presents until one of them starts running away. Rita is surprised to receive a dog for her birthday, and she is even more shocked when she discovers that the dog can talk.

Man on the Moon: (A Day in the Life of Bob)

Presents a typical day in the life of Bob, the man on the moon, who rockets to work each morning, cleans up after the astronauts, and performs other duties before returning home for a bath and bed.