Materials from Europe
A dark, powerful and moving short story from the internationally acclaimed author of Skellig. Joe Quinn tells everyone about the poltergeist in his house, but no one believes him. No one that is, except for Davey. He’s felt the inexplicable presence in the rooms, he’s seen random objects fly through the air. And there’s something else, a memory of his beloved sister, and a feeling deep down that somehow it might be possible for ghosts to exist.
Amid the constant rain of German bombs and the escalating violence of World War II, British parents by the thousands chose to send their children out of the country: the wealthy, independently; the poor, through a government relocation program called CORB. In September 1940, passenger liner SS City of Benares set sail for Canada with one hundred children on board. When the war ships escorting the Benares departed, a German submarine torpedoed what became known as the Children’s Ship. Out of tragedy, ordinary people became heroes. This is their story.
Growing up in a lighthouse, 11-year-old Pet’s world has been one of storms, secret tunnels, and stories about sea monsters. But now the country is at war and the clifftops are a terrifying battleground. Pet will need to muster all her bravery to uncover why her family is being torn apart. This is the story of a girl who is afraid and unnoticed. A girl who freezes with fear at the enemy planes ripping through the skies overheard. A girl who is somehow destined to become part of the strange, ancient legend of the Daughters of Stone.
In the unique landscape of the Camargue (France) during World War II, Lorenzo lives among the salt flats and the flamingos. There are lots of things he doesn’t understand–but he does know how to heal animals, how to talk to them; the flamingos especially. He loves routine, and music too: and every week he goes to market with his mother. It’s there he meets Kezia, a Roma girl, who helps her parents run their carousel–and who shows him how to ride the wooden horse as the music plays. But then the German soldiers come, with their guns. Everything is threatened, everything is falling apart: the carousel, Kezia and her family, even Lorenzo’s beloved flamingos. Yet there are kind people even among soldiers, and there is always hope.
Ten-year-old Jette wrestles with the death of her younger brother, Emil, at age six, recalling special times they had together, his long-term illness, and his funeral, as well as her parents’ grief.
Featured in WOW Review Volume XII, Issue 3
When nine-year-old Mafalda learns she will go blind in six months from Stargardt Disease, she needs the help of family and friends to retain what is essential to her.
What if man journeyed into space in 1869, not 1969? In The Knights of Mars, the third volume in this breath-taking fantasy graphic novel series, Alex Alice draws on Jules Verne and nineteenth-century romanticism to create a watercolor world of adventure and wonder to enchant adults and younger readers alike. When Seraphin, Hans, and Sophie returned from their voyage to the moon, they didn’t come home empty-handed―they brought with them aetherite, a miraculous substance that defies gravity! To keep their secret safe from the Prussians, the trio lives in hiding on a remote island in Brittany. Meanwhile, Seraphin’s father has founded the International Society of Aether, a group of scientists dedicated to the peaceful pursuit of space exploration. But on the eve of their inaugural meeting, he vanishes without a trace! The Knights of Aether’s last hope lies in a daring rescue of King Ludwig and Professor Dulac. They will find them on the farthest outskirts of the Prussian empire―the planet Mars!
A selfish man sets out to prove that he is the boss of everything he surveys.
A handsome, cocky young man is swept up by a dark horseman and cast into a life-or-death adventure. A pair of green children emerge from a remote hollow and struggle to adapt to a strange new land. A dauntless farm girl finds that her fearlessness earns her a surprising reward. Dark but often funny, lyrical yet earthy, the folktales presented here have influenced our landscape and culture. This definitive collection of forty-eight stories, retold by master storyteller and poet Kevin Crossley-Holland, opens a doorway to a lost world and shows the enduring power of language and imagination.
At the Castellana Hilton in 1957 Madrid, eighteen-year-old Daniel Matheson connects with Ana Moreno through photography and fate as Daniel discovers the incredibly dark side of the city under Generalissimo Franco’s rule.