Pepita is almost always happy. But she isn’t today because everything is different on her new street. There’s no familiar grocery store on the corner, and no tortilla shop squeezed right next to it. Rosa’s house isn’t down the street, and worst of all, her best friend Sonya no longer lives right next door. Pepita is definitely not happy about her move to Pepper Street. But her dog Lobo doesn’t mind the new neighborhood, and in fact, he likes the new smells he encounters as Pepita walks him up and down the street. He even wags his tail at the new people they meet: Mrs. Green, who wears a straw hat while weeding her rose garden; Mrs. Becker, who paints the pepper trees, and her dog, Blackie; and Jose, the mailman, who hopes Lobo won’t bite him. Soon, Pepita realizes that her father’s suggestion, “the best way to stop feeling new is to get to know people” is good advice. And when a girl with bright red hair named Katie Ann comes by to visit, Pepita learns that making new friends isn’t so hard after all.
adjustment
El Regalo Mágico
Missing his family home in the Dominican Republic, young Jaime Ramos attempts to make friends in New York City despite his inability to speak English, and his great aunt’s gift of a special conch shell helps him to acclimate.
When the Soldiers Were Gone
After the German occupation of the Netherlands, Benjamin leaves the Christian family with whom he had been living and reunites with his real parents who returned from hiding.
The Boy from over There
Avramik, a young Holocaust survivor, has difficulties adjusting to life on a kibbutz in the days before the first Arab-Israeli War.