Threads is an inspiring picture book about a girl’s survival of the 1930s Ukrainian Famine-Genocide, messaging hope, pride for one’s heritage, and context for today’s War in Ukraine.
European history
The Blood Years
From Michael L. Printz honoree & National Book Award finalist Elana K. Arnold comes the harrowing story of a young girl’s struggle to survive the Holocaust in Romania. Frederieke Teitler and her older sister, Astra, live in a house, in a city, in a world divided. Their father ran out on them when Rieke was only six, leaving their mother a wreck and their grandfather as their only stable family. He’s done his best to provide for them and shield them from antisemitism, but now, seven years later, being a Jew has become increasingly dangerous, even in their beloved home of Czernowitz, long considered a safe haven for Jewish people. And when Astra falls in love and starts pulling away from her, Rieke wonders if there’s anything in her life she can count on and, if so, if she has the power to hold on to it.
Then war breaks out in Europe. First the Russians, then the Germans, invade Czernowitz. Almost overnight, Rieke and Astra’s world changes, and every day becomes a struggle: to keep their grandfather’s business, to keep their home, to keep their lives. Rieke has long known that she exists in a world defined by those who have power and those who do not, and as those powers close in around her, she must decide whether holding on to her life might mean letting go of everything that has ever mattered to her and if that’s a choice she will even have the chance to make. Based on the true experiences of her grandmother’s childhood in Holocaust era Romania, award winning author Elana K. Arnold weaves an unforgettable tale of love and loss in the darkest days of the twentieth century-and one young woman’s will to survive them.
Greeking Out: Epic Retellings Of Classic Greek Myths
From the creators of National Geographic Kids’ wildly successful Greeking Out podcast, this New York Times best-selling tie-in book delivers a clever tongue in cheek retelling of 20 classic Greek myths. This kid friendly collection of tales from Greek mythology showcases familiar favorites from the well loved Greeking Out podcast as well as brand new, never before aired stories.
Mist
Set in 1880s London, a 13 year old boy has an encounter with ‘the last wolf in England’ which changes the course of his life.
By Any Other Name
In London, 1593, sixteen year old Will Hughes makes his living on Shakespeare’s stage, but after the famous playwright Christopher Marlowe is murdered, he teams up with young Lord James Bloomsbury, and together the two hunt the elusive assassin as their forbidden feelings for each other ignite.
Flight For Freedom
Many people attempted daring escapes over the Berlin Wall, and most failed, giving their lives for the hope of freedom. This is the true story of one child, Peter Wetzel, and his family’s daring escape from East Berlin to West Berlin via handmade hot air balloon in 1979.
A Bear Far From Home
A poignant historical nonfiction book, about a polar bear that was gifted to King Henry III.
Marie Curie: A Life Of Discovery
“A graphic account of a pioneering scientist who conducted innovative research on radioactivity. Marie Curie was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two different sciences, and first woman to become a professor at the University of Paris.”
I Must Betray You
In a country governed by isolation, fear, and a tyrannical dictator, seventeen-year-old Cristian Florescu is blackmailed by the secret police to become an informer, but he decides to use his position to try to outwit his handler, undermine the regime, give voice to fellow Romanians, and expose to the world what is happening in his country.
This Rebel Heart
In the middle of Budapest, there is a river. Csilla knows the river is magic. During WWII, the river kept her family safe when they needed it most–safe from the Holocaust. But that was before the Communists seized power. Before her parents were murdered by the Soviet police. Before Csilla knew things about her father’s legacy that she wishes she could forget. Now Csilla keeps her head down, planning her escape from this country that has never loved her the way she loves it. But her carefully laid plans fall to pieces when her parents are unexpectedly, publicly exonerated. As the protests in other countries spur talk of a larger revolution in Hungary, Csilla must decide if she believes in the promise and magic of her deeply flawed country enough to risk her life to help save it, or if she should let it burn to the ground.