A bilingual poetic tale that follows one child/tree from the depths of Mami/Earth to the heights of the sky, telling a story about being free to grow and be who we are meant to be and honoring our relationship with the natural world.
freedom
All Different Now: Juneteenth, the First Day of Freedom
Through the eyes of one little girl, All Different Now tells the story of the first Juneteenth, the day freedom finally came to the last of the slaves in the South. Since then, the observance of June 19 as African American Emancipation Day has spread across the United States and beyond.
Starring Mirette and Bellini
After the Great Bellini teaches young Mirette to walk the high wire, she uses her talent to free him from prison, and both resolve to help others become free.
A Taste of Freedom
An old man in India recalls how, when he was a young boy, he got his first taste of freedom as he and his brother joined the great Muhatma Gandhi on a march to the sea to make salt in defiance of British law.
Blood Runner: The Long Race to Freedom
Samuel’s parents and young sister, innocent bystanders during an uprising, are killed by South African police. Samuel is sent to live with his uncle, a tribal chief in the Bantu homeland, while his brother vows to join the African National Congress armed struggle and avenge his family’s deaths. In the homeland, Samuel discovers he can run faster than anyone and before long begins to train under his English-educated uncle. Years later, after the end of Apartheid, Samuel is selected as the token black South African athlete to run in the Olympics. President Nelson Mandela is there when he wins his gold medal, and Samuel dedicates it to ‘a very special man… I was running for the President. I was running for my country. This powerful and moving story portrays what it was like for blacks growing up in South Africa aunder Apartheid and the different ways in which they struggled to gain their freedom. For some, like Samuel’s brother, it was an armed struggle, but for Samuel it was the opportunity to prove he could run better than any white man.
The Girl with Borrowed Wings
Seventeen-year-old Frenenqer lives a controlled and restricted life in the desert, like everyone else there, but when she meets Sangris, a Free, winged shape-shifter, everything changes.
My Own Revolution
Fourteen-year-old Patrik rebels against the communist regime in small ways whenever he gets the chance: spray-painting slogans, listening to contraband Beatles records, even urinating on a statue of Lenin under cover of night. But anti-Party sentiment is risky, and when party interference cuts a little too close to home, Patrik and his family find themselves faced with a decision — and a grave secret — that will change everything. As the moments tick toward too late, Patrik takes his family’s fate in hand, risking everything for a chance at freedom. Examining the psychological toll of living under an authoritarian regime, Carolyn Marsden allows readers to experience both Patrik’s persistent worry and his hope for better things.
Liberator
Col Porpentine has come a long way from begin the pampered future leader of Worldshaker. Just a few short months ago he helped Riff free the Filthies from generations of servitude, and created a new balance on the massive juggernaut, newly christened Liberator. Now the Filthies command Liberator, and many Swanks, former members of the upper class, have remained to teach them how to operate the juggernaut , and to build a new society together. But all is not peaceful on Liberator. A rising anti-Swank sentiment among the more fanatical Filthy factions grows increasingly violent and dangerous. And an anti-Filthy saboteur is loose aboard the ship. Even the one thing Col thought he could always depend upon–his friendship with Riff– is beginning to crumble. As tensions run high and the coal supply runs low, Liberator is on the verge of a crisis. Col and Riff are faced with their most challenging task yet: unifying a divided people…before it’s too late.
Richard Harland returns to the world of Worldshaker withe a heart-stopping sequel that will take readers on a ride to places they’ve never imagined.
The Hummingbird King
A young chief who had been protected by a hummingbird is killed by his jealous uncle and then transformed into a quetzal, symbol of freedom.
The Other Half of Life
A heartbreaking novel based on the true story of a World War II voyage.In May of 1939, the SS St. Francis sets sail from Germany, carrying German Jews and other refugees away from Hitler’s regime. The passengers believe they are bound for freedom in Cuba and eventually the United States, but not all of them are celebrating. Fifteen-year-old Thomas is anxious about his parents and didn’t want to leave Germany: his father, a Jew, has been imprisoned and his mother, a Christian, is left behind, alone. Fourteen-year old Priska has her family with her, and she’s determined to enjoy the voyage, looking forward to their new lives. Based on the true story of the MS St. Louis, this historical young adult novel imagines two travelers and the lives they may have lived until events, and immigration laws, conspired to change their fates.