justice

Black Bird, Blue Road

In this historical fantasy novel, praised as a “rich, omen-filled journey that powerfully shows love and its limits*” and “propulsive, wise, and heartbreaking,”** Ziva will do anything to save her twin brother Pesah from his illness–even facing the Angel of Death himself. From Sydney Taylor Honor winner and National Jewish Book Award finalist Sofiya Pasternack. Pesah has lived with leprosy for years, and the twins have spent most of that time working on a cure. Then Pesah has a vision: The Angel of Death will come for him on Rosh Hashanah, just one month away. So Ziva takes her brother and runs away to find doctors who can cure him. But when they meet and accidentally free a half-demon boy, he suggests paying his debt by leading them to the fabled city of Luz, where no one ever dies–the one place Pesah will be safe. They just need to run faster than The Angel of Death can fly… (*Publishers Weekly, starred review; **Kirkus Reviews, starred review)

Halley’s Comet

in the final years of South Africa’s Apartheid era, an unlikely trio-a sheltered white rugby player, a black farmworker’s son, and an Indian shopkeeper’s daughter-discover the consequences of knowing the truth and having the courage to speak it. Halley’s Comet is the coming-of-age story of Pete de Lange, a white 16-year-old schoolboy, set in small-town South Africa in 1986. Pete lives a relatively sheltered life, primarily concerned with girls and rugby- until one January night changes everything. Thrust together with two complete strangers-Petrus, a black farmworker’s son and Sarita, an Indian shopkeeper’s daughter-the trio find themselves running for their lives from the vicious Rudie, whose actions will ripple far beyond that fateful night. This era-defying friendship-sparked by a shared secret- challenges everything Pete thought he knew and believed. And when anti-Apartheid revolutionaries set their sights on the town, it will change the course of the three young people’s lives forever. Halley’s Comet is a story of friendship, love, change, taking chances, hope, a comet, and some pretty cool 80s music. Hannes Barnard is a South African-born author of both English and Afrikaans novels. He debuted in 2019 with the YA novel, Halley se komeet, which he translated into English as Halley’s Comet. In 2020, Wolk, his apocalyptic YA adventure, was released, and coming up in 2022 is his crime novel, die wet van Gauteng. When not writing, traveling, or planning his next adventure, Hannes works in marketing. He has called England and Seychelles home but now lives in Johannesburg with his wife.

Singing With Elephants

Lonely Cuban-born eleven-year-old Oriol lives in Santa Barbara, California, where she enjoys caring for injured animals, but her budding friendship with Gabriela Mistral, the first Latin American winner of a Nobel Prize in Literature, emboldens Oriol, an aspiring writer, to open up and create a world of words for herself.

Valiant Ladies

In Potosí, a silver mining city in the new Spanish viceroyalty of Peru, two teen vigilantes set out to expose corruption and deliver justice after Kiki’s brother is murdered and the prostitute he loved disappears. Includes author’s note.

Borders

A boy and his mother refuse to identify themselves as American or Canadian at the border and become caught in the limbo between nations when they claim their citizenship as Blackfoot.

Borders is a WOW Recommends: Book of the Month for January 2022.

Benjamin Dove

As an adult, Benjamin Dove looks back on a childhood summer that changed his life forever. A summer when his new friend Roland, seemingly descended from the knights of the past, encouraged him to stand up for himself and for those he loves. It was a summer when he and his friends formed the Order of the Red Dragon that gave them a sense of identity and purpose in their turbulent world; a summer when innocent childhood games were torn apart by an almost inevitable tragedy. Benjamin Dove is a brilliantly conceived work of fiction, tinged with both light and dark humor. Disturbing themes are explored, from bullying to child abuse to rivalry, yet there is always a sense of a child’s unbreakable spirit. Published to acclaim in 1992, Benjamin Dove has won several book awards, including the International Board on Books for Young People Award (the IBBY), The Icelandic Children’s Book Award, and the Reykjavik City Children’s Book Award. It has also been made into a feature length film of the same name, that went on to win awards at eight international film festivals. Benjamin Dove is a timeless story that explores such perennial and poignant themes that it is sure to become a modern-day classic. The New York Times calls it a “best-selling, distinguished children’s book.”

The Neighbor’s Son

What if you awakened one day and realized your parents were part of unspeakable evil? Do you turn away from them and therefore yourself? The unique coming of age story of Liesel and her preoccupation with finding her neighbor’s son is extremely eventful and takes the reader from postwar Germany to England, Africa and the United States. It explores interconnectedness between victim and perpetrator and touches on universal themes of family, forgiveness, guilt and justice. This candid account of a family’s history combined with a flawed protagonist’s sexual history will strike deep emotional responses in a thoughtful reader.

Alek

A very small boy called Doup once came with the Crow-girl to make his home in Crow Cave, a tine community nestled by the sea.  Now he has grown and is ready to leave behind childish things: he reclaims his birth name, Alek, and travels away from Crow Cove to the fishing village of Last Harbor to visit his older brother.  One night, Alek awakens from a deep sleep to see two points of light at the end of the beach, where all should be dark.  When he investigates, he witnesses a terrible crime:  shipwreckers have lured a boat to crash upon the rocky shore and are in the process of killing all the survivors.  He is not the only witness.  A beautiful girl has escaped…at least for now.  Alek must keep her safe while waiting for the chance to bring the murders to justice.  Dramatic, poignant, and moving, this is the final book in the much-acclaimed Children of Crow Cove series.