Shizuko’s Daughter

After her mother’s suicide when she is twelve years old, Yuki spends years living with her distant father and his resentful new wife, cut off from her mother’s family, and relying on her own inner strength to cope with the tragedy.

 

 

On The Road Again!: More Travels With My Family

Charlie and his family are taking another trip — this time to spend a year in a tiny village in southern France. Typically suspicious and resentful at first (they’re going all the way to France, and they’re not even going to be living in Paris!), big brother Charlie soon finds himself drawn into life in sleepy Celeriac. The family experiences the spring migration of sheep up to the mountain pastures, Dad is threatened by a raging bull, a spring flood makes a mess, and everyone forages for snails and mushrooms and has other adventures large and small. Most of all, though, Charlie and his little brother, Max, make friends of their eccentric new neighbors — the man who steals ducks from the local river, the neighbor’s dog who sleeps in the middle of the street, and their new pals Rachid and Ahmed, who teach them how to play soccer using the open front door of the Catholic church as the goal! It’s enough to make Charlie wonder if it’s really so important to get to Paris. On the Road Again’s mix of rollicking humor, comic characters, and universal concerns like making new friends and living in a new place are a welcome addition for Gay’s many fans.

Little Mouse’s Big Book Of Fears

Spiders: Little Mouse is afraid of them (arachnophobia).Shadows: Little Mouse is afraid of those (sciaphobia).In fact, Little Mouse is afraid of everything. Join her as she faces her fears and records them in her journal – and discovers that even the biggest people are afraid of some things.

The Day Gogo Went to Vote

Thembi’s beloved great-grandmother, Gogo, is so old, she hasn’t left the house in years. But when Thembi’s parents announce that black South Africans will be allowed to vote for the first time, Gogo surprises the whole family by announcing that she will travel to the polls and that Thembi must come with her. Through Thembi’s eyes, readers experience every detail of this momentous day.

Nutmeg

Everything is always the same for Nutmeg, her Uncle Nicodemus, and her Cousin Nesbit. They eat the same thing for breakfast, lunch, and supper everyday, and nothing new ever happens. Until the day Nutmeg decides to take a walk. And that’s when everything starts to happen: a mysterious genie gives her a mysterious spoon that whips up a feast for supper—and they have something different to eat! But the spoon keeps on whipping, and soon it’s whipped up the house and everything in it, and the whole house sets sail. To where, they don’t know, but the promise of something different for breakfast and lunch helps them realize that different isn’t always bad.In this wholly original story about coping with changes, David Lucas has created a kindred spirit to his debut picture-book character, Halibut Jackson.