A scrappy eleven-year-old orphan works hard at his uncle’s tire repair shop and proves himself at work and in a bicycle race.
I’m Jose And I’m Okay: Three Stories From Bolivia
Orphans
Dounia
A gentle and powerful story follows the experiences of Dounia, a young girl who is adopted by a family from another country, in an exploration of how it feels to be part of the interracial adoption process.
Threatened
Luc is an orphan, living in debt slavery in Gabon, until he meets a Professor who claims to be studying chimpanzees, and they head off into the jungle–but when the Professor disappears, Luc has to fend for himself and join forces with the chimps to save their forest.
My Name Is Blessing
Based on a true story about a young Kenyan boy whose mother left him but had named him Muthini which meant suffering because he was born with no fingers on his left hand and only two on his right. Many times he was made fun of or avoided which hurt him deeply. He lives with his very elderly grandmother, his Nyanya, along with many cousins whose parents had either died or left them. They are extremely poor and there is never enough money or food, but plenty of love. A difficult choice must be made and Muthini is the youngest child and needs to have a better chance in life, so his Nyanya takes him to an orphanage where he is blessed and his name is changed to Baraka which means blessing for he was a blessing just as his grandmother always knew.
Anne Of Green Gables
When Anne Shirley arrives at Green Gables, she surprises everyone: first of all, she’s a girl, even though Marilla Cuthbert and her brother Matthew specifically asked for an orphan boy to help around the farm. And second of all, she’s not just any girl: she has bright red hair, a wild imagination, and can talk a mile a minute.
The World’s Greatest Elephant
Born on the same day in the same German town, Bram and his elephant, Modoc, grew up side by side. Their circus act brought them wide fame, but their incredible bond would also lead to a series of adventures with danger at every turn.
Counting by 7s
Twelve-year-old genius and outsider Willow Chance must figure out how to connect with other people and find a surrogate family for herself after her parents are killed in a car accident.
Jellicoe Road
“What do you want from me?” he asks. What I want from every person in my life, I want to tell him. More. Abandoned by her mother on Jellicoe Road when she was eleven, Taylor Markham, now seventeen, is finally being confronted with her past. But as the reluctant leader of her boarding school dorm, there isn’t a lot of time for introspection. And while Hannah, the closest adult Taylor has to family, has disappeared, Jonah Griggs is back in town, moody stares and all. In this absorbing story by Melina Marchetta, nothing is as it seems and every clue leads to more questions as Taylor tries to work out the connection between her mother dumping her, Hannah finding her then and her sudden departure now, a mysterious stranger who once whispered something in her ear, a boy in her dreams, five kids who lived on Jellicoe Road eighteen years ago, and the maddening and magnetic Jonah Griggs, who knows her better than she thinks he does. If Taylor can put together the pieces of her past, she might just be able to change her future.
Raven Flight: A Shadowfell Novel
To rescue her homeland from tyranny, Neryn must seek out the powerful Guardians to complete her training as a Caller.
World’s Greatest Lion
Perhaps the most recognizable Hollywood animal–outside of Lassie–is “Leo the Lion,” MGM Studios’ famous mascot. For decades his image introduced hundreds of motion pictures, and Zamba the lion acted in dozens more. But he wasn’t always a Hollywood star, and he certainly proved to be much more.
This real-life story of Zamba, told by world-renowned animal behaviorist Ralph Helfer and Caldecott Honor recipient Ted Lewin, follows the famous lion from an orphaned cub in Africa to iconic Hollywood actor. But Zamba’s greatest role wasn’t scripted and it certainly wasn’t captured on film. In 1969, the canyon that housed Ralph Helfer’s animal ranch was ravaged by floods. As death claimed many of the animals, dozens were led to safety by one heroic lion.