School

Someone Named Eva

On the night Nazi soldiers come to her home in Czechoslovakia, Milada’s grandmother says, “Remember, Milada. Remember who you are. Always.” Milada promises, but she doesn’t understand her grandmother’s words. After all, she is Milada, who lives with her mama and papa, her brother and sister, and her beloved Babichka. Milada, eleven years old, the fastest runner in school. How could she ever forget?Then the Nazis take Milada away from her family and send her to a Lebensborn center in Poland. There, she is told she fits the Aryan ideal: her blond hair and blue eyes are the right color; her head and nose, the right size. She is given a new name, Eva, and trained to become the perfect German citizen, to be the hope of Germany’s future—and to forget she was ever a Czech girl named Milada.Inspired by real events, this fascinating novel sheds light on a little-known aspect of the Nazi agenda and movingly portrays a young girl’s struggle to hold on to her identity and her hope in the face of a regime intent on destroying both.

Snow Falling in Spring: Coming of Age in China During the Cultural Revolution

Moying Li is twelve-years-old when Cultural Revolution sweeps China. In 1966 Moying, a student at a prestigious language school in Beijing, seems destined for a promising future. Everything changes when student Red Guards begin to orchestrate brutal assaults, violent public humiliations, and forced confessions. After watching her teachers and headmasters beaten in public, Moying flees school for the safety of home, only to witness her beloved grandmother denounced, her home ransacked, her father’s precious books flung onto the back of a truck, and Baba himself taken away. From labor camp, Baba entrusts a friend to deliver a reading list of banned books to Moying so that she can continue to learn. Now, with so much of her life at risk, she finds sanctuary in the world of imagination and learning.This inspiring memoir follows Moying Li from age twelve to twenty-two, illuminating a complex, dark time in China’s history as it tells the compelling story of one girl’s difficult but determined coming-of-age during the Cultural Revolution.

Mieko and the Fifth Treasure

When the bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, Mieko’s nearby village was turned into ruins, and her hand was badly injured. Mieko loves to do calligraphy more than anything, but now she can barely hold a paintbrush. And she feels as if she has lost something that she can’t paint without-the legendary fifth treasure, beauty in the heart. Then she is sent to live with her grandparents and must go to a new school. But Mieko is brave and eventually learns that time and patience can help with many things, and may even help her find the fifth treasure. Written by the author of Sadako and the Thousand Cranes, Mieko,s story will touch the hearts of all its readers.

Sam’s New Friend

Sam is only friends with boys. Boys are strong and tough–girls aren’t. But when Ellie joins Sam’s class and he’s forced to get to know her, he finds out that her parents may be getting a divorce. Then Sam sees just how strong and tough a girl can be, and he makes his first real friend.

Thailand (Discovering Cultures)

This book provides a comprehensive look at the country of Thailand.  Surrounded by Cambodia, Laos and Burma, Thailand is at the center of Southeast Asia.  This country offers a mix of cities working farms and a history deep in tradition.  The book is illustrated with color photography which highlights everyday life and cultural events..

Mable Riley: A Reliable Record of Humdrum, Peril, and Romance

It is 1901 and Mable Riley dreams of adventure and of becoming a writer. When her older sister leaves home to become a schoolmistress in the small town of Stratford, Ontario, Mable is sent along too. Mable hopes her new world will be full of peril and romance. But life at the Goodhand Farm (where the sisters board), is as humdrum as the one she’s left behind.Then Mable encounters the mysterious Mrs. Rattle, a peculiar widow with a taste for upsetting the townspeople with her strange opinions. Mrs. Rattle is a real writer, and Mable eagerly accepts her invitation to a meeting of the Ladies Reading Society. But the ladies are not discussing books at all, and Mable may soon have more peril than she’d bargained for!Composed of the letters Mable sends home, the poems she writes for her classmates, and chapters from her own work-in-progress, Mable Riley is the funny, inspiring, (and reliable) record of a young girl finding her voice, and the courage to make it heard.

Magical Kids: The Invisible Boy and the Strongest Girl in the World

Josie Jenkins can lift a table, a car, and even a bus with no effort at all. The fame and fortune such incredible powers promise, however, is not what Josie was hoping for from life, and she is happy when the powers suddenly leave her and she can go back to being a carefree schoolgirl.

When his parents disappear on the way back from a Moon vacation, Sam is abducted by evil neighbor Hilda Hardbottom, but manages to hold his own thanks to Splodge, a small alien wayfarer who gives him a shot of invisibility.

Tibili: The Little Boy Who Didn’t Want to Go to School

After Tibili, a young African boy, follows Crope the spider’s suggestion as to how he can avoid starting school, he discovers he wants to go after all.

Once Upon an Ordinary School Day

A celebration of extraordinary teachers! The boy’s breakfast is ordinary, his walk to school is ordinary, even his thoughts are ordinary. But when he goes to his classroom and sits down at his desk, his day begins to change – a new teacher, Mr. Gee, bursts into the classroom with an extraordinary idea that challenges all the children to use their imagination. Suddenly an ordinary day is turned topsy-turvy, and the boy is inspired in a way that will change him forever. The rollicking words and pictures celebrate the unexpected in this tribute to great teachers and students everywhere.