The second book of the Misewa Saga series, described as the Narnia-inspired Indigenous fantasy series, The Great Bear continues the story of Eli and Morgan as they journey back in time to Misewa to visit their animal friends in search of answers and solace as they navigate the perils of personal issues back home. But upon their return they learn that the village is in danger again and that in order to find strength to protect their friends they must dig deep within themselves. But will they be able to carry this strength back home with them as they navigate their own personal challenges?
Siblings
The Portal Keeper: The Misewa Saga, Book Four
The fourth book in the Misewa Saga, The Portal Keeper takes readers on an adventure as Eli and Morgan experience life-changing revelations. While exploring the newly discovered area of Aski, World’s End, Eli struggles to comprehend his new found power of being able to locate a portal, while Morgan and Emily take delight in their developing relationship. But a turn of events takes them to the Ministik Village, where its animal inhabitants are going missing. The children vow to help by turning to friends, once again, but it is getting harder to maintain the separation of two worlds, especially when details of a traditional legend can change everything forever.
Wild Poppies
Two brothers, Omar and Sufyan, strive to reunite as they endure the turmoil of the Syrian War. With the passing of their father, Omar tries to be the man and head of his family of Syrian refugees, but in his youngest brother’s eyes, he has failed. While Omar waits in line for rations, younger brother, Sufyan, explores nontraditional methods to provide for the family by getting involved with a group that provides large rewards for doing, what seems to be, inconsequential tasks, despite his older brother’s warnings. As Sufyan’s involvement gets more intense, resulting in his separation from the family, it becomes up to bookish Omar to rescue his little brother and reunite them with their family.
The Walking School Bus
Inspired by interviews conducted with children in rural African and India, author Aaron Friedland tells the story of a brother and sister, Shaka and Nandi, who must find a way to get to school safely. With their father having to go to work in a mine far away, they won’t be able to go to school anymore because of the long, and unsafe, distance. But after discovering a yellow toy school bus, Shaka and Nandi come up with a brilliant solution that will take the whole community to help bring it to fruition.
Featured in WOW Review Volume XVII, Issue 1.
Who Will Make The Snow?
Purr and Craw, twin moles born on the first day of spring, learn to dig themselves out of their comfort zones and experience the vast and unpredictable world around them. Indeed, they are curious about everything and ask endless questions. What is swimming? Do animals live in the sea? Why does mother speak French when she makes pancakes? No matter where or how far they go in the forest as they pursue answers, home is always waiting for them.
Saints Of The Household
Bribri American brothers, Max and Jay, have always depended on each other for their survival. Growing up with a physically abusive father, they have learned that the only way to protect themselves, as well as their mother, is to keep their heads down and adhere to a strict schedule. But after intervening when a classmate gets into a fist fight, resulting in the school’s star soccer player being beat to a pulp by both brothers’ hands, they must grapple with the realization that they may be more like their father than they thought. In order to move forward, they will have to reach back to their Bribri roots.
The Little Wooden Robot And The Log Princess
When a wooden robot prince forgets to say the magic words that turn his sister from a log into a princess she is thrown away, so he goes on an epic journey to find her and bring her back.
The Song That Called Them Home
One summer day, Lauren and her little brother, James, go on a trip to the land with their Moshom (grandfather). After they’ve arrived, the children decide to fish for dinner while Moshom naps. They are in their canoe in the middle of the lake when the water around them begins to swirl and crash. They are thrown overboard and when Lauren surfaces she sees her brother being pulled away by the Memekwesewak creatures who live in and around water and like to interfere with humans. Lauren must follow the Memekwesewak through a portal and along a watery path to find and bring back James. But when she finally comes upon her brother, she too feels the lure of the Memekwesewak’s song. Something even stronger must pull them back home.
Amil And The After
At the turn of the new year in 1948, Amil and his family are trying to make a home in India, now independent of British rule. Both Muslim and Hindu, twelve year old Amil is not sure what home means anymore. The memory of the long and difficult journey from their hometown in what is now Pakistan lives with him. And despite having an apartment in Bombay to live in and a school to attend, life in India feels uncertain. Nisha, his twin sister, suggests that Amil begin to tell his story through drawings meant for their mother, who died when they were just babies. Through Amil, readers witness the unwavering spirit of a young boy trying to make sense of a chaotic world, and find hope for himself and a newly reborn nation.
Amil and the After is the WOW Recommends Book of the Month for June 2024.
The Blood Years
From Michael L. Printz honoree & National Book Award finalist Elana K. Arnold comes the harrowing story of a young girl’s struggle to survive the Holocaust in Romania. Frederieke Teitler and her older sister, Astra, live in a house, in a city, in a world divided. Their father ran out on them when Rieke was only six, leaving their mother a wreck and their grandfather as their only stable family. He’s done his best to provide for them and shield them from antisemitism, but now, seven years later, being a Jew has become increasingly dangerous, even in their beloved home of Czernowitz, long considered a safe haven for Jewish people. And when Astra falls in love and starts pulling away from her, Rieke wonders if there’s anything in her life she can count on and, if so, if she has the power to hold on to it.
Then war breaks out in Europe. First the Russians, then the Germans, invade Czernowitz. Almost overnight, Rieke and Astra’s world changes, and every day becomes a struggle: to keep their grandfather’s business, to keep their home, to keep their lives. Rieke has long known that she exists in a world defined by those who have power and those who do not, and as those powers close in around her, she must decide whether holding on to her life might mean letting go of everything that has ever mattered to her and if that’s a choice she will even have the chance to make. Based on the true experiences of her grandmother’s childhood in Holocaust era Romania, award winning author Elana K. Arnold weaves an unforgettable tale of love and loss in the darkest days of the twentieth century-and one young woman’s will to survive them.