Survival

Mèo And Bé

Just before the United States enters the Vietnam War, 11-year-old Bé and her loyal three-legged kitten, Mèo, must learn to navigate the treacherous waters of conflict and adversity.

Bé has not spoken since her mother left, but she remains hopeful they may be reunited some day. Her oppressive stepmother, Big Mother, treats her like a servant and her father is helpless to step in after suffering from a stroke. However, she finds solace in the companionship of Mèo, her steadfast feline friend.

Soon, Bé’s fragile world shatters when she is unjustly accused by Big Mother of stealing and is forcibly taken from her home to a nightmarish underground prison alongside other captive girls. Amidst the darkness, Bé forms an unspoken bond with Ngân, and Mèo becomes a source of comfort for the imprisoned souls.

As violence erupts and freedom beckons, Bé, Mèo, and Ngân embark on a journey through the chaos of war, holding on to the hope of finding sanctuary and belonging in a fractured world. A poignant tale of resilience and kinship amidst the ravages of conflict, this story is a testament to the enduring power of love and compassion.

This book is part of the Worlds of Words Global Reading List for 2023/24.

At The End Of Everything

A group of teens at the Hope Juvenile Treatment Center are shocked to discover their guards have abandoned them, but their joy turns to fear when they learn a catastrophic pandemic has occurred outside their walls, turning their new-found freedom into a fight for survival.

Heroines, Rescuers, Rabbis, Spies: Unsung Women Of The Holocaust

Discover nine ordinary women who took extraordinary measures to save lives during the Holocaust, resisting terror and torture while undercover or in hiding, in concentration camps, in forests, and in exile.

Room For More

When afire sweeps through the Australian bush, wombats Dig and Scratch are glad to have a cool, damp burrow to keep them safe. But Dig notices that other animals are not so lucky. When Dig invites a wallaby mother and her joey to shelter with them, Scratch grumbles. When Dig beckons to a koala, Scratch complains. And when Dig welcomes in a tiger snake, Scratch is fit to be tied—but Dig is sure there’s always room for more. And when the rains come to douse the fire and bring a new threat of flooding, a crowd of creatures may turn out to be just what the wombats need.

Amarurjuk

In this faithful retelling of a traditional story from the Kugaaruk region, told by Elder Levi Illuitok, a father must save his infant child from an amajurjuk, an ogress known to steal children. When the ogress takes advantage of the child’s mother being blind to trick her into giving away her child, the child’s father embarks on a quest to save his infant from certain death.

Inuunira

In this harrowing survival story, Brian Koonoo takes off on a hunting trip in Canada’s Arctic. After his snowmobile breaks down, his GPS loses signal, and his camping fuel runs low, he is left alone to survive for seven days. Inuunira is an Inuktitut term that means “how I’m alive,” and this account shows exactly how Brian managed to stay alive. He experiences close encounters with planes, blizzards, and hunger, all while much of his gear is lost. Walking 60 kilometres in search of safety, he uses the knowledge his father and Elders taught him—modern and traditional means of navigation, finding water, making shelters, and keeping his spirits up—to continue on.

The Silent Unseen: A Novel Of World War Ii

In July 1944, as the Red Army drives the Nazis out of Poland, sixteen-year-old Maria Kamińska must work with a captured Ukrainian nationalist to find her brother, who is a special operations agent and leader of a Polish Resistance squad, when he disappears while on a mission.

In Search Of Safety- Voices of Refugees

An Iraqi woman who survived capture by ISIS. A Sudanese teen growing up in civil war and famine. An Afghan interpreter for the U.S. Army living under threat of a fatwa. They are among the five refugees who share their stories in award-winning author and photographer Susan Kuklin’s latest masterfully crafted narrative.

Featured in WOW Review Volume XIII, Issue 1

Displaced

Toma and Malek, two thirteen-year-old Syrian children living in Beirut, struggle to provide for their families in a country that can be hostile against refugees like them, but they maintain hope that there is a way out of their seemingly impossible situation.