Thirteen-year-old Lauren, a Korean-American adoptee, is tired of being called “slant” and “gook,” and longs to have plastic surgery on her eyes, but when her father finds out about her wish–and a long-kept secret about her mother’s death is revealed–Lauren starts to question some of her own assumptions.
Malaysian teenager Mat makes a life-changing move from the quiet kampung where he was born to Ipoh, the rapidly industrializing nearby town. Living far from his rural roots at a boarding school, he discovers bustling streets, modern music, heady literature, budding romance, and through it all his growing passion for art. The companion novel to the critically acclaimed Kampung Boy, Town Boy offers more of Lat’s delicious storytelling and enchanting pen-and-ink artwork. At once exotic and familiar, his cartoon world builds a bridge for readers into another world, another culture, and another time.
Twelve-year-old Jane, who lives at the beach in a run-down old house with her mother, two brothers, and sister, has an eventful summer accompanying her pastor on bible deliveries, meeting former boyfriends of her mother’s, and being coerced into babysitting for a family of ill-mannered children.
World War II has just been won, and everything seems possible to young Keely Connor. She sees herself as a hero on a white charger, able to conquer the world, even though in reality her charger is Lola, the placid horse that lives in the field behind her house. One fateful summer day her brother Patrick is stricken with polio. Here is an enemy Keely cannot conquer. With all the will in the world, she cannot pass on to Patrick her zest or her energy or her own good health.
A young boy’s daydream transforms him into the fearless Sir Dauntless and he sets out to capture a unicorn that has magically escaped from a tapestry at Crag Castle.
When 16-year-old Helmuth Hubner listens to the BBC news on an illegal short-wave radio, he quickly discovers Germany is lying to the people. But when he tries to expose the truth with leaflets, he’s tried for treason. Sentenced to death and waiting in a jail cell, Helmuth’s story emerges in a series of flashbacks that show his growth from a naive child caught up in the patriotism of the times, to a sensitive and mature young man who thinks for himself.
When thirteen-year-old Pia is sent to Hawaii’s leprosy settlement on Molokai Island in the 1860s, he chooses anger and self-reliance as his means of survival, but the faithful example of other villagers and one remarkable priest threaten to destroy his desire for revenge.
Featured in Volume I, Issue 3 of WOW Review.
Niger, West Africa, 2070: After fifteen-year old Ejii witnesses her father’s beheading, her world shatters. In an era of mind-blowing technology and seductive magic, Ejii embarks on a mystical journey to track down her father’s killer. With a newfound friend by her side, Ejii comes face to face with an earth turned inside out–and with her own magical powers. But Ejii soon discovers that her travels across the sands of the Sahara have a greater purpose. Her people need to be protected from a force seeking to annihilate them. And Ejii may be just the hero to do it. This futuristic, fantastical adventure heralds a bright new talent on the YA fantasy scene.
16-year-old overachiever Vassar Spore, daughter of overachiever parents, who in true overachiever fashion named her after an elite women’s college. Vassar expects her sophomore summer to include AP and AAP (Advanced Advanced Placement) classes. Enter a world-traveling relative who sends her plans into a tailspin when she blackmails Vassar’s parents into forcing their only child to backpack with her through Southeast Asia. On a journey from Malaysia to Cambodia to the remote jungles of Laos, Vassar sweats, falls in love, and uncovers a family secret that turns her whole world upside-down.
Sixteen-year-old Travis is looking for a good time. A vacation in Mexico with his mother, sister, and little brother might cramp his style, but he’s willing to take that risk for a chance to cruise the beaches.Travis soon discovers that even with his headphones and shades, he can’t completely cut himself off from his family’s problems. He begins to understand why his father didn’t come with them: His mother is contemplating a divorce. Meanwhile his younger brother, Teddy, becomes increasingly obsessed with protecting some endangered sea turtles near the resort. In spite of himself, Travis is drawn into Teddy’s efforts to save the turtles. But it takes a devastating tragedy beyond his imagining to shake Travis out of his cynicism — a tragedy that will change his family forever.