category: Children's Books
ANYA’S WAR – paperback
Andrea Alban’s critically-acclaimed YA novel, Anya’s War, was inspired by her Jewish father’s childhood in war-torn Shanghai—a little known passage in Holocaust history.
Anya Rosen and her family have left their home in Odessa for Shanghai, believing that China will be a safe haven from Hitler’s forces. At first, Anya’s life in the Jewish Quarter of Shanghai is privileged and relatively carefree: she has crushes on boys, fights with her mother, and longs to defy expectations just like her hero, Amelia Earhart.
Then Anya finds a baby―a newborn abandoned on the street. Amelia Earhart goes missing. And it becomes dangerously clear that no place is safe―not for Jewish families like the Rosens, not for Shanghai’s poor, not for adventurous women pilots.
Based on a true story, Anya’s War by Andrea Alban is a rich, transcendent novel about a little-known time in Holocaust history.
TWO PROBLEMS FOR SOPHIA
Sophia and Noodle, her One True Desire, are together at last. But Noodle comes with two gigantic problems, and those problems are tearing Sophia’s family apart!
Can a little creative experimenting save Noodle? Or will Sophia have to bid him adieu?
Sophia quickly learns her new pet comes with two giraffe-sized problems in this enterprising sequel to One Word from Sophia
TREVOR
Trevor is a lonely yellow canary looking for a friend.
He stretches his wings the width of his boring cage and notices the tree outside stretching its branch. And on the end of that branch? Another canary! But he’s so shy and quiet.
Trevor knows just how to make him feel comfortable.
This is an elegantly told, truly unique tale by author Jim Averbeck and illustrator Amy Hevron, of a canary who befriends a lemon and finds that you don’t have to be two of a kind to form a meaningful and lasting friendship.
THE KIDNAP PLOT-THE EXTRAORDINARY JOURNEYS OF CLOCKWORK CHARLIE trilogy
Meet Charlie. He lives a quiet life with his protective father, an inventor and clockmaker.
When Charlie’s father is suddenly and mysteriously kidnapped by a shadowy group called the Anti-Human League, it’s up to Charlie to save him. Before long, he has assembled a motley crew to help. From the terrifying but well-meaning troll Grim Grumblesson to the high-flying young aeronauts Bob and Sir Oliver, this team will follow the trail anywhere.
But the league’s plan is much more sinister than Charlie could have imagined. And as he unravels the secrets of the league, he also uncovers his father’s own secrets—about his family, the league, and even himself…
Can Charlie and his gang rescue his father from the dastardly villains who have kidnapped him? And will Charlie be able to come to terms with who he really is? The journey begins here!
With lots of stylized references, plenty of adventure, beings with super-human abilities, wondrous inventions, and a main character with a secret …The Kidnap Plot is blended historical/fantasy fiction brought to life like clockwork …
Charlie Pondicherry looks like any ordinary kid, but his father treats him like a freak. Charlie isn’t allowed out of the house very often, and never at all out of the alley where Pondicherry’s Clockwork Invention & Repair is located, and when he does go out, his father slathers him with weird skin creams. So Charlie reads a lot, tries to avoid the bullies in the alley, and dreams of adventure. What Charlie doesn’t know about himself is that he isn’t an ordinary boy, and that Raj Pondicherry isn’t his father — Charlie is the most advanced clockwork device on Earth, and Mr. Pondicherry is the inventor who built him.
Adventure comes looking for Charlie when thugs working for a mysterious organization called the Iron Cog kidnap his father. Charlie gathers allies and sets out to rescue Mr. Pondicherry and thwart the Iron Cog’s evil plans.
With the help of his father’s Kobold partner, a Troll lawyer, a Pixie fine print clerk, a were-snake and a would-be aeronaut, can Charlie rescue his father, discover the secret of his own identity and prevent the Iron Cog from replacing Queen Victoria with a simulacrum that will do their bidding, putting them in command of might and wealth of the British Empire?
Set in London in the early 20th Century at the time of Queen Victoria’s Jubilee–think hot air balloons, zeppelins, the giant Ferris wheel built for the celebration—our pre-teen hero saves not only his inventor father, but the Queen, from a dastardly plot.
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IF I HAD A HORSE
ONE OF A KIND
Bold, graphic art by indie rocker Chris Gorman of Belly captures the thrill and challenges of marching to your own beat.
Meet a pogo-dancing, punk-rock-loving kid who loves to express himself in his own unique way. His clothes, hairstyle, music, and just the way he hears the world, all set him apart. Not everyone understands him, but he likes being one of a kind–even though it’s lonely sometimes. Fortunately, it’s a wide world out there, and if he looks around a kid is sure to find other one-of-a-kinds with common interest.
http://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=3246#m40360
… as readers will cheer when “the kid” finds his very own voice and discovers that he isn’t so different after all.
INDI SURFS
Challenged by the ever-changing ocean, Indi shows how patience and persistence pay off in pursuit of the ultimate surfing goal. Readers will cheer when she gets her reward–a transcendent ride for Indi when she finally catches her wave …
NEEMA’S REASON TO SMILE
FEMINISM FROM A TO Z
Written by the author of the Stonewall Award-winning book, This Day in June, Feminism From A to Z is an alphabetical primer on feminism for teen girls. Each chapter examines a topic that offers call-to-action exercises incorporated into each lesson. Together, the chapters take a look at history and current events through the lens of feminist theory and introduce an inclusive and wide range of feminist thoughts and perspectives. Includes an introduction to readers on how to use the book and an alphabetical list of ways to take feminist action.
