I’ve never experienced war. But I grew up with children of World War II refugees. Other friends’ fathers served in the Japanese American military unit while their families were interned in the U.S. The Cold War was in full swing, complete with ducking under our desks to “protect” ourselves from an atomic blast. Later, my peers shipped out to Vietnam. Then came the wars in the Middle East. The mental and physical effects of war are lingering—for soldiers and their families. It doesn’t matter which war or how long it’s been. Their stories are eerily similar and very, very real. I’m passionate about sharing them.
I love the book’s gentle tone and message that action can create healing. My husband and I have been honored to host many amazing Young African Leaders in the last few years–some with stories of survival and all with inspiring projects to help their countries and the world.
So, I connect personally with the book's premise of a refugee boy’s resettlement in Minneapolis and coming to terms with his mother’s disappearance during the war in Somalia. Knowing our “African family” makes it easy to believe Kek’s story, written in clear verse, about the fallout of that war. And who can’t cheer for Kek and his brother as they fight to save a well-worn cow? A cow who, in reality, saves them.
Bestselling author Katherine Applegate presents Home of the Brave, a beautifully wrought middle grade novel about an immigrant's journey from hardship to hope.
Kek comes from Africa. In America he sees snow for the first time, and feels its sting. He's never walked on ice, and he falls. He wonders if the people in this new place will be like the winter – cold and unkind.
In Africa, Kek lived with his mother, father, and brother. But only he and his mother have survived, and now she's missing. Kek is on his own. Slowly, he makes friends: a girl who…
I’ve been lucky to work on projects with several tribal elders who’ve shared how indigenous peoples’ lives have been disrupted since the earliest European colonization. It’s not a perspective I was taught in school, but it’s so important that we know what happened and the consequences of those actions today.
This is beautifully written by Joseph Bruchac, a member of the Abenaki tribe. It’s set in 1759, during the French and Indian War, one of the bloodiest encounters between warring European factions in North America. Native people were drawn into the conflict, including Saxso’s family, who lived in a French mission village near the St. Laurence River. I love that Saxso isn’t a victim but a young man driven by love to save his family.
Saxso is fourteen when the British attack his village. It?s 1759, and war is raging in the northeast between the British and the French, with the Abenaki people?Saxso?s people?by their side. Without enough warriors to defend their homes, Saxso?s village is burned to the ground. Many people are killed, but some, including Saxso?s mother and two sisters, are taken hostage. Now it?s up to Saxso, on his own, to track the raiders and bring his family back home . . . before it?s too late.
Twelve-year-old identical twins Ellie and Kat accidentally trigger their physicist mom’s unfinished time machine, launching themselves into a high-stakes adventure in 1970 Chicago. If they learn how to join forces and keep time travel out of the wrong hands, they might be able find a way home. Ellie’s gymnastics and…
I love a book that tells me something new. Yes, I knew WACs served in World War II and that in the 1940s, women didn’t hold combat positions. I knew Black men served in segregated units. But I didn’t know about the Black women’s WAC 6888 Central Postal Directory Battalion.
I was riveted by this story of their deployment to Europe to sort mail for the troops. So many books about wars feature men. I loved the female characters and the grandmother sharing memories with her granddaughters–creating a bridge for today’s readers. I respect how the book speaks not only to military life and commitment but also to racial segregation and its effects on the young women serving our country.
Meet Mare, a World War II veteran and a grandmother like no other. She was once a willful teenager who escaped her less than perfect life in the deep South and lied about her age to join the African American Battalion of the Women's Army Corps. Now she is driving her granddaughters—two willful teenagers in their own rite—on a cross-country road trip. The girls are initially skeptical of Mare's flippy wigs and stilletos, but they soon find themselves entranced by the story she has to tell, and readers will be too.
Told in alternating chapters, half of which follow Mare…
I was immediately drawn to this book. I knew this story. A childhood friend’s family had fled the Russian army when they invaded Estonia during World War II. So it is easy for me to believe, counter-intuitive as it may seem, that an unlikely group of Eastern European refugees would flee the advancing Russian army, hoping for safety in Germany.
I loved their “found family.” How many of us, far from where we grew up, turn to friends for support? But Sepetys’ group boards the ill-fated Wilhelm Gustloff, a German ship carrying 10,000 refugees. Based on the true story of a maritime disaster, the novel highlights how war creates victims on all sides but also how people rise to help each other face unimaginable challenges.
It's early 1945 and a group of people trek across Germany, bound together by their desperation to reach the ship that can take them away from the war-ravaged land. Four young people, each haunted by their own dark secret, narrate their unforgettable stories. Fans of The Book Thief or Helen Dunmore's The Siege will be totally absorbed.
This inspirational novel is based on a true story from the Second World War. When the German ship the Wilhelm Gustloff was sunk in port in early 1945 it had over 9000 civilian refugees, including children,…
Twelve-year-old identical twins Ellie and Kat accidentally trigger their physicist mom’s unfinished time machine, launching themselves into a high-stakes adventure in 1970 Chicago. If they learn how to join forces and keep time travel out of the wrong hands, they might be able find a way home. Ellie’s gymnastics and…
I love this story of resilience and bravery. Malala is a model for everyone who believes in equality, education, and life! Today, there are calls in many communities to censor books and teachers. It worries me. What is next?
In her nonfiction book, Malala describes what happened when the Taliban invaded her village in Pakistan and banned girls from attending school. She defied that order and spoke openly against their oppression. Would I be that brave? What could affect women's and girls’ lives in such a profound way in the U.S.?
Malala was shot by the Taliban and almost lost her life–but she continued her work and was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize. Both a Young Readers and Adult edition are available.
'Malala is an inspiration to girls and women all over the world.' - J.K. Rowling
Written by Malala in collaboration with critically acclaimed author, Patricia McCormick, this children's edition tells the remarkable story of a girl who knew from a young age that she wanted to change the world - and did. Her journey will open your eyes to another world and will make you believe in hope, truth, miracles, and the determination of one person to inspire change.
Raised in a once-peaceful area of Pakistan transformed by terrorism, Malala was taught to stand up for what she believes. So…
Thisisa novel for ages ten and up about how one boy and his family deal with the loss and grief brought on by war. Although Bull Rider is fiction, the story of families supporting an injured soldier is one that is replayed many times across our nation.
Fourteen-year-old Cam O’Mara is a ranch kid from the sagebrush country of central Nevada. He is a skateboarder, not a champion bull rider like his brother Ben. But when Ben joins the Marines and is seriously injured in the Iraq War, Cam turns to his family traditions and bull riding to overcome his grief and to give his brother hope for a new life.
