Under the Royal Palms by
Alma Flor Ada was the 2000 Pura BelprE Medal Winner for Under the Royal Palms: A Childhood in Cuba. The Pura BelprE Award, established in 1996, is presented to a Latino/Latina writer whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth. In this memoir by a prolific children's book writer, Ada describes her growing up in Camagey, Cuba, in short tales that are moving and funny, in turn. Ada was surrounded with the love of family, friends, and teachers. In her epilogue she advises readers to take time to remember and tell their own stories. Black and white photographs are included.
The Librarian of Basra by
Alia Muhammad Baker is a librarian in Basra, Iraq. For fourteen years, her library has been a meeting place for those who love books. Until now. Now war has come, and Alia fears that the library--along with the thirty thousand books within it--will be destroyed forever.
The Daring Nellie Bly by
Introduces the life of Nellie Bly who, as a "stunt reporter" for the New York World newspaper in the late 1800s, championed women's rights and traveled around the world faster than anyone ever had.
She Touched the World by
When she was just two years old, Laura Bridgman lost her sight, her hearing, and most of her senses of smell and taste. But then a progressive doctor, who had just opened the country's first school for the blind in Boston, took her in. Laura learned to communicate, read, and write--and eventually even to teach.
Me... Jane by
Holding her stuffed toy chimpanzee, young Jane Goodall observes nature, reads Tarzan books, and dreams of living in Africa and helping animals. Includes biographical information on the prominent zoologist.
Temple Grandin by
An authorized portrait about Grandin's life with autism and her groundbreaking work as a scientist and designer of cruelty-free livestock facilities describes how she overcame key disabilities through education and the support of her mother.
Joan of Arc by
A biography of the fifteenth-century peasant girl who led a French army to victory against the English and was burned at the stake for witchcraft .
Mama Miti by
The story of Wangari Maathai, who in 1977 founded the Green Belt Movement, an African grassroots organization, and in 2004 was the first African woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Sacagawea by
A biography of the Shoshone girl, Sacagawea, from age eleven when she was kidnapped by the Hitdatsa to the end of her journey with Lewis and Clark, plus speculation about her later life.
Sadako by
Hospitalized with the dreaded atom bomb disease, leukemia, a child in Hiroshima races against time to fold one thousand paper cranes to verify the legend that by doing so a sick person will become healthy.
Invisible Thread by
Yoshiko Uchida describes growing up in Berkeley, California, as a Nisei, second-generation Japanese American, and her family's internment in Utah during World War II. During the U.S. government's shameful practice of detaining Japanese Americans in remote camps during World War II, whole families were uprooted and shipped far from home. Their belongings were sold at fire-sale prices, or confiscated with no recourse. Uchida writes, "The camp was a one mile square area, surrounded by barbed wire fence, with guard towers at each of its four corners." After a year in confinement, Uchida and her sister were allowed to leave to attend school in the East. The happiness she felt in release was tempered for her by the sorrow of leaving her parents, still incarcerated.
Lado a Lado by
Something special happened when Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez met. Together, they fought for the rights of countless farmworkers. Side by side, inspiring hope, they changed history.
Almost Astronauts by
When America created NASA in 1958, there was another unspoken rule: you had to be a man. Here is the tale of thirteen women who proved that they were not only as tough as the toughest man but also brave enough to challenge the government.
The Storyteller's Candle by
During the early days of the Great Depression, New York City's first Puerto Rican librarian, Pura Belpré, introduces the public library to immigrants living in El Barrio and hosts the neighborhood's first Three Kings' Day fiesta.
Rabble Rousers by
Short, spirited profiles of twenty women who impacted life in America by speaking out against injustice and fighting for social improvements.
No Pretty Pictures by
This is Caldecott-winning children's book writer/illustrator Anita Lobel's moving memoir of surviving the Holocaust. Anita Lobel was born in Poland just before the beginning of World War II. She experienced being a hidden child and survived horrific conditions as a concentration camp inmate. Relayed in an almost naive style from an uncomprehending child's-eye view, she describes the fear, the filth, and the pain of being a dark-haired, dark-eyed Jewish girl in a hostile world. Included are the author's own photographs.
Red Scarf Girl by
A rare subject for a young adult book, Red Scarf Girl tells a coming-of-age story set in China during the Cultural Revolution. Ji-Li Jiang tells how her life changed almost overnight. Her family was suspect and her father arrested. They feared that the keeping of precious heirlooms could have been construed to be holding on to the "Four Olds," old ideas, old culture, old customs, and old habits. Ji-Li Jiang's overwhelming fear and the uncertainty of the times makes this an engaging memoir for teens
Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride by
A fictionalized account of the night Amelia Earhart flew Eleanor Roosevelt over Washington, D.C. in an airplane.
Moses by
A fictionalized account of Harriet Tubman's escape from slavery for freedom in Philadelphia, where she turns her talents to leading others along the Underground Railroad.
Show Way by
The making of "Show ways," or quilts which once served as secret maps for freedom-seeking slaves, is a tradition passed from mother to daughter in the author's family.