Special Collections
ALA Award Winners - Children's
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The Thief Lord
by Cornelia Funke and Christian BirminghamTwo orphaned brothers, Prosper and Bo, have run away to Venice, where crumbling canals and misty alleyways shelter a secret community of street urchins. Leader of this motley crew of lost children is a clever, charming boy with a dark history of his own: He calls himself the Thief Lord.
Propser and Bo relish their new "family" and life of petty crime. But their cruel aunt and a bumbling detective are on their trail. And posing an even greater threat to the boys' freedom is something from a forgotten past: a beautiful magical treasure with the power to spin time itself.
Winner of Pacific Northwest Library Association’s Young Reader’s Choice Award
Esperanza Rising (Scholastic Gold)
by Pam Muñoz RyanEsperanza Rising joins the Scholastic Gold line, which features award-winning and beloved novels. Includes exclusive bonus content!Esperanza thought she'd always live a privileged life on her family's ranch in Mexico. She'd always have fancy dresses, a beautiful home filled with servants, and Mama, Papa, and Abuelita to care for her. But a sudden tragedy forces Esperanza and Mama to flee to California and settle in a Mexican farm labor camp. Esperanza isn't ready for the hard work, financial struggles brought on by the Great Depression, or lack of acceptance she now faces. When Mama gets sick and a strike for better working conditions threatens to uproot their new life, Esperanza must find a way to rise above her difficult circumstances-because Mama's life, and her own, depend on it.
How I Became an American
by Karin Gundisch and James SkofieldIn 1902 in a small German town a traveler turns up singing songs about America. The land sounds like paradise, and young Johann Bonfert is excited when his own family plans a life overseas. They set out from a small town in Central Europe in search of a better life in America. But for ten-year-old Johann, the journey across the Atlantic to Youngstown, Ohio, is much more than a change of home and homeland. Johann's whole family is changing, with new jobs, a new language, and new struggles. Everything is different in America. Rich people want to stay thin, the milk cows have American names, and the very air, which at home smelled of hay and rain, here smells only of soot. But finally, as he writes about his new life and begins to realize just how far he has come, "Johnny" also begins to feel that at last he is an American. Through the plain-spoken, affecting voice of Johann, prize-winning author Karin Gundisch and celebrated translator James Skofield capture the stark truths faced by German-speaking immigrants and the heartening family bonds that saw them through--experiences as true today as they were a hundred years ago." This book is full of a young boy's thoughts and dreams and very interesting details about the way people lived in the United States and Germany over a hundred years ago. It contains lyrics of songs used to encourage and discourage immigration, short versions of German children's stories and a few footnotes.
Samir and Yonatan
by Daniella Carmi and Yael LotanSamir, a Palestinian boy, worries about entering a Jewish hospital in Israel for a knee operation because Jewish soldiers are the enemy who killed his older brother. His healing is more than physical. On the children's ward, Yonatan becomes Samir's friend and offers him new ways of thinking.
Under the Royal Palms
by Alma Flor AdaThe author recalls her life and impressions growing up in Cuba.
Winner of the Pura Belpre Medal
Thanks to My Mother
by Schoschana RabinoviciSusie Weksler was only eight when Hitler's forces invaded her Lithuanian city of Vilnius. Over the next few years, she endured starvation, brutality, and forced labor in three concentration camps. With courage and ingenuity, Susie's mother helped her to survive--by disguising her as an adult to fool the camp guards, finding food to add to their scarce rations, and giving her the will to endure. This harrowing memoir portrays the best and worst of humanity in heartbreaking scenes you will never forget. Winner of the Mildred L. Batchelder AwardAn ALA Notable BookAn NCSS-CBC Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies
The Apprentice
by Pilar Molina LlorenteA story about a young boy who wishes to become a painter. Even though his father doesnt like that, he is forced to send his child to be apprenticed by Maestro Cosimo de Forli who is jealous of the boy.
The Man from the Other Side
by Hillel Halkin and Uri OrlevA Pole, 14-year-old Marek helps his stepfather smuggle goods into the Jewish ghetto, enduring trips through the foul sewers not from altruism but in order to reap lucrative profits. When Marek decides to help another Jew, his actions lead him into the ghetto during the peak of the uprising. "The author's refusal to exaggerate gives the story unimpeachable impact".--Publishers Weekly.
A Hand Full of Stars
by Rafik SchamiExperience a wonderfully complex world of characters and cultures as you explore modern Damascus with a spirited teenage boy.Amid the turmoil of modern Damascus, one teenage boy finds his political voice in a message of rebellion that echoes throughout Syria and as far away as Western Europe. Inspired by his dearest friend, old Uncle Salim, he begins a journal to record his thoughts and impressions of family, friends, life at school, and his growing feelings for his girlfriend, Nadia. Soon the hidden diary becomes more than just a way to remember his daily adventures; on its pages he explores his frustration with the government injustices he witnesses. His courage and ingenuity finally find an outlet when he and his friends begin a subversive underground newspaper.Warmed by a fine sense of humor, this novel is at once a moving love story and a passionate testimony to the difficult and committed actions being taken by young people around the world. This book is not only suited for teenagers, it is also quite exciting to read for adults!
Rose Blanche
by Christophe GallazA young girl named Rose Blanche watches as the streets of her town fill with German soldiers and tanks. Then, one day, she follows a truck into the woods, where she discovers a terrible secret.
This acclaimed book, illustrated by Hans Christian Andersen Award winner Roberto Innocenti, contrasts the innocence of childhood with the horrors of war.
The Island on Bird Street
by Uri Orlev and Hillel HalkinThe Second World War is raging. Times are very bad in Poland, especially for Jews, and Alex is one of them. Alone, Alex is forced to take refuge in an abandoned building at 78 Bird Street.
Jane Addams Children’s Book Award Honor Book
Hiroshima No Pika
by Toshi MarukiAugust 6, 1945, 8:15 a.m.
Hiroshima. Japan
A little girl and her parents are eating breakfast, and then it happened.
HIROSHIMA NO PIKA. This book is dedicated to the fervent hope the Flash will never happen again, anywhere.
Jane Addams Children’s Book Award Winner
Friedrich
by Hans Peter Richter and Edite KrollThe tragic story of a little Jewish boy growing up in Nazi Germany during the 1930s.