Download or read book The Unsung Hero of Birdsong USA written by Brenda Woods and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2020-01-07 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Coretta Scott King Honor-winning author tells the moving story of the friendship between a young white boy and a Black WWII veteran who has recently returned to the unwelcoming Jim Crow South. For Gabriel Haberlin, life seems pretty close to perfect in the small southern town of Birdsong, USA. But on his twelfth birthday, his point of view begins to change. It all starts when he comes face-to-face with one of the worst drivers in town while riding his new bicycle--an accident that would have been tragic if Mr. Meriwether Hunter hadn't been around to push him out of harm's way. After the accident, Gabriel and Meriwether become friends when they both start working at Gabriel's dad's auto shop, and Meriwether lets a secret slip: He served in the army's all-black 761st Tank Battalion in World War II. Soon Gabriel learns why it's so dangerous for Meriwether to talk about his heroism in front of white people, and Gabriel's eyes are finally opened to the hard truth about Birdsong--and his understanding of what it means to be a hero will never be the same.

Download or read book The Red Rose Box written by Brenda Woods and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2003-12-29 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On her tenth birthday, Leah receives a surprise gift from glamorous Aunt Olivia, Mama's only sister, who lives in Los Angeles. It is a red rose box. Not many people in 1958 Louisiana have seen such a beautiful traveling case, covered with red roses, filled with jewelry, silk bedclothes, expensive soaps...and train tickets to California. Soon after, Leah and her sister, Ruth, find themselves in Hollywood, far away from cotton fields and Jim Crow laws. To Leah, California feels like freedom. But when disaster strikes back home, Leah and Ruth have to stay with Aunt Olivia permanently. Will freedom ever feel like home?

Download or read book A Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame written by Brenda Woods and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2010-02-04 with total page 115 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If you could get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for anything at all, what would it be? This writing assignment, given out in Ms. Hart's tenth-grade creative writing class, sparks a group of nine students to tell his/her own story. Readers are introduced to Jake and Shante's interracial romance, Carlos' fear of deportation, and Sunday's determination after being sexually assaulted. These teens persevere through hardship and heartache, laughter and love, and in the end, their voices shine through inspiring journal entries that answer the question in unusual and unexpected ways. Once again, Brenda Woods shows a keen understanding of the teenage psyche, as she did in Emako Blue, winner of the 2005 IRA Children?s Choice Young Adult Fiction Award.

Download or read book The Secret Sky written by Atia Abawi and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2015-06-02 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An eye-opening, heart-rending tale of love, honor and betrayal from veteran foreign news correspodent Atia Abawi Fatima is a Hazara girl, raised to be obedient and dutiful. Samiullah is a Pashtun boy raised to defend the traditions of his tribe. They were not meant to fall in love. But they do. And the story that follows shows both the beauty and the violence in current-day Afghanistan as Fatima and Samiullah fight their families, their cultures and the Taliban to stay together. Based on the people Atia Abawi met and the events she covered during her nearly five years in Afghanistan, this stunning novel is a must-read for anyone who has lived during America's War in Afghanistan. Perfect for fans of Patricia McCormick, Linda Sue Park, and Khaled Hosseini, this story will stay with readers for a long time to come. * “A suspenseful, enlightening, and hopeful love story.” Publishers Weekly, starred review “Riveting plot, sympathetic characters and straightforward narration studded with vivid, authentic detail: a top choice.” – Kirkus review “Heartbreaking and heartwarming.” – VOYA review

Download or read book The Blossoming Universe of Violet Diamond written by Brenda Woods and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2015-01-22 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Coretta Scott King Honor winner Brenda Woods’ moving, uplifting story of a girl finally meeting the African American side of her family explores racism and how it feels to be biracial, and celebrates families of all kinds. Violet is biracial, but she lives with her white mother and sister, attends a mostly white school in a white town, and sometimes feels like a brown leaf on a pile of snow. Now that she’s eleven, she feels it’s time to learn about her African American heritage, so she seeks out her paternal grandmother. When Violet is invited to spend two weeks with her new Bibi (Swahili for "grandmother") and learns about her lost heritage, her confidence in herself grows and she discovers she’s not a shrinking Violet after all. From a Coretta Scott King Honor-winning author, this is a powerful story about a young girl finding her place in the world.

Download or read book Quinny Hopper written by Adriana Brad Schanen and published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. This book was released on 2014-06-10 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Quinny has a lot to say. Hopper gets to the point. Quinny has one speed: very, very, extra-very fast. Hopper proceeds with caution. Quinny has big ideas. Hopper has smart solutions. Quinny and Hopper couldn't be more different. They are an unstoppable team. But when summer ends, things suddenly aren't the same. Can Quinny and Hopper stick together in the face of stylish bullies, a killer chicken, and the brand-new Third Grade Rules-especially the one that says they aren't allowed to be friends anymore? Praise for Quinny & Hopper: "First-time children's author Schanen skillfully captures Quinny's zest and Hopper's timidity through their interactions and alternating narratives, and Swearingen's smudgy spot illustrations amplify the lively tone. The story's best moments showcase the spirited friendship between Quinny and Hopper, but there's much to appreciate throughout this exuberant debut." -- Publishers Weekly "The book is engrossing, and the likable duo change and grow in believable ways. Quinny and Hopper, who take turns narrating, have distinct, well-differentiated voices, and Schanen makes good use of her individuated secondary characters as well. Swearingen's black-and-white drawings both capture the spirit of the characters and enhance the narrative. This endearing story about true friendship should appeal equally to boys and girls." -- Kirkus Reviews

Download or read book The Secret of Nightingale Wood written by Lucy Strange and published by Scholastic Inc.. This book was released on 2017-10-31 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A beautifully tangled story of friendship, fairy tales, and family secrets. For those who loved Pax and The War That Saved My Life. A Kirkus Best Middle Grade Book of 2017 An Amazon Best Book of 2017 A 2018 Bank Street College Best Book of the Year A Telegraph Top 50 Book of the Year Everyone is too busy to pay attention to Henrietta and the things she sees -- or thinks she sees -- in the shadows of their new home, Hope House. Mama is ill. Father has taken a job abroad. Nanny Jane is busy taking care of her younger sister. All alone, with only stories for company, Henry discovers that Hope House is full of strange secrets: a forgotten attic, ghostly figures, mysterious firelight that flickers in the trees beyond the garden. One night she ventures into the darkness of Nightingale Wood. What she finds there will change her whole world...

Download or read book Boats for Papa written by Jessixa Bagley and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2015-06-30 with total page 45 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Buckley and his mother cope with the loss of their father/husband by sending small wooden boats, built by Buckley, off into the ocean.

Download or read book Ivy Aberdeen s Letter to the World written by Ashley Herring Blake and published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. This book was released on 2018-03-06 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Stonewall Children's & Young Adult Honor Book! In the wake of a destructive tornado, one girl develops feelings for another in this stunning, tender novel about emerging identity, perfect for fans of The Thing About Jellyfish. When a tornado rips through town, twelve-year-old Ivy Aberdeen's house is destroyed and her family of five is displaced. Ivy feels invisible and ignored in the aftermath of the storm--and what's worse, her notebook filled with secret drawings of girls holding hands has gone missing. Mysteriously, Ivy's drawings begin to reappear in her locker with notes from someone telling her to open up about her identity. Ivy thinks--and hopes--that this someone might be her classmate, another girl for whom Ivy has begun to develop a crush. Will Ivy find the strength and courage to follow her true feelings? Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World exquisitely enriches the rare category of female middle-grade characters who like girls--and children's literature at large.

Download or read book Remembering Mrs Rossi written by Amy Hest and published by Candlewick Press. This book was released on 2014-02-11 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mementos from her mother's students help a young girl to grieve in a middle-grade novel by award-winning author Amy Hest. (Ages 8-12) Eight-year-old Annie lives in a sunny apartment in Manhattan with her father, Professor Rossi. Life would be pretty good if only Annie didn't so achingly miss her mother. When Mrs. Rossi died suddenly, she left not only Annie but also a classfull of students -- who pour out their hearts in a scrapbook Annie will treasure forever. With tenderness and humor, Amy Hest reveals the struggles of a father and daughter as they forge a new life together.

Download or read book Keeping Safe the Stars written by Sheila O'Connor and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2012-10-11 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When crisis hits, a young girl becomes the only one left to take care of her family Pride, Nightingale and Baby are the Stars. Orphaned and living with their grandfather, Old Finn, in rural Minnesota, the children, like their grandfather, are wary of outsiders. They believe, as Old Finn taught them, in self-reliance. But then Old Finn falls seriously ill and is taken to the hospital all the way in Duluth, leaving the children to fend for themselves. Pride, as oldest, assumes the lead. Though she makes mistakes, she keeps them afloat; they even earn money for the bus trip to Duluth. But when they finally see Old Finn, he can't walk or even say his own name, and Pride knows her days of keeping safe the Stars are drawing to a close. Self-reliance can't make Old Finn well again. But maybe, just maybe, a secret from Old Finn's past might make a way for them to stay together after all. A poignant story about family and love, Sheila O'Connor has delivered another extraordinary and mesmerizing tale.

Download or read book When I Hit the Road written by Nancy J. Cavanaugh and published by Sourcebooks, Inc.. This book was released on 2020-05-05 with total page 170 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the award-winning author of This Journal Belongs to Ratchet comes an uplifting, hilarious, illustrated middle grade story about a girl on a madcap road trip. Told in journal entries, When I Hit the Road explores making unexpected friends, multigenerational relationships, and finding out that maybe journaling your adventures isn't so bad after all. Samantha is not exactly excited to spend her entire summer vacation in Florida with her grandma. Or to have to write to her future self in the journal her mom insists she use. But it turns out that Gram has some not-so-boring plans up her sleeve... Gram and her friend Mimi are going to audition for the Seniors Have Got Talent Karaoke Contest! A road trip in Gram's new Mustang turns into a series of hilarious mishaps that flip Samantha's summer on its head, especially because, an unexpected person is sharing the ride: a super cute, muscular, athletic-looking, dimple-faced, middle-school boy named Brandon. It looks like her journal might be worth keeping after all because this summer will be one Samantha will never want to forget. Follow along with Sam, Gram, Mimi and Brandon in all their road trip shenanigans, including: A GIANT alligator and the grossest swamp mud you'll ever see The safe-haven Glory Bound Baptist Church (and cat burglar) The hilarious (and terrifying) Kooky Karaoke Contest The Friendly Fill-up Gas Station (and the Restroom of Horror) And more Perfect for summer reading, middle school girls, and students grades 3rd to 8th that want a fun, lighthearted read!

Download or read book Far Away written by Lisa Graff and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2020-03-03 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A book about life, loss, and the secrets families keep, reminiscent of Sharon Creech's Walk Two Moons, by National Book Award nominee Lisa Graff. CJ's Aunt Nic is a psychic medium who tours the country speaking to spirits from Far Away, passing on messages from the dearly departed. And CJ knows firsthand how comforting those messages can be -- Aunt Nic's Gift is the only way CJ can talk to her mom, who died just hours after she was born. So when CJ learns that she won't be able to speak to her mother anymore, even with Aunt Nic's help, she's determined to find a work-around. She sets off on road trip with her new friend Jax to locate the one object that she believes will tether her mother's spirit back to Earth . . . but what she finds along the way challenges every truth she's ever known. Ultimately, CJ has to sort out the reality from the lies. National Book Award nominee Lisa Graff has written a poignant, heartfelt novel that explores the lengths we go to protect those we love -- and the power secrets have to change our worlds. Praise for Far Away: * "Graff nimbly crafts a credible novel from the unlikely, shaping layered characters and unforeseen plot twists while exploring issues of truth and illusion--and the emotion-infused miasma that separates the two. A genuinely moving and memorable story." --Publishers Weekly, *STARRED REVIEW* "The story is a genre blend of mystery and realistic family drama . . . Graff never shies away from difficult topics, and this is as brave as expected." --Booklist

Download or read book What Happens Next written by Claire Swinarski and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2020-05-19 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this heartfelt and accessible middle grade novel perfect for fans of The Thing About Jellyfish, a young girl throws herself into solving a local mystery to keep from missing her older sister, who has been sent to an eating disorder treatment facility. Astronomy-obsessed Abby McCourt should be thrilled about the solar eclipse her small town of Moose Junction is about to witness, but she’s not. After her older sister Blair was sent away for an eating disorder, Abby has been in a funk. Desperate to dull the pain her sister’s absence has left, she teams up with a visiting astronomer to help track down his long-lost telescope. Though this is supposed to take Abby’s mind off the distance between her and Blair, what she finds may bring her closer to her sister than she ever thought possible.

Download or read book Two Summers written by Aimee Friedman and published by Scholastic Inc.. This book was released on 2016-04-26 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From New York Times bestselling author Aimee Friedman comes a novel about fate, family secrets, and new love, told in split narrative. ONE SUMMER in the French countryside, among sun-kissed fields of lavender . . . ANOTHER SUMMER in upstate New York, along familiar roads that lead to surprises . . . When Summer Everett makes a split-second decision, her summer divides into two parallel worlds. In one, she travels to France, where she's dreamed of going: a land of chocolate croissants, handsome boys, and art museums. In the other, she remains home, in her ordinary suburb, where she expects her ordinary life to continue - but nothing is as it seems. In both summers, she will fall in love and discover new sides of herself. What may break her, though, is a terrible family secret, one she can't hide from anywhere. In the end, it might just be the truth she needs the most. From New York Times bestselling author Aimee Friedman comes an irresistible, inventive novel that takes readers around the world and back again, and asks us what matters more: the journey or the destination.

Download or read book Upside Down in the Middle of Nowhere written by Julie T. Lamana and published by Chronicle Books. This book was released on 2014-04-08 with total page 327 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A ten-year-old girl learns the importance of family and community in this tale of love and hope set during the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Armani Curtis can think about only one thing: her tenth birthday. All her friends are coming to her party, her mama is making a big cake, and she has a good feeling about a certain wrapped box. Turning ten is a big deal to Armani. It means she’s older, wiser, more responsible. But when Hurricane Katrina hits the Lower Nines of New Orleans, Armani realizes that being ten means being brave, watching loved ones die, and mustering all her strength to help her family weather the storm. A powerful story of courage and survival, Upside Down in the Middle of Nowhere celebrates the miraculous power of hope and love in the face of the unthinkable. Praise for Upside Down in the Middle of Nowhere “Lamana goes for and achieves realism here, carefully establishing the characters and setting before describing in brutal detail, beyond what is typical in youth literature, the devastating effects of Katrina—loss of multiple family members, reports of attacks in the Superdome, bodies drifting in the current and less-than-ideal shelter conditions. An honest, bleak account of a national tragedy sure to inspire discussion and research.” —Kirkus Reviews “I recommend the book because I think it does a good job of capturing what life was like in New Orleans both before and after Katrina and because Armani’s journey will give readers a lot to think about and discuss. But parents will want to know that it doesn’t flinch when describing the death and destruction that hit New Orleans during that time and be cautious with younger, sensitive readers.” —Cindy Hudson, author of Book by Book

Download or read book Generation Misfits written by Akemi Dawn Bowman and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR). This book was released on 2021-06-29 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Generation Misfits by Akemi Dawn Bowman is a heartwarming, fish-out-of-water own voices story about an eleven-year-old Japanese-American girl who finds her true friends—through the power of J-Pop! Millie is attending a real school for the first time, and she dreams of finally having friends and a little bit of freedom. She finds her chance when she joins an imitation band of her favorite J-Pop group, where she's thrilled to meet a group of misfits who quickly become a tightknit group of friends that are like family. But Millie soon realizes that one of them is dealing with problems bigger than what notes to hit when it comes time for their performance. Can Millie help her friend, even when their problem feels too big to say out loud?