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The flight of an Albanian family from Kosovo to avoid escalating violence and what they confront when they land in a small Vermont village comes to life through the voice of 12-year old Meli.

Four months ago…Sara Zapata’s best friend disappeared, kidnapped by the web of criminals who terrorize Juárez.

Four hours ago…Sara received a death threat — and with it, a clue to the place where her friend is locked away.

Four weeks ago…Emiliano Zapata fell in love with Perla Rubi, who will never be his so long as he’s poor.

Four minutes ago…Emiliano got the chance to make more money than he ever dreamed — just by joining the web.

In the next four days, Sara and Emiliano will each face impossible choices, between life and justice, friends and family, truth and love. But when the criminals come after Sara, only one path remains for both siblings: the way across the desert to the United States.Award-winning author Francisco X. Stork delivers his most gripping novel yet in this tense and timely international thriller.

The murder of a young knight, a white wolfhound, and a faithful page in medieval France all come together to create a fast-paced, gripping mystery.

German author Funke is best known in the U.S. for The Thief Lord and Inkheart. Here, a heroic dragon and his boy sidekick fight Nettlebrand, a man-made dragon, and his spy, Twigleg.

Yep’s sweeping fantasy tells of Shimmer, an exiled dragon princess, who must team up with a boy to try to restore her dragon clan’s lost home.

The elderly Lizzie’s tale of how her mother saved a young elephant from the WWII bombing of Dresden (Germany) unfolds as she gradually reveals it to her nurse.

Eleven-year-old Elijah was born in Buxton, a Canadian settlement that was the final stop on the Underground Railroad. The free child of slaves, Elijah reveals his growing awareness of the horrors of slavery on his journey to young adulthood. Vivid characters and a strong sense of place create both humor and horror in this moving novel.

Emily Wiggins is poor and timid, without a drop of self-confidence. When unexpectedly orphaned, she is left all alone except for her turtle, Rufus. What in blinkin’ bloomers should Emily do? Emily’s neighbors, Mrs. Ready, Mrs. Aim, and Mrs. Fire, have the answer. Emily must travel by stagecoach to honorable Aunt Hilda. What a hootin’, tootin’ grand idea! But Miss Catchum of the Catchum Child-Catching Services will get a big bonus for making Emily live with her next of kin, vicious Uncle Victor. How in ding dong dickens will Emily escape Miss Catchum? It will take all the gumption and cunning of fellow orphan and traveler, Jackson, to help Emily find her confidence, conniving spirit, and the truth behind why Uncle Victor wants to claim her. But how in flippin’ flapjacks will Emily outsmart Uncle Victor?

This story of Robert Scott and his crew’s ill-fated expedition to reach the South Pole captures the hardships and dangers the adventurers faced. The inclusion of diary entries, letters, maps, and archival photography help capture the setting.

The author joins several field scientists to find the mysterious encantado, the pink dolphins of the Amazon said to seduce people to an enchanted city underwater. An informal narration draws readers into the rainforest travelogue to introduce amazing animals, environmental issues, and more. Full color photographs add rich detail. Montgomery’s experiences are also detailed for adults in Journey of the Pink Dolphins: An Amazon Quest.

Like her brother Liefer before her, Enna has discovered the key to wielding fire as a weapon in battle. Will the power consume her? This fantasy tale is a companion to other Books of Bayern titles listed here.

In 2007, reporter Sonia Nazario published Enrique’s Journey, a book based on her Pulitzer-Prize winning reports about a teenage boy’s harrowing trip north to the U.S. from Honduras to find his mother, who had immigrated to the U.S. eleven years earlier. Sonia traced his steps on the journey through Central America in her reporting. She has since published a Young Adult version of the compelling and gritty book adapted for readers 12 and older, which is also available in Spanish. The original edition is available in multiple languages.

This edition includes photos, notes on her journey, and updates on her current communication on Enrique and his family. Additional resources and materials related to the book and Enrique’s family can be found below:

• Interview with Sonia Nazario (Colorín Colorado)
• Enrique’s Journey: Official website with educator materials and author information
• Teaching Enrique’s Journey (Facing History)
• The Heartache of an Immigrant Family (The New York Times)

A Kirkus Reviews Best Teen Book of the Year.

It is December 17, 2010: Nadia’s twelfth birthday and the beginning of the Arab Spring. Soon anti-government protests erupt across the Middle East and, one by one, countries are thrown into turmoil. As civil war flares in Syria and bombs fall across Nadia’s home city of Aleppo, her family decides to flee to safety. Inspired by current events, this novel sheds light on the complicated situation in Syria that has led to an international refugee crisis, and tells the story of one girl’s journey to safety.

After a family tragedy results in the loss of both father and home, 12-year-old Nora lives with her mother in Manila’s North Cemetery, which is the largest shantytown of its kind in the Philippines today. When her mother disappears mysteriously one day, Nora is left alone. With help from her best friend Jojo and the support of his kindhearted grandmother, Nora embarks on a journey riddled with danger in order to find her mom. Along the way she also rediscovers the compassion of the human spirit, the resilience of her community, and everlasting hope in the most unexpected places. 

Why has Rin become uneasy in her forest home and distrustful of her neighbors? And will a journey deeper into the Forest, toward the enemy, offer any solace? This fantasy tale is a companion to other Books of Bayern titles listed here.

The story of the 1961 Freedom Rides of the Civil Rights Movement viewed through the experiences of two student leaders: a black man from Alabama and white man from Wisconsin. Includes archival photographs, an illustrated timeline of the Civil Rights Movement, resource guide, and suggested readings.

Fleeing from the ruins of New Undertown, Rook Barkwater and his colleagues — the librarian knights, Felix Lodd and his banderbear friends — must lead the escaping population to a new life in the Free Glades. This is the conclusion to the Rook Barkwater sequence.

This rocket-paced follow-up to the Newbery Medal-winning novel Dead End in Norvelt opens deep in the shadow of the Cuban missile crisis. But instead of Russian warheads, other kinds of trouble are raining down on young Jack Gantos and his utopian town of Norvelt in western Pennsylvania. After an explosion, a new crime by an old murderer, and the sad passing of the town’s founder, twelve-year-old Jack will soon find himself launched on a mission that takes him hundreds of miles away to places including Hyde Park, NY, escorting his slightly mental elderly mentor, Miss Volker, on her relentless pursuit of the oddest of outlaws and her determination to pay her respects to Eleanor Roosevelt.

Twelve-year old Oliver is kidnapped, pressed into service on a pirate ship, and finds adventure that includes outwitting a ghost who guards pirate treasure. Rich language is used in this fast-paced, exhilarating adventure tale.

Take a humorous, green road trip with the author and his college buddy in a converted 1980’s Mercedes from Vermont to California, and learn a little about how to be more eco-friendly along the way.

For years, sixteen-year-old Hattie’s been shuttled between relatives. Tired of being Hattie Here-and-There, she courageously leaves Iowa to prove up on her late uncle’s homestead claim in Montana. Despite many hardships, Hattie forges ahead, sharing her adventures with her friends through letters and articles for her hometown paper.

“You’re always drawing in that notebook of yours,” Dino’s friend teases. To the small boy, 1950s Havana is alive with color, music, and glamour, and he itches to capture it on paper. When Fidel Castro and the Communist Party take over the Cuban government, Dino’s family must move to New York, where the lonely boy pours his heart into making a model of Havana’s archways and balconies, buildings and streets. Rosemary Wells composes a tender ode to an immigrant boy who grew up to be a U.S. architect, while Peter Ferguson’s atmospheric paintings evoke two vibrant cities as they were half a century ago.

Kate and her astrophysicist grandfather share a special bond, so when her grandfather disappears and his lab is attacked by an alien outsider, Kate must find him and the secret of his most important project. Book one of The Heroic Adventures of Kate trilogy.

Hugo Pepper was raised in the Frozen North by reindeer herders. His parents were eaten by polar bears when he was just a baby, but Hugo discovers that the sled they arrived in has an unusual compass—one that can be set to “Home.” And so Hugo arrives in Firefly Square—to discover a group of very special friends, and a dastardly enemy. With three-toed snowmen, a secret buried treasure, and a host of fabulous stories, this is a fantastic third tale in the Far-Flung Adventures!

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