What is Marvel to do? She fears literally everything: school, classmates, being out alone, teachers, global warming, earthquakes, and even that pile of refuse plastic floating in the Pacific Ocean! And now her overwhelming anxieties and accompanying absences are causing her to fail 7th grade. Enter a precious, little fainting goat being abused by a group of jr. high boys. Without hesitation Marvel ...

Two young girls, Lulu and Serena, find themselves alone parked in Dad’s SUV at a campground in Montana. Their mother has recently died of cancer, and their dad is now missing. Lulu is twelve with a strong sense of “stepping up” to problems, but the problem to care for herself and her sister is enormous. Money is limited to $67 and winter is coming. Being new to the area, they don’t have an ...

Snow Hill, Alabama 1937 sets the stage for conveying important complexities Brother, a privileged white boy experiences when befriending Champion Always Luckey, a black boy from Detroit. While the plot isn't necessarily compelling, the power of healing a racial divide is as portrayed here. An excellent springboard for timelining events of that period.

Junko Tabei of Japan is an intrepid young woman who loves climbing mountains. As a college student in Tokyo, she joins a post-war club of climbers and hones her mountaineering skills. After time she creates to an all-girls group and befriends Rumie, another female climber. Every weekend she and Rumie pursue multiple peaks at creative angles. While climbing with Rumie, a very famous climber notices ...

Grant simply loves to run – around town, with his best bud, Jay, and as a winning member of the school track team. He pounds out the miles until one day he really does pound the pavement – he face-plants just before the finish line! Hurt and embarrassed Grant must rebuild his self-esteem, but his social-media-loving brother has the video and sends it viral across the internet. To regain his co ...

Talk about pre-teen girl angst! Nurah and her Muslim family choose to make a new life in Peachtree City, Georgia, a very long way their home in Karachi, Pakistan. They bring with them a love of family and a desire for American opportunities. While Owais, her older brother, fits in by making friends and winning swim meets, Nurah struggles with everything: lunchtime friendships, unfamiliar clothing, ...

Words with Wings is like a jewel box. Each free verse poem poses a thought, quandary, or observation and sparkles with precise word choice, exploration of emotion, irony, or contrast, and delightful metaphor. Each brief facet imaginatively unfolds this poignant story like a series of photographs, calling attention to important details otherwise unnoticed. Collectively these verses applaud teachers ...

At first, radium was a health cure. Then it was the source of timepieces that could be read in the dark. And then it turned deadly. Caught in the history of this radioactive element, young women painted watch faces for manufacturers. As one after another suffers detrimental effects, it becomes obvious that working with radium is dangerous. However, the companies were profiting nicely from its use ...

Madalyn’s family life is stormy. Dad can only find work out of state, and Mom needs to work overtime just to make the ends meet. And Madalyn can’t stay home alone in their unsafe neighborhood or attend her unsafe school. It’s decided! Madalyn must go stay miles from home with her great uncle, Papa Lobo. She is lonely and must make new friends here; friends at school and friends in the neighb ...

This short biography highlights the gentle character of Princess Di. It lays a foundation of her youth and servant’s spirit and how she carried that into her adult life and duties as a Princess. The biographers keep this story to the facts and appropriate for all ages.

Fantasy, yes. But somehow this imaginative novel has feet firmly planted on a solid foundation of Truth. A follower of Christ, L'Engle saw no divide but only connection between the earthly and heavenly realm and was able to articulate biblical truths with complete relevance. Wrinkle in Time readers become fully immersed in fantastical travel, characters who appear to shift based on the demand of t ...