Reference - Dictionaries/Atlases - Languages - Multicultural Fiction; Memoir & Picture Books
Always cast in a supporting role in the many books about Marco Polo, the great Kubla Khan now takes center stage in a splendid picture-book biography. He is a wonderful subjectAa man who liked to live large, building the imperial city of Beijing from scratch, siring a hundred children, throwing birthday bashes for 40,000 guests. He ruled over the greatest empire of the time, one that was lightyears ahead of Western civilization in terms of the arts, sciences, and technology. With astonishingly beautiful and detailed illustrations b... read more
In 1974, French aerialist Philippe Petit threw a tightrope between the two towers of the World Trade Center and spent an hour walking, dancing, and performing high-wire tricks a quarter mile in the sky. This picture book captures the poetry and magic of the event with a poetry of its own: lyrical words and lovely paintings that present the detail, daring, and--in two dramatic foldout spreads-- the vertiginous drama of Petit's feat.
Little Maomao's dad works many miles away...but he is coming home for New Year! Maomao and her mum are very excited. Who will find the coin that brings good fortune? Little Maomao's father works far away from the family home, so his return for New Year is a cause for celebration. Maomao and her mother welcome him back and together they enjoy the firecrackers and make sticky rice balls - in one of which Maomao finds the lucky fortune coin. But after watching the dragon dance and playing snowballs, Maomao discovers disaster has struc... read more
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This collection of folktales from around the world includes firm favourites such as "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" as well as less familiar stories such as "Little Cock Feather-Frock" and "The Blue Coat".
A compelling and haunting first novel about the changes wrought to the world of an Afghan girl by the presence of foreign troops in her country.
When everything changes, can friendship survive? Luke spends his days hanging out at the beach, working shifts at the local supermarket, and trying to stay out of trouble at school. His mate Bongo gets wasted, blocking out memories of the little brother social services took away and avoiding the stepdad who hits him. And Casey, the girl they both love, dreams of getting away and starting a new life in a place where she can be free. A powerful and authentic look at teen life told in free verse from talented new author Emma Cameron.
A gripping story about a marathon runner's struggle for freedom in Apartheid South Africa.
Christophe's been given the job of looking after the new boy in his class. But Armel's surly attitude makes him difficult to be friends with. And when he realises that there is more to Armel's hostility than meets the eye, Christophe is suddenly forced to make painful discoveries about the history of the country he once called home - Rwanda. Can Christophe and Armel leave the past alone? Or will the horrible events in their history spill over into the present?
A Chinese-American boy gains a new understanding of his Chinese grandfather in this celebratory story of family, martial arts, and the Chinese New Year. Vinson is very excited when his grandfather comes from China for a visit. When Grandpa practices tai chi in the garden, Vinson asks to learn, hoping it will be like kung fu, full of kicks and punches. But tai chi's meditative postures are slow and still, and Vinson quickly gets bored. He can't understand why Grandpa insists on calling him by his Chinese name, Ming Da, or why he h... read more
The little rabbit is loved by his family, even though whenever they ask him a question, he answers very rudely. Every morning when his mother said, "Time to get up, my little rabbit," he would reply, "Poo bum!" At lunchtime when his father said, "Eat your spinach, my little rabbit," he would reply, "Poo bum!" One day, he meets a hungry wolf. Will the little rabbit learn his lesson once and for all?
Meet classic comic-strip character Big Nate - The Boy with the Biggest Head in the World - as he stars in his own super-funny series. Big Nate is created by Lincoln Peirce, who inspired Jeff Kinney, author of DIARY OF A WIMPY KID. Big-head Nate Wright truly believes he is destined for greatness! He's a table tennis champ, a genius comic book artist and the self-proclaimed king of his class. One school morning, Nate barely survives his Dad's toxic porridge before rushing off to school, forgetting his lunch. He thinks he has a te... read more
My name is Sara Gittler and I am thirteen and a half years old. I have lived here behind barbed wire and high walls for more than a year. I dream of walking down a busy street and stopping in a cafe for ice cream and cake. I dream of buying a new dress, or maybe ten of them. Most of all, I dream of being a famous writer and having everyone read my stories and remember my name. My stories speak for my life; they speak for me. Please, remember me. Just three weeks before her Jewish coming-of-age ceremony, Laura is assigned a s... read more
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It is 1948 and the British in Malaya are struggling to put down a Communist uprising and deal with rising nationalism in the colony. Chinese girl Suyin falls in love with a British police officer and is able to see both sides of the war but she sympathizes more with the Communist guerrillas and is critical of the British colonials. A much-loved classic and an important work in the canon of Singapore literature.
A group of Jewish refugees are thrown together aboard a dilapidated freighter charting a course for Australia. Fleeing terrible scenes of destruction in Europe, they are bound by a deep sense of loss and the uncertainty of their fate. As the ship lists, inner conflicts burst to the surface and romance, revenge, guilt and desperation fill the craft.
Part Inferno and part Paradise Lost, Song for Night is the story of a West African boy soldier's lyrical, terrifying, yet beautiful journey through the nightmare landscape of a brutal war in search of his lost platoon. The reader is led by the voiceless protagonist who, as part of a landmine-clearing platoon, had his vocal chords cut - a move to keep these children from screaming when blown up, and thereby distracting the other minesweepers. The book is written in a ghostly voice, with each chapter headed by a line of the unique si... read more
David is nine. He knows all the bones. When he was born, his father Dr Franklin Church hung a skeleton in his room and taught him the names, bone by bone by bone. David is going to be a doctor like his father. David's best friend is Malcolm. Malcolm knows the bone names too. But this is Tennessee in the 1950s-the deep south of America, and a time of brutal racial intolerance and tension. It's the territory of the Ku Klux Klan. And Malcolm is black. Drawing on her own childhood memories, Tony Johnston brings us a universal s... read more
Stolen Girl is a fictionalised account of the now universally known story of the Stolen Generation and tells of an Aboriginal girl taken from her family and sent to a children's home. It gives young readers an insight into the life of a child taken away from everything they know into an alien world without love.
