Lyrical, inspiring, and affecting text paired with bright, appealing illustrations make Ready to Fly perfect for aspiring ballerinas everywhere who are ready to leap and to spread their wings!Ready to Fly is the true story of Sylvia Townsend, an African American girl who falls in love with ballet after seeing Swan Lake on TV. This nonfiction picture book is an excellent choice to share at home or in the classroom.Although there aren’t many ballet schools that will accept a ...

Skipping Stones Honor AwardOne summer day, Luke and his friends decide to play their favorite game of war, using sticks for guns and pine cones for bombs. But Sameer, who is new to their neighborhood, doesn’t want to join in. When the kids learn that Sameer lost his family in a real war, they realize that war is not a game. The gracefulness of their response and the power of friendship are the real stories here.

*2019 Daybreak Children's Picture Book Award -- Recognizing Muslim Women's Contributions to Literature**Notable Social Studies Trade Book For Young People 2016, a cooperative Project of the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) and the Children’s Book Council**Featured Book of the Month, Anti-Defamation League**American Library Association Notable Book for Children 2016******S...

Destiny Bay.A Crystal Coast town.Where quiet and quaint meet murder and mayhem.Cafe owner Sara Harwood has a bad feeling, and that can only mean one thing: something ominous is looming. With the mayoral election right around the corner, Sara's small town is torn between two candidates. Animosity is at an all-time high while tempers rise and sides are taken. But when the senior citizens of Destiny Bay start turning up dead, Sara and her fri...

The rousing story of the Double V Campaign, started during World War II to encourage Black Americans to fight for freedom overseas and at home.When the United States entered World War II, young African Americans across the country faced a difficult dilemma. Why should they risk their lives fighting for freedoms in other nations that they did not have at home? The solution: fight two wars at once-for freedom abroad and freedom for Black people in America. A Double V...

At this school, there are some children who push and tease and bully. Sometimes they hurt other kids by just ignoring them.The girl in this story sees it happening, but she would never do these mean things herself. Then one day something happens that shows her that being a silent bystander isn’t enough. Will she take some steps on her own to help another kid? Could it be as simple as sitting on the bus with the girl no one has befriended (and discovering that she h...

Eight-year-old Alex has a fight with her best friend, Zach, who says he can no longer be her friend. Why? Because “her parents aren’t married.” Set in the San Francisco Bay Area months before the passage of Proposition 8 banning gay marriage in California, this picture book looks at the heartwarming and humorous actions of Alex and her younger brother, Nicky, to convince their parents to get married.Though content with a commitment ceremony years earlier, the children’s stubbornnes...

He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. –from the Song of David (2 Samuel 22:35)The Bronze Bow, written by Elizabeth George Speare (author of The Witch of Blackbird Pond) won the Newbery Medal in 1962. This gripping, action-packed novel tells the story of eighteen-year-old Daniel bar Jamin—a fierce, hotheaded young man bent on revenging his father’s death by forcing the Romans from his land of Israel. Daniel’s palpable hatred...

Based on the bestselling parenting book 1-2-3 Magic, and adapted especially for kids!"1-2-3 Magic made parenting fun again.""I highly recommend this book to any parent who is spending more time yelling at or nagging their children than smiling at and laughing with them.""All I have to say is that the ideas in this book really WORK! It really is like magic!""It's such a relief to not feel like I'm constantly yelling at someone! If yo...

For all lovers of horses and history, it's the next book in the popular Horse Diaries series. Born in the Arabian Desert in the ninth century, Yatimah is a black Arabian filly whose name means "orphan." She enjoys her life at the oasis, with sheep to tease, other foals to race, and the daughter of her Bedouin owner to take care of her. But when the colt who is her foster brother is stolen in a raid, Yatimah realizes her true birthright. Like Black Beauty, this moving novel is told...

From award-winning and beloved children's author Elizabeth Laird comes a stunning edition of A Little Piece of Ground. A heartfelt and honest story, and an introduction to the Palestinian struggle for readers between nine and eleven years-old, set on the Israeli-occupied West Bank.Written by Elizabeth Laird, in collaboration with Sonia Nimr, a Palestinian archaeologist, storyteller, writer and translator, who lives in Ramallah.12 year-old Karim Abo...

The second YA novel from the author of the critically acclaimed ST. MICHAEL'S SCALES will twist you in knots with its suspenseful and shattering take on faith, hope, and miracles. Andi Grant adores her 6-year-old brother Daniel, a "miracle child" who fell down a mine shaft and survived. People regularly come to him for blessings and healings (which sometimes seem to work), and Andi is horrified by his exploitation, esp. when she finds signs of a stalker around their home. With the help of ...