Tag: R.J. Palacio

Posted on

Tundra Telegram: Books That Are Kind of Great

Hello, and thanks for joining us at Tundra Telegram, the column where we remain attentive to the issues on readers’ minds and benevolently recommend good books that we think are pretty decent.

Tomorrow – Friday, February 17 – is “Random Acts of Kindness Day” may have its origin in a book that we do not publish, but since it started in the mid-1990s, the day has grown into a true movement, with schools across the world participating in a day that celebrates and encourages simple, small acts of goodness to create a positive effect in society.

Obviously, we are very into the idea of kindness – random or otherwise – so we’re recommending books for everyone from the youngest readers to teens that focus on empathy and goodwill. And if, as your own personal random act of kindness, you want to purchase any of these books for the readers in your life, we would heartily endorse that.

PICTURE BOOKS

A wordless tribute to the power of kindness to change a community, I Walk with Vanessa by the husband-wife duo of Kerascoët, is inspired by real events. A girl (the titular Vanessa) is bullied at a school, an incident that affects her and all the bystanders who witness it deeply. One girl invites Vanessa to walk to school with her the next morning, and soon – Spartacus-like – they are joined by other children, because not only is kindness powerful it is contagious.

Can’t get much better in books about kindness than one with “kind” in the title, and KINDergarten by Vera Ahiyya and Joey Chou delivers. Ahiyya is a kindergarten teacher and Instagram influencer affectionately known as the Tutu Teacher. She’s written a picture book about a class that creates a kindness pledge to make sure that their class is the kindest it can possibly be! Even better – it’s a book that celebrates random (and often quiet) acts of kindness.

How kindness can positively affect shy and quiet children is vividly realized in Trudy Ludwig and Patrice Barton‘s The Invisible Boy. Brian is an invisible boy at the beginning of the story – nobody in class ever seems to notice him or include him in their group, game, or birthday party. But Justin, the new boy in class, demonstrates how a simple act of kindness can transform an invisible boy into a friend. The book is also available in Spanish for books on la benevolencia.

Trudy Ludwig (you remember her from The Invisible Boy) is a strong author proponent of kindness. And with The Power of One, illustrated by Mike Curato, she demonstrates that every act of kindness counts. When one child reaches out in friendship to a classmate who seems lonely, she begins a chain reaction of kindness that ripples throughout her school and her community. And the power of one … becomes the power of many.

Randall de Sève and Carson Ellis‘s This Story Is Not about a Kitten is, in fact, about kindness. Well, it’s about kindness, community, compassion, and – in some small way – about a kitten, TBH. Young readers will love to watch as a number of people and – eventually – a whole family rallies together (The House that Jack Built-style) to coax a frightened cat from beneath a car and into someone’s arms and – ultimately – a warm and safe home.

An average teddy bear learns that even the smallest acts of kindness can make him a superstar in Teddy Bear of the Year by Vikki VanSickle and Sydney Hanson. Ollie attends his first magical teddy bear’s picnic, in which teddy bears from around the world are recognized for acts of courage and kindness that go above-and-beyond. And while Ollie doesn’t think snuggling with his girl or listening to her stories is all that special, he learns even the smallest positive actions can have big impact.

While we’re looking at the concept of kindness through animals (real or stuffed), we have to mention Jonathan Stutzman and Isabelle Arsenault‘s The Mouse Who Carried a House on His Back, which is perhaps more about generosity (which is sort of a subcategory of “kindness”). Vincent (the mouse) puts down the house he carries on his back in an ideal spot on a hill. And Vincent makes that house open to whatever tired travelers may pass by – even if it’s a hungry cat (!). It’s like a woodland AirBNB without the bill (or the chores)!

Birds can be kind, as well, as readers of Night Lunch by Eric Fan and Dena Seiferling learn. (I know; I had my doubts, too.) The majority of the book chronicles an owl chef preparing food for customers of his late-night food cart. But the busy chef makes time to prepare a veritable feast for a hungry mouse street sweeper once their evening shifts end.

Mice and owls abound in Little Witch Hazel by Phoebe Wahl, but it’s the title character, a tiny witch who is a some-time midwife and full-time friend to all the residents of her forest, who is the kindness role model here. The book is broken into four seasonal and self-contained adventures, but the common thread is that Little Witch Hazel is a good and caring friend to all – whether they be an injured critter or a lonely (maybe) ghost – and that kindness makes for a more wonderful life for everyone.

Like I Walk with Vanessa, The Notebook Keeper by Stephen Briseño and Magdalena Mora is a story about kindness based on actual events. In this case, a mother and her daughter are denied entry at the Tijuana border, so they seek out Belinda, the refugee in charge of “the notebook,” an unofficial ledger of those waiting to cross into the U.S. for asylum. Belinda welcomes newcomers and assigns numbers, but, more importantly, she treats the hopeful refugees with kindness and instills hope.

What Is Given from the Heart by Patricia C. McKissack and April Harrison is not only a book about kindness, it has the added benefit of taking place around Valentine’s Day (and, accordingly, Random Acts of Kindness Day). This final picture book from McKissack demonstrates you don’t need to have money to show generosity. James Otis is raised by his mother after his father dies unexpectedly, and though he doesn’t grow up with much, he devises a wonderful way to contribute when his church takes collections for a family that has lost nearly everything in a fire.

A boy and his grandma go on a special bus ride after church in the modern classic Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña and Christian Robinson. When CJ asks his grandma why they don’t have a car or several other material items, his grandma answers in ways that help CJ appreciate and love the world around him. And that goes doubly when they reach their end destination, when they demonstrate kindness by (spoiler alert!) spending their afternoon volunteering at a local soup kitchen.

CHAPTER BOOKS & MIDDLE GRADE

You knew we couldn’t get away without including the juggernaut of kindness in children’s literature, Wonder by R.J. Palacio. Wonder turned kindness to a phenomenon. The book has been a bestseller for years, and inspired the #ChooseKind campaign (seen in schools across North America). Auggie Pullman, the main character of Wonder, is an ordinary boy with an extraordinary face. And when he attends a public school for the first time in fifth grade, he helps his community as they struggle (to different degrees) with empathy, compassion, and acceptance.

A kind teacher is at the center of Because of Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea. Seven very different students have never really gotten along until a new teacher arrives and helps them to connect with one another. But when Mr. Terupt suffers a terrible accident, will his students remember the lessons he taught them? (You’d better believe they do!)

Individualism and nonconformity is often referenced as the theme of Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli, but there are underlying messages of kindness, as well. Stargirl is different for many reasons, but one of them is her kindness: she remembers every classmate’s birthday, she makes a scrapbook for the kid across the street. Her school is first fascinated by her quirkiness, then loathes her for it, but Stargirl remains committed to her strange kindness no matter what.

YOUNG ADULT

As readers get older, the books get less specifically about kindness. (I guess authors and publishers have figured you should have read all those picture books about kindness when you were younger.) But there are still some YA titles where kindness abounds!

Kindness appears in the darkest spaces in Erin Stewart‘s Scars Like Wings. Ava Lee loses nearly everything (and is terribly disfigured) in a massive fire, which drives her into a pit of despair. But then Ava meets a fellow burn survivor named Piper and doesn’t feel so alone. Piper introduces Ava to Asad, a boy who loves theater just as much as she does, and Ava begins to feel hope again. But Piper is fighting her own battle, so Ava must dig into her well of empathy and share a little tenderness with her new friends.

Awkward Persian American Darius experiences understanding and kindness for the first time in a while in Adib Khorram‘s Darius the Great Is Not Okay. A perennial outsider struggling with depression, he takes his first-ever trip to his parents’ hometown in Iran, where his life is forever changed by Sohrab. The boy who lives next door becomes a kind friend who makes him feel so much better than okay.

And author Susin Nielsen is known for stories that blend dark, laugh-out-loud humor with kindness, so while many of her books would fit our criteria, we’re going to highlight YA novel We Are All Made of Molecules. The book is the story of families torn apart by illness and death that get stitched back together with a few growing pains along the way. Step-siblings Stewart and Ashley are from opposite ends of the school’s social ladder, but by each embracing a little goodwill and forgiveness, they may actually make their new family work.

That’s it for this week. Until next week, take care of yourself – and each other.

Posted on

Tundra Telegram: Books That Deserve a Red Carpet

Hello, and thanks for joining us at Tundra Telegram, the column where we pull focus on a few subjects that have everyone reeling, and recommend some books worthy of two thumbs up (or ‘fresh’ certification, depending on your internet age).

Not only did this past weekend see more movie drama at the Venice Film Festival than the Billy Wilder classic Sunset Boulevard, today marks the start of the closer-to-home Toronto International Film Festival, which returns in a big way this year, with massive gala events and screenings across the city’s downtown.

So we’re shining the spotlight on ten films that will screen at the 2022 edition of the Toronto International Film Festival and recommending books you or your young reader might enjoy if you don’t happen to snag tickets at the box-office. Lights . . . camera . . . action!

PICTURE BOOKS

One of the most anticipated world premieres at TIFF is Devotion, a war film about the American Navy’s first Black aviator and his friendship with his white wingman that stars Jonathan Majors (who we all loved in Lovecraft Country, even though it scared us). But if you can’t make it to the movie, you can read Sprouting Wings by Louisa Jaggar, Shari Becker, and illustrated by Floyd Cooper. The book tells the story of another Black aviation pioneer, James Herman Banning, the first African American to fly across the country in 1932, over 20 years before the events of the film.

The festival’s closing night film is Dalíland, a biopic about the surrealist Spanish painter Salvador Dalí (played by Ben Kingsley) and his wife Gala, directed by Mary Harron (American Psycho). If you can’t be at the gala, you can always check out Just Being Dalí by Amy Guglielmo and Brett Helquist, a picture book that celebrates the artist’s individuality, from his melting clocks, his lobster phone, and his pet ocelot Babou. (No word yet on who plays Babou in the film!)

Music fans are losing it over TIFF’s opening night film for the Midnight Madness program, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. This embellished account of the rise of everyone’s favorite parody songwriter promises to be a good time. And while no one has written a picture book about Al yet, Rosemary Mosco and Jacob Souva created Flowers Are Pretty … Weird!, which not only shares a similar title, but also shares a love of the strange, the funny, and the floral (be it real plants or Hawaiian shirts).

CHAPTER BOOKS & MIDDLE GRADE

Though it’s not premiering at TIFF, Martin McDonagh‘s new film The Banshees of Inisherin, starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, has been generating a lot of buzz on the festival circuit. Set on a remote Irish island, it illustrates what happens when one friend decides to abruptly end a longtime relationship. It’s not a perfect pairing, but the story reminds us a bit of the depiction of friendship in Wolfie and Fly by Cary Fagan and Zoe Si. Renata Wolfman (‘Wolfie’) doesn’t see much point to friends. But friendship finds her in the form of Livingston Flott (‘Fly’), a weird and loquacious boy Wolfie doesn’t like much at first, but then finds it hard to live without.

Another world premiere at TIFF is The Menu, a satire about high-end cuisine from one of the creators of Succession and starring Anya Taylor-Joy. While it’s not quite a satire, Alice Fleck’s Recipes for Disaster by Rachelle Delaney, is a comical book set in the world of food, as Alice must work with her culinary historian father to compete in a cooking reality show – while simultaneously solving a delicious behind-the-scenes mystery!

We’ll never say ‘no’ to a new Nicolas Cage film. And Butcher’s Crossing, a Western in which he plays a buffalo hunter in the 1870s who convinces an Ivy league grad to join him in a dangerous expedition, is on our “must-see list.” But if we can’t get a ticket, we’ll read R. J. Palacio‘s similarly ambitious middle-grade Western, Pony. Though twelve-year-old Silas is no Ivy league student, he is drawn out on a dangerous journey – to find his kidnapped father, rather than hunt bison.

TIFF will also host the world premiere of Wendell & Wild, an animated collaboration between Jordan Peele (Get Out) and Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas), in which demon brothers team with a goth teen to defeat their demonic dad. All these Satanic high school hijinks make us think of The Mystery of the Meanest Teacher: A Johnny Constantine Graphic Novel by Ryan North and Derek Charm. The book is a middle-grade take on the comic book occult detective, in which Salem tweens John and Anna (with some help from a friendly demon Etrigan) use their occult powers to uncover if his homeroom teacher is really a witch. And, like the film, destined to be a goth teen cultural touchstone.

YOUNG ADULT

Another premiere at TIFF is Bros, written by and starring Billy Eichner, one of the first big-budget queer Hollywood rom-coms. Bobby is a cynical podcaster who writes off boring (but good-looking) Aaron, until they find something special blossoms in this movie that plays with the tropes of rom-coms. If the idea of unexpected romance and play with rom-com conventions through a queer lens is your thing, you’ll want to read Kevin Van Whye‘s Nate Plus One, a friends-to-lovers story that takes place in the lead-up to a Johannesburg wedding.

Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is back in Rian Johnson‘s Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, which has its premiere at TIFF. The Southern detective has a new case and a new cast of suspects, all hiding their own mysteries, but this time they’re on a remote Greek island. Want a twisty mystery that’s also the second in a series AND set on an island? How about Family of Liars by E. Lockhart, in which readers return to the Sinclair family’s private island (made so popular in We Were Liars) and uncover the secrets of a previous generation. (If only there had been teen Benoit Blanc on hand to sort things out!)

Finally, we can’t believe we’ve waited this long to gush about The Woman King, the new film by Gina Prince-Bythewood (Love & Basketball) and starring Viola Davis. Davis stars as Nansica in this true story of the Agojie, an all-female military regiment charged with protecting the African Kingdom of Dahomey (in what is now known as Benin). The warrior women in Namina Forna‘s The Gilded Ones may be fictional (and have certain magical powers), but the alaki in this fantasy novel share a few commonalities with the subject of this highly anticipated film, and were based somewhat on the stories Forna learned growing up in nearby Sierra Leone.

See you at the movies – AND the bookstore!

Posted on

International Holocaust Remembrance Day 2022

January 27 is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. It’s important for us to remember and acknowledge the horrors and sometimes books can help start those conversations.

Picture Books:

I am Anne Frank
By Brad Meltzer
Illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos
40 Pages | Ages 5-9 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780525555940 | Dial BFYR
This engaging biography series focuses on the traits that made our heroes great – the traits that kids can aspire to in order to live heroically themselves. Each book tells the story of an icon in a lively, conversational way that works well for the youngest nonfiction readers. At the back are an excellent timeline and photos. This volume features Anne Frank, whose courage and hope during a time of terror are still an inspiration for people around the world today. While Anne and her family hid in an attic during the Holocaust, she kept a journal about all her hopes and fears and observations. That journal and the story of her life are still read and told today to remember the life of a young girl and warn against the consequences of bigotry.

The Cat Who Lived With Anne Frank
By David Lee Miller and Steven Jay Rubin
Illustrated by Elizabeth Baddeley
40 Pages | Ages 4-8 | Hardcover
ISBN 9781524741501 | Philomel BFYR
When Mouschi the cat goes with his boy, Peter, to a secret annex, he meets a girl named Anne. Bright, kind and loving, Anne dreams of freedom and of becoming a writer whose words change the world. But Mouschi, along with Anne and her family and friends, must stay hidden, hoping for the war to end and for a better future. Told from the perspective of the cat who actually lived with Anne Frank in the famous Amsterdam annex, this poignant book paints a picture of a young girl who wistfully dreams of a better life for herself and her friends, tentatively wonders what mark she might leave on the world, and, above all, adamantly believes in the goodness of people. Accompanied by beautiful, vivid art, this book is a perfect introduction to a serious topic for younger readers, especially at a time when respect and inclusion are so important.

Middle Grade:

Broken Strings
By Eric Walters and Kathy Kacer
288 Pages | Ages 10-14 | Paperback
ISBN 9780735266261 | Puffin Canada
It’s 2002. In the aftermath of the twin towers, Shirli Berman is intent on moving forward. The best singer in her junior high, she auditions for the lead role in Fiddler on the Roof, but is crushed to learn that she’s been given the part of the old Jewish mother in the musical rather than the coveted part of the sister. But there is an upside: her “husband” is none other than Ben Morgan, the cutest and most popular boy in the school. Deciding to throw herself into the role, she rummages in her grandfather’s attic for some props. There, she discovers an old violin in the corner – strange, since her Zayde has never seemed to like music, never even going to any of her recitals. Showing it to her grandfather unleashes an anger in him she has never seen before, and while she is frightened of what it might mean, Shirli keeps trying to connect with her Zayde and discover the awful reason behind his anger. A long-kept family secret spills out, and Shirli learns the true power of music, both terrible and wonderful.

Letters from Cuba
By Ruth Behar
272 Pages | Ages 10+ | Hardcover
ISBN 9780525516477 | Nancy Paulsen Books
The situation is getting dire for Jews in Poland on the eve of World War II. Esther’s father has fled to Cuba, and she is the first one to join him. It’s heartbreaking to be separated from her beloved sister, so Esther promises to write down everything that happens until they’re reunited. And she does, recording both the good – the kindness of the Cuban people and her discovery of a valuable hidden talent – and the bad: the fact that Nazism has found a foothold even in Cuba. Esther’s evocative letters are full of her appreciation for life and reveal a resourceful, determined girl with a rare ability to bring people together, all the while striving to get the rest of their family out of Poland before it’s too late. Based on Ruth Behar’s family history, this compelling story celebrates the resilience of the human spirit in the most challenging times.

What Was the Holocaust?
By Gail Herman and Who HQ
Illustrated by Jerry Hoare
112 Pages | Ages 8-12 | Paperback
ISBN 9780451533906 | Penguin Workshop
The Holocaust was a genocide on a scale never before seen, with as many as twelve million people killed in Nazi death camps – six million of them Jews. Gail Herman traces the rise of Hitler and the Nazis, whose rabid anti-Semitism led first to humiliating anti-Jewish laws, then to ghettos all over Eastern Europe, and ultimately to the Final Solution. She presents just enough information for an elementary-school audience in a readable, well-researched book that covers one of the most horrible times in history.

White Bird: A Wonder Story
By R.J. Palacio
224 Pages | Ages 8-12 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780525645535 | Knopf BFYR
In R. J. Palacio’s bestselling collection of stories Auggie & Me, which expands on characters in Wonder, readers were introduced to Julian’s grandmother, Grandmère. Here, Palacio makes her graphic novel debut with Grandmère’s heartrending story: how she, a young Jewish girl, was hidden by a family in a Nazi-occupied French village during World War II; how the boy she and her classmates once shunned became her savior and best friend. Sara’s harrowing experience movingly demonstrates the power of kindness to change hearts, build bridges, and even save lives. As Grandmère tells Julian, “It always takes courage to be kind, but in those days, such kindness could cost you everything.” With poignant symbolism and gorgeous artwork that brings Sara’s story out of the past and cements it firmly in this moment in history, White Bird is sure to captivate anyone who was moved by the book Wonder or the blockbuster movie adaptation and its message.

Young Adult:

What the Night Sings
By Vesper Stamper
272 Pages | Ages 12+ | Hardcover
ISBN 9781524700386 | Knopf BFYR
After losing her family and everything she knew in the Nazi concentration camps, Gerta is finally liberated, only to find herself completely alone. Without her papa, her music, or even her true identity, she must move past the task of surviving and on to living her life. In the displaced persons camp where she is staying, Gerta meets Lev, a fellow teen survivor who she just might be falling for, despite her feelings for someone else. With a newfound Jewish identity she never knew she had, and a return to the life of music she thought she lost forever, Gerta must choose how to build a new future.

The Book Thief
By Markus Zusak
608 Pages | Ages 12+| Paperback
ISBN 9780375842207 | Knopf BFYR
3:47 a.m. That’s when they come for Wren Clemmens. She’s hustled out of her house and into a waiting car, then a plane, and then taken on a forced march into the desert. This is what happens to kids who’ve gone so far off the rails, their parents don’t know what to do with them anymore. This is wilderness therapy camp. Eight weeks of survivalist camping in the desert. Eight weeks to turn your life around. Yeah, right. The Wren who arrives in the Utah desert is angry and bitter, and blaming everyone but herself. But angry can’t put up a tent. And bitter won’t start a fire. Wren’s going to have to admit she needs help if she’s going to survive.

The Red Ribbon
By Lucy Adlington
288 Pages | Ages 12+ | Hardcover
ISBN 9781536201048 | Candlewick
Three weeks after being detained on her way home from school, fourteen-year-old Ella finds herself in the Upper Tailoring Studio, a sewing workshop inside a Nazi concentration camp. There, two dozen skeletal women toil over stolen sewing machines. They are the seamstresses of Birchwood, stitching couture dresses for a perilous client list: wives of the camp’s Nazi overseers and the female SS officers who make prisoners’ lives miserable. It is a workshop where stylish designs or careless stitches can mean life or death. And it is where Ella meets Rose. As thoughtful and resilient as the dressmakers themselves, Rose and Ella’s story is one of courage, desperation, and hope – hope as delicate and as strong as silk, as vibrant as a red ribbon in a sea of gray.

Posted on

Holiday Spotlight: Random House Children’s Books 2021

Here at Penguin Random House Canada, we’re lucky to work with so many different publisher lists. This holiday season, we’ll be highlighting each one with a dedicated post to help you find the perfect gift (or your next read). Today’s post is all about Random House Children’s Books.

A Lesson in Vengeance
By Victoria Lee
384 Pages | Ages 14+ | Hardcover
ISBN 9780593305829 | Delacorte Press
Felicity Morrow is back at the Dalloway School to finish her senior year after the tragic death of her girlfriend. She even has her old room in Godwin House, the exclusive dormitory rumored to be haunted by the spirits of five Dalloway students – girls some say were witches. Felicity was once drawn to the dark legacy of witchcraft. She’s determined to leave that behind her now; but it’s hard when Dalloway’s occult history is everywhere. And when the new girl won’t let her forget it. It’s Ellis Haley’s first year at Dalloway. A prodigy novelist at seventeen, Ellis is eccentric and brilliant, and Felicity can’t shake the pull she feels to her. So when Ellis asks Felicity for help researching the Dalloway Five for her second book, Felicity can’t say no. And when history begins to repeat itself, Felicity will have to face the darkness in Dalloway – and in herself.

As Good As Dead
By Holly Jackson
464 Pages | Ages 14+ | Hardcover
ISBN 9780593379851 | Delacorte Press
Pip is about to head to college, but she is still haunted by the way her last investigation ended. She’s used to online death threats in the wake of her viral true-crime podcast, but she can’t help noticing an anonymous person who keeps asking her: Who will look for you when you’re the one who disappears? Soon the threats escalate and Pip realizes that someone is following her in real life. When she starts to find connections between her stalker and a local serial killer caught six years ago, she wonders if maybe the wrong man is behind bars. Police refuse to act, so Pip has only one choice: find the suspect herself – or be the next victim. As the deadly game plays out, Pip discovers that everything in her small town is coming full circle . . . and if she doesn’t find the answers, this time she will be the one who disappears . . . .

Becoming: Adapted for Young Readers
By Michelle Obama
432 Pages | Ages 10+ | Hardcover
ISBN 9780593303740 | Delacorte BFYR
Michelle Robinson was born on the South Side of Chicago. From her modest beginnings, she would become Michelle Obama, the inspiring and powerful First Lady of the United States, when her husband, Barack Obama, was elected the forty-fourth president. They would be the first Black First Family in the White House and serve the country for two terms. This volume for young people is an honest and fascinating account of Michelle Obama’s life led by example. She shares her views on how all young people can help themselves as well as help others, no matter their status in life. She asks readers to realize that no one is perfect, and that the process of becoming is what matters, as finding yourself is ever evolving. In telling her story with boldness, she asks young readers: Who are you, and what do you want to become?

Black Boy Joy: 17 Stories Celebrating Black Boyhood
Edited by Kwame Mbalia
320 Pages | Ages 9-12 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780593379936 | Delacorte BFYR
Black boy joy is . . .
Picking out a fresh first-day-of-school outfit.
Saving the universe in an epic intergalactic race.
Finding your voice – and your rhymes – during tough times.
Flying on your skateboard like nobody’s watching.
And more! From seventeen acclaimed Black male and non-binary authors comes a vibrant collection of stories, comics, and poems about the power of joy and the wonders of Black boyhood.

Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance
By Barack Obama
320 Pages | Ages 12+ | Hardcover
ISBN 9780385738729 | Delacorte BFYR
A revealing portrait of a young Black man asking questions about self-discovery and belonging – long before he became one of the most important voices in America. This unique edition includes a new introduction from the author, full-color photo insert, and family tree. On his journey to adulthood from a humble background, he forges his own path through trial and error while staying connected to his roots. Barack Obama is determined to lead a life of purpose, service, and authenticity. This powerful memoir will inspire readers to examine both where they come from and where they are capable of going.

Grandude’s Green Submarine
By Paul McCartney
Illustrated by Kathryn Durst
32 Pages | Ages 4-6 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780593372432 | Random House BFYR
Grandude’s inventions are the stuff of legend, and his new green submarine doesn’t disappoint. In fact, it flies as well as submerges! Grandude whisks the grandkids off on another adventure, but he and the Chillers soon find themselves in a pickle. Suddenly, it’s Nandude to the rescue! Nandude is an explorer as courageous as Grandude, with an amazing accordion-ship to boot! Between Grandude’s magic compass and Nandude’s magical music, everyone arrives home safely. But not before enjoying a parade, dancing rainforest animals, and a narrow escape from a grabby octopus. This tale is perfect for little explorers and Paul McCartney fans alike! Artist Kathryn Durst returns with glorious, humor-filled illustrations that are as beautiful as ever.

Magic Tree House: Dinosaurs Before Dark
By Mary Pope Osborne
Illustrated by Kelly Matthews and Nichole Matthews
Adapted by Jenny Laird
176 Pages | Ages 6-9 | Paperback
ISBN 9780593174715 | Random House BFYR
Where did the tree house come from? Before Jack and Annie can find out, the mysterious tree house whisks them to the prehistoric past. Now they have to figure out how to get home. Can they do it before dark . . . or will they become a dinosaur’s dinner? For the first time in graphic novel – live the adventure again in the very first Magic Tree House book, with new art from comic artists Kelly and Nichole Matthews!

Pony
By R. J. Palacio
304 Pages | Ages 10+ | Hardcover
ISBN 9780553508116 | Knopf BFYR
Twelve-year-old Silas is awoken in the dead of night by three menacing horsemen who take his father away. Silas is left shaken, scared, and alone, except for the presence of his companion, Mittenwool . . . who happens to be a ghost. When a pony shows up at his door, Silas makes the courageous decision to leave his home and embark on a perilous journey to find his father. Along the way, he will face his fears to unlock the secrets of his past and explore the unfathomable mysteries of the world around him.

Six Crimson Cranes
By Elizabeth Lim
464 Pages | Ages 12+ | Hardcover
ISBN 9780593300916 | Knopf BFYR
Shiori’anma, the only princess of Kiata, has a secret. Forbidden magic runs through her veins. Normally she conceals it well, but on the morning of her betrothal ceremony, Shiori loses control. At first, her mistake seems like a stroke of luck, forestalling the wedding she never wanted. But it also catches the attention of Raikama, her stepmother. A sorceress in her own right, Raikama banishes the young princess, turning her brothers into cranes. She warns Shiori that she must speak of it to no one: for with every word that escapes her lips, one of her brothers will die. Penniless, voiceless, and alone, Shiori searches for her brothers, and uncovers a dark conspiracy to seize the throne. Only Shiori can set the kingdom to rights, but to do so she must place her trust in a paper bird, a mercurial dragon, and the very boy she fought so hard not to marry. And she must embrace the magic she’s been taught all her life to forswear – no matter what the cost.

Skin of the Sea
By Natasha Bowen
320 Pages | Ages 14+ | Hardcover
ISBN 9780593120941 | Random House BFYR
Simi prayed to the gods, once. Now she serves them as Mami Wata – a mermaid – collecting the souls of those who die at sea and blessing their journeys back home. But when a living boy is thrown overboard, Simi does the unthinkable – she saves his life, going against an ancient decree. And punishment awaits those who dare to defy it. To protect the other Mami Wata, Simi must journey to the Supreme Creator to make amends. But all is not as it seems. There’s the boy she rescued, who knows more than he should. And something is shadowing Simi, something that would rather see her fail. . . . Danger lurks at every turn, and as Simi draws closer, she must brave vengeful gods, treacherous lands, and legendary creatures. Because if she doesn’t, then she risks not only the fate of all Mami Wata, but also the world as she knows it.

Take Me With You When You Go
By David Levithan and Jennifer Niven
336 Pages | Ages 12+ | Hardcover
ISBN 9780525580997 | Knopf BFYR
Ezra Ahern wakes up one day to find his older sister, Bea, gone. No note, no sign, nothing but an email address hidden somewhere only he would find it. Ezra never expected to be left behind with their abusive stepfather and their neglectful mother – how is he supposed to navigate life without Bea? Bea Ahern already knew she needed to get as far away from home as possible But a message in her inbox changes everything, and she finds herself alone in a new city – without Ez, without a real plan – chasing someone who might not even want to be found. As things unravel at home for Ezra, Bea will confront secrets about their past that will forever change the way they think about their family. Together and apart, broken by abuse but connected by love, this brother and sister must learn to trust themselves before they can find a way back to each other.

The Big Bath House
By Kyo Maclear
Illustrated by Gracey Zhang
40 Pages | Ages 4-8 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780593181959 | Random House Studio
In this celebration of Japanese culture and family and naked bodies of all shapes and sizes, join a little girl – along with her aunties and grandmother – at a traditional bath house. Once there, the rituals leading up to the baths begin: hair washing, back scrubbing, and, finally, the wood barrel drumroll. Until, at last, it’s time, and they ease their bodies – their creased bodies, newly sprouting bodies, saggy, jiggly bodies – into the bath. Ahhhhhh! With a lyrical text and gorgeous illustrations, this picture book is based on Kyo Maclear’s loving memories of childhood visits to Japan, and is an ode to the ties that bind generations of women together.

The Gilded Ones
By Namina Forna
432 Pages | Ages 12+ | Hardcover
ISBN 9781984848697 | Delacorte BFYR
Sixteen-year-old Deka lives in fear and anticipation of the blood ceremony that will determine whether she will become a member of her village. Already different from everyone else because of her unnatural intuition, Deka prays for red blood so she can finally feel like she belongs. But on the day of the ceremony, her blood runs gold, the color of impurity – and Deka knows she will face a consequence worse than death. Then a mysterious woman comes to her with a choice: stay in the village and submit to her fate, or leave to fight for the emperor in an army of girls just like her. They are called alaki – near-immortals with rare gifts. And they are the only ones who can stop the empire’s greatest threat. Knowing the dangers that lie ahead yet yearning for acceptance, Deka decides to leave the only life she’s ever known. But as she journeys to the capital to train for the biggest battle of her life, she will discover that the great walled city holds many surprises. Nothing and no one are quite what they seem to be – not even Deka herself.

The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel: The Lost Stories Collection
By Michael Scott
512 Pages | Ages 12+ | Hardcover
ISBN 9780593376904 | Delacorte BFYR
The legendary alchemyst Nicholas Flamel and his wife, the sorceress Perenelle, traveled the globe for centuries before they discovered the Twins of Legend, Josh and Sophie Newman. Secrets abound – and now you can discover even more of the Flamels’ story in this volume of eight stories set in the world of the internationally bestselling series. Stand with the Flamels when they find the Codex, the book that holds the secret to their immortality. Follow Machiavelli under the perilous streets of Paris. Join Scatty and her twin, Aoife, as they journey through mysterious Shadowrealms. Within these pages you will meet enemies old and new and forge alliances with characters from history, myth, and legend, all as you uncover new mysteries and discover answers to questions remaining in the original series.

You’ll Be the Death of Me
By Karen M. McManus
336 Pages | Ages 14+ | Hardcover
ISBN 9780593175866 | Delacorte BFYR
Ivy, Mateo, and Cal used to be close. Now all they have in common is Carlton High and the beginning of a very bad day. Type A Ivy lost a student council election to the class clown, and now she has to face the school, humiliated. Heartthrob Mateo is burned out from working two jobs since his family’s business failed. And outsider Cal just got stood up . . . again. So when the three unexpectedly run into each other, they decide to avoid their problems by ditching. Just the three of them, like old times. Except they’ve barely left the parking lot before they run out of things to say. . . until they spot another Carlton High student skipping school – and follow him to the scene of his own murder. In one chance move, their day turns from dull to deadly. And it’s about to get worse. It turns out Ivy, Mateo, and Cal still have some things in common . . . like a connection to the dead kid. And they’re all hiding something. Could it be that their chance reconnection wasn’t by chance after all?

Posted on

Holocaust Education Week 2019

This year, Holocaust Education Week is being observed in Toronto from November 3-10, 2019. Their programs and workshops ensure that the next generation meaningfully learns about the Holocaust through best practices, resources, and engagement with survivor testimony. We’ve put together a list of books that may help bridge the gap for young readers.

PICTURE BOOKS

The Cat Who Lived With Anne Frank
By David Lee Miller and Steven Jay Rubin
Illustrated by Elizabeth Baddeley
ISBN 9781524741501 | Hardcover
Ages 4-8 | Philomel Books
Told from the perspective of the cat who actually lived with Anne Frank in the famous Amsterdam annex, this poignant book paints a picture of a young girl who wistfully dreams of a better life for herself and her friends, tentatively wonders what mark she might leave on the world, and, above all, adamantly believes in the goodness of people.

MIDDLE GRADE

Broken Strings
By Eric Walters and Kathy Kacer
ISBN 9780735266247 | Hardcover
Ages 10-14 | Puffin Canada
It’s 2002. In the aftermath of the twin towers — and the death of her beloved grandmother — Shirli Berman is intent on moving forward. The best singer in her junior high, she auditions for the lead role in Fiddler on the Roof, but is crushed to learn that she’s been given the part of the old Jewish mother in the musical rather than the coveted part of the sister. But there is an upside: her “husband” is none other than Ben Morgan, the cutest and most popular boy in the school. Deciding to throw herself into the role, she rummages in her grandfather’s attic for some props. There, she discovers an old violin in the corner — strange, since her Zayde has never seemed to like music, never even going to any of her recitals. Showing it to her grandfather unleashes an anger in him she has never seen before, and while she is frightened of what it might mean, Shirli keeps trying to connect with her Zayde and discover the awful reason behind his anger. A long-kept family secret spills out, and Shirli learns the true power of music, both terrible and wonderful.

How I Became a Spy: A Mystery of WWII London
By Deborah Hopkinson
ISBN 9780399557064 | Hardcover
Ages 8-12 | Knopf Books For Young Readers
Bertie Bradshaw never set out to become a spy. He never imagined traipsing around war-torn London, solving ciphers, practicing surveillance, and searching for a traitor to the Allied forces. He certainly never expected that a strong-willed American girl named Eleanor would play Watson to his Holmes (or Holmes to his Watson, depending on who you ask). But when a young woman goes missing, leaving behind a coded notebook, Bertie is determined to solve the mystery. With the help of Eleanor and his friend David, a Jewish refugee–and, of course, his trusty pup, Little Roo–Bertie must decipher the notebook in time to stop a double agent from spilling the biggest secret of all to the Nazis.

White Bird: A Wonder Story
By R.J. Palacio
ISBN 9780525645535 | Hardcover
Ages 8-12 | Knopf Books For Young Readers
In R. J. Palacio’s bestselling collection of stories Auggie & Me, which expands on characters in Wonder, readers were introduced to Julian’s grandmother, Grandmère. Here, Palacio makes her graphic novel debut with Grandmère’s heartrending story: how she, a young Jewish girl, was hidden by a family in a Nazi-occupied French village during World War II; how the boy she and her classmates once shunned became her savior and best friend.

YOUNG ADULT

What the Night Sings
By Vesper Stamper
ISBN 9781524700386 | Hardcover
Ages 12+ | Knopf Books For Young Readers
After losing her family and everything she knew in the Nazi concentration camps, Gerta is finally liberated, only to find herself completely alone. Without her papa, her music, or even her true identity, she must move past the task of surviving and on to living her life. In the displaced persons camp where she is staying, Gerta meets Lev, a fellow teen survivor who she just might be falling for, despite her feelings for someone else. With a newfound Jewish identity she never knew she had, and a return to the life of music she thought she lost forever, Gerta must choose how to build a new future.

The Book Thief
By Markus Zusak
ISBN 9781101934180 | Hardcover
Ages 12+ | Knopf Books For Young Readers
It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still. Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich, who scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist-books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement.

The Red Ribbon
By Lucy Adlington
ISBN 9780763680176 | Paperback
Ages 12+ | Candlewick Press
Three weeks after being detained on her way home from school, fourteen-year-old Ella finds herself in the Upper Tailoring Studio, a sewing workshop inside a Nazi concentration camp. There, two dozen skeletal women toil over stolen sewing machines. They are the seamstresses of Birchwood, stitching couture dresses for a perilous client list: wives of the camp’s Nazi overseers and the female SS officers who make prisoners’ lives miserable. It is a workshop where stylish designs or careless stitches can mean life or death. And it is where Ella meets Rose. As thoughtful and resilient as the dressmakers themselves, Rose and Ella’s story is one of courage, desperation, and hope – hope as delicate and as strong as silk, as vibrant as a red ribbon in a sea of gray.

The Extra
By Kathryn Lasky
ISBN 9780735266247 | Hardcover
Ages 12+ | Candlewick Press
In this chilling but ultimately uplifting novel, Kathryn Lasky imagines the lives of the Romani-called the “Gypsy Plague” by the Nazis-who worked as extras for Hitler’s real favorite filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl. Fifteen-year-old Lilo and the other extras are barely fed, closely guarded, and kept in a locked barn when not on the movie set. And Riefenstahl is always present, answering the slightest provocation with malice, flaunting the power to assign prisoners to life or death. When faced with a rare opportunity, Lilo takes matters into her own hands, effecting an escape and running for her life, giving readers a story of survival unlike any other.

Playing for the Commandant
By Suzy Zail
ISBN 9780763664039 | Hardcover
Ages 12+ | Candlewick Press
“Look after each other . . . and get home safe. And when you do, tell everyone what you saw and what they did to us.” These are Hanna’s father’s parting words to her and her sister when their family is separated at the gates of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. Her father’s words – and a black C-sharp piano key hidden away in the folds of her dress – are all that she has left to remind her of life before. Before, Hanna was going to be a famous concert pianist. She was going to wear her yellow dress to a dance. And she was going to dance with a boy. But then the Nazis came. Now it is up to Hanna to do all she can to keep her mother and sister alive, even if that means playing piano for the commandant and his guests. Staying alive isn’t supposed to include falling in love with the commandant’s son. But Karl Jager is beautiful, and his aloofness belies a secret. And war makes you do dangerous things.

Code Name Verity
By Elizabeth Wein
ISBN 9780385676571 | Paperback
Ages 12+ | Doubleday Canada
Two young women from totally different backgrounds are thrown together during the Second World War. One is a working-class girl from Manchester, the other a Scottish aristocrat; one is a pilot, the other a wireless operator. Yet whenever their paths cross, they complement each other perfectly, and before long they are devoted friends. But then a vital mission goes wrong, and one of the friends has to bail out of a faulty plane over France. She is captured by the Gestapo and becomes a prisoner of war. The story begins in “Verity’s” own words, as she writes her account for her captors.

Tundra Book Group