Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus

Fourteen-year-old Manjiro is a fisherman from a family of fishermen.  In nineteenth-century Japan, that is all he can aspire to be.  But this truth does not stop him from dreaming about being a samurai: a member of the noble knightly class.

One day, while Manjiro is on a fishing expedition with three companions, the weather turns foul.  After the tempest sinks their boat, the fishermen swim to a small, uninhabited island.  An American whaling vessel rescues the foursome, and the captain, William Whitfield, offers to take them home with him.  Manjiro’s friends, thinking, like all Japanese, that Americans are barbarians, refuse.  The teen, however, knowing that it is forbidden for any Japanese citizen to return home once he has left his homeland, accepts the captain’s offer.

So begins Manjiro’s ten-year odyssey.  Adopted by Captain Whitfield, the young man learns English, becomes a skilled whaler and sailor, and becomes the first known Japanese person to set foot in America.  Manjiro is determined to be successful in his new home, battling prejudice and misunderstanding even as he dreams of returning to Japan and his family some day.  And by dint of hard work and remaining true to his goal, Manjiro realizes not only this dream but an earlier, impossible one, as well.

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Ruby Holler by Sharon Creech

Dallas and Florida are twins.  As far back as they can remember, the thirteen-year-olds have been residents of the Boxton Creek Home for Children (except for a few unfortunate experiences when they briefly lived in foster homes that were the stuff of nightmares.)  Living under the doubtful care of the Trepids–who have labeled the siblings the Trouble Twins–is no picnic.  As time passes, their dream of having a real, loving home is fading fast.

One day, an elderly couple enters the Boxton Home looking for two children to accompany them on a trip.  Two trips, actually: Tiller and Sairy and planning separate adventures, and they think Dallas and Florida would be ideal companions.  So the twins find themselves on the way to Ruby Holler, the wonderful place where Tiller and Sairy grew up and raised their children.

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Silly Frilly Grandma Tillie by Laurie A. Jacobs

 

 

 

 

Sophie and Chloe’s Grandma Tillie is babysitting.  Even though she says she is “too old to play games,” and that “all she likes to do is sit and knit,” the girls are excited when their parents walk out the door.  For that’s when the fun begins.  As Grandma Tillie goes into a closet, the girls sit and wait.  The closet door opens and–Tillie Vanilly bursts out, pink hair and all.  This remarkable star of “the Tillie Vanilly show” can do amazing things: say the alphabet from Z to A while standing on one foot, simultaneously juggle and tell jokes, and lead a conga throughout the house.  When the dance ends in the kitchen, Tillie Vanilly makes her exit. 

Who should appear next but Chef Silly Tillie, and after offering some delightfully gross menu items, whips up a fantastic meal for her rapt audience.  But the fun is not over yet, for Madame Frilly Tillie arrives, complete with purple towel turban and sparkly glasses, to give the girls a bubble bath makeover, including a beard for Sophie and a “tower of bubbles” for Chloe’s head.  When the sisters are ready for bed, they wonder who will tuck them in: “Hiker Hilly Tillie?  Or Skier Chilly Tillie?  Or maybe Zoo Lady Gorilly Tillie?” 

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The Secret Tunnel by Joy Nelkin Wieder

Yonatan is eleven years old; old enough, in his opinion, for his parents to stop calling him Yoni and to be treated with more respect.  But there are bigger concerns facing Yonatan, his family, and the entire city of Jerusalem.  Sancheriv, the evil king of Ashur, is determined to conquer the Jews’ homeland and lay siege to the city.  With its siege machines and strong fighting force, the enemy will soon be poised to attack.

When Yonatan’s father is requested to help dig a tunnel to bring water from a spring into Jerusalem, providing a source of water if Sancheriv’s military surrounds the city, the boy sees his chance to do more than perform household chores.  He convinces his father to take him as an apprentice, and finds himself working alongside the miners as they race against time to complete the tunnel.

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The Dark Pond by Joseph Bruchac

“Feeling things.  That’s one of the gifts I got from my mother, being able to feel things that other people don’t.  Spooky, isn’t it?  That’s how most other kids see it.  And me.  Spooky Armie.  Ever since I was really little…I’ve been teased because I was weird.  It wasn’t just because I looked different, with my thick black hair and my brown skin.  It was also because I said things that other kids thought was strange.”

It is this “gift” that gives Armie, half Armenian and half Shawnee, the knowledge that something sinister lies in wait in the pond beyond his mountain boarding school.  But even though the teen is drawn to the pond (“It was drawing me in, you see.  It was calling me.  It knew I was there.  It was waiting under the ice.”) and is prevented from foolishly walking onto its thin ice surface by a fox, there is more that occupies his mind.  One is the first real friendship Armie has ever known, with a boy whose appearance is the opposite of his own large, hulking self: a tall, thin redhead who calls himself Devo.  Then there is the task of fitting in at the school, a job made easier by the surrounding wilderness, a likable counselor, the library where Armie can secret himself for hours and find the answers he is looking for, and Mitch Sabattis, an Abenaki member of the school’s grounds crew who recognizes his gift at their first meeting.  It is Mitch, working on a doctorate in zoology, with whom Armie finds himself involved in solving the mystery of the monster in the pond–and who is intent on using his knowledge of anatomy to destroy it.

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Around the World in 100 Days by Gary Blackwood

Some twenty years have passed since Phileas Fogg made his historic journey around the globe (and his exploits were recorded by Jules Verne in Around the World in 80 Days).  Since that time, he and the Indian lady he married have raised a son.  Now young Harry, believing that motorcars are the way of the future, wagers that he can drive his vehicle–the Flash–around the globe in 100 days.  His father agrees to make good on the bet on one condition: if Harry loses, he must give up his preoccupation with motorcars and engage in a profession more suitable for a gentleman.  And so the younger Fogg, along with his loyal and talented mechanic, a stodgy observer to ensure that the rules are kept, and a lady journalist covering the story for her newspaper, departs from the same club that marked the beginning of his father’s venture. 

Along the way, the travelers encounter curious onlookers, militant opposition to progress represented by motorcars, bandits, inclement weather, breakdowns, illness, and kidnapping.  And through it all, Harry believes someone is out to sabotage the Flash and prevent him from achieving his goal.  But the young man learns that things (and people) are not always what they seem. 

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A Chanukah Story for Night Number Three as told to Dina Rosenfeld

What can a boy do to keep himself busy when his mother goes to the store and leaves him alone in the house shortly before his birthday on the third night of Chanukah?  Make a huge latke, that’s what!   So Matisyohu Dov Ber Chaim Tzvi peels potatoes galore, adds all the necessary ingredients, but then the mixer stops working!  That is no problem–the young chef sees a solution right outside his window in the form of a cement mixer.  This is only the beginning of the adventure: with a little help from some unlikely places, Matisyohu Dov Ber Chaim Tzvi ends up with the biggest latke anyone has ever seen, and a fantastic story to tell.  “So I wrote all that happened for you to read, too/ If you want to believe it – well, that’s up to you!”

This witty, rollicking rhyming story has been a Chanukah favorite since its original publication in 1989.  The exuberant verses are perfect for reading aloud. In the midst of all the fun are beautiful messages about sharing and bringing joy to others. A recipe for latkes and a guide to lighting the menorah round out the tale.  Reissued with colorful new illustrations by Vasilisa and Vitaliy Romanenko, this classic will be enjoyed by kids and adults for many more Chanukahs to come.  Ages 5-9

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The Peddler’s Gift by Maxine Rose Schur

Leibush and his friends spend their days in school, learning from morning to evening–except on Wednesdays, when they are dismissed early.  It is on such a day in late summer when, cooling off by the river, Leibush learns that Shnook has arrived in Korovenko.  The peddler, who is so simple that nobody calls him by his real name of Shimon, is always entertaining, so Leibush rushes home.  To his delight, Shnook is there, and has spread out his goods on the table.  Although his mother would love the beautiful blue cloth, she has only one ruble to spend, and settles for a few necessary items–which the peddler, as always, tells her cost one ruble.

As Shnook is packing up, Leibush notices a beautiful wooden dreidel (a top used on the holiday of Chanukah) lying on the floor.  While nobody is looking, he picks it up.  Meanwhile, Shnook refuses Leibush’s parents’ offer of supper and a place to sleep.  The peddler steps out into the night as the weather turns stormy.

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Wild Girl by Patricia Reilly Giff

When Lidie was seven, her mother passed away. Shortly afterwards, her father and older brother Rafael left Brazil for the United States. Since that time, she has lived with an aunt and uncle.

Now Lidie is twelve, and it is time for her to join Pai and Rafael. They are working for a wealthy man–her father as a race horse trainer, her brother as a jockey-in-training–and they now own a house. Lidie is reluctant to leave the wonderful farm where she grew up, her school, and especially the beautiful horse, Cavalo, that she loves to ride and has become a special friend. Yet she is also looking forward to her new life in America.

A filly is born. As she grows, she becomes wary of humans and frightened of cats.  Separated from everything familiar, she deeply misses her mother.  When the timid young horse is acquired by Pai’s employer and assigned to the trainer, he dubs her Wild Girl.

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Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel

Ben Tomlin is an only child.    For twelve years, he and his parents have lived in Toronto.  But, suddenly, the family moves across Canada to Victoria, Alberta.  So Ben wakes up on his thirteenth birthday in his new home, awaiting his mother’s arrival with the new baby.

However, Ben’s mother is not bringing home a human infant.  For his father, a behavioral scientist, is beginning a bold experiment: to raise a chimpanzee like a member of the family to determine if he is capable of learning sophisticated language.  Ben is requested to act towards the young primate as if he were a little brother, and he unwillingly agrees.  The teen names him Zan, and prepares for life with a chimpanzee as a sibling with the thought, “We are the weirdest family in the world.” 

As Zan grows, he develops a strong attachment to Ben–and the teen gradually thinks of the little chimp less as an experiment and more as a member of the household.  At the study’s conclusion, when the “big brother” learns of the fate in store for Zan, he realizes he must make an agonizing choice and take serious risks to protect him.

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