Grades 7-8, non-fiction
Every Falling Star by
Every Falling Star, the first book to portray contemporary North Korea to a young audience, is the intense memoir of a North Korean boy named Sungju who was forced at age twelve to live on the streets and fend for himself. To survive, Sungju creates a gang and lives by thieving, fighting, begging, and stealing rides on cargo trains. Sungju richly recreates his scabrous story, depicting what it was like for a boy alone to create a new family with his gang, "his brothers," to daily be hungry and to fear arrest, imprisonment, and even execution. This riveting memoir allows young readers to learn about other cultures where freedoms they take for granted do not exist.
Child Soldier by
Michel Chikwanine was five years old when he was abducted from his school-yard soccer game in the Democratic Republic of Congo and forced to become a soldier for a brutal rebel militia. Against the odds, Michel managed to escape and find his way back to his family, but he was never the same again. After immigrating to Canada, Michel was encouraged by a teacher to share what happened to him in order to raise awareness about child soldiers around the world, and this book is part of that effort. Told in the first person and presented in a graphic novel format, the gripping story of Michel's experience is moving and unsettling. But the humanity he exhibits in the telling, along with Claudia Dávila's illustrations, which evoke rather than depict the violent elements of the story, makes the book accessible for this age group and, ultimately, reassuring and hopeful. The back matter contains further information, as well as suggestions for ways children can help. This is a perfect resource for engaging youngsters in social studies lessons on global awareness and social justice issues, and would easily spark classroom discussions about conflict, children's rights and even bullying. Michel's actions took enormous courage, but he makes clear that he was and still is an ordinary person, no different from his readers. He believes everyone can do something to make the world a better place, and so he shares what his father told him: "If you ever think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping in a room with a mosquito."
The Last Train by
The Last Trainis the harrowing true story about young brothers Paul and Oscar Arato and their mother, Lenke, surviving the Nazi occupation during the final years of World War II. Living in the town of Karcag, Hungary, the Aratos felt insulated from the war -- even as it raged all around them. Hungary is allied with Germany to protect its citizens from invasion, but in 1944 Hitler breaks his promise to keep the Nazis out of Hungary. The Nazi occupation forces the family into situations of growing panic and fear: first into a ghetto in their hometown; then a labor camp in Austria; and, finally, to the deadly Bergen Belsen camp deep in the heart of Germany. Separated from their father, 6-year-old Paul and 11-year-old Oscar must care for their increasingly sick mother, all while trying to maintain some semblance of normalcy amid the horrors of the camp. In the spring of 1945, the boys see British planes flying over the camp, and a spark of hope that the war will soon end ignites. And then, they are forced onto a dark, stinking boxcar by the Nazi guards. After four days on the train, the boys are convinced they will be killed, but through a twist of fate, the train is discovered and liberated by a battalion of American soldiers marching through Germany. The book concludes when Paul, now a grown man living in Canada, stumbles upon photographs on the internet of his train being liberated. After writing to the man who posted the pictures, Paul is presented with an opportunity to meet his rescuers at a reunion in New York -- but first he must decide if he is prepared to reopen the wounds of his past.
Fourteen and Sentenced to Death by
At fourteen, Steve Truscott was a typical teenager in rural Ontario in the fifties, mainly concerned about going fishing, playing football, and racing bikes with his friends. One summer evening, his twelve-year-old classmate, Lynne Harper, asked for a lift to the nearby highway on his bicycle and Steve agreed. Unfortunately, that made Steve the last person known to see Lynne alive. His world collapsed around him when he was arrested and then convicted of killing Lynne Harper. The penalty at the time was death by hanging. Although the sentence was changed to life in prison, Steve suffered for years behind bars for a murder he didn't commit. When his case gained national attention, the Supreme Court of Canada reviewed the evidence--and confirmed his conviction. It took over forty years and a determination to prove his innocence for him to finally clear his name. He has since received an apology and compensation for his ordeal. In this book, young readers will discover how an innocent boy was presumed guilty by the justice system, and how in the end, that same justice system, prodded by Truscott and his lawyers, was able to acknowledge the terrible wrong done to him.
The Bite of the Mango by
As a child in a small rural village in Sierra Leone, Mariatu Kamara lived peacefully surrounded by family and friends. Rumors of rebel attacks were no more than a distant worry. But when 12-year-old Mariatu set out for a neighboring village, she never arrived. Heavily armed rebel soldiers, many no older than children themselves, attacked and tortured Mariatu. During this brutal act of senseless violence they cut off both her hands. Stumbling through the countryside, Mariatu miraculously survived. The sweet taste of a mango, her first food after the attack, reaffirmed her desire to live, but the challenge of clutching the fruit in her bloodied arms reinforced the grim new reality that stood before her. With no parents or living adult to support her and living in a refugee camp, she turned to begging in the streets of Freetown. As told to her by Mariatu, journalist Susan McClelland has written the heartbreaking true story of the brutal attack, its aftermath and Mariatu's eventual arrival in Toronto where she began to pull together the pieces of her broken life with courage, astonishing resilience and hope. Now in her twenties, Mariatu Kamara has been named a UNICEF Special Representative for Children in Armed Conflict; a Voices of Courage Honoree by the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children; and has established The Mariatu Foundation, which aims to offer much needed refuge to the ongoing victims of the civil war in Sierra Leone. A documentary about child victims of war, featuring Mariatu, is in the works.
Royal Murder by
What would you do for absolute power? For many monarchs throughout history, it was a question that ruled their lives. Step into the world of palatial intrigue, where holding the throne means evading death . . . or causing it. Some sovereigns were cunning at avoiding their killers. Cleopatra of Egypt once rolled herself into a rug and was carried out past her enemies' noses. Other royals were brutal when dealing with foes. Vlad the Impaler's monstrous methods inspired the legend of Dracula the vampire. From monarchs murdered at the hands of their subjects to kings killed on the battle field, the stories of ten royals are told: * Cleopatra of Egypt (69 BCE - 30 BCE) * Vlad III the Impaler of Wallachia (1431 - 1476) * Richard III of England (1452 - 1485) * "Bloody Mary" I (1516 - 1558) * Mary, Queen of Scots (1542 - 1587) * Elizabeth I (1533 - 1603) * Louis XVI (1754 - 1793) * Marie Antoinette (1755 - 1793) * Elisabeth of Austria (1837 - 1898) * The Romanovs of Russia (1872 - 1918) A final section offers examples from the 20th century, from assassination attempts in England to a royal massacre in Nepal. Blending dramatic storytelling and historical fact, and complete with fascinating photographs and artwork, Royal Murder is a compelling account of scheming sovereigns.
Thieves! by
Ten classic stories about cunning plans and daring escapades. Of all the crimes that human beings commit, stealing is probably the most common. Thieves!, the latest in the True Stories from the Edge series, brings ten exciting stories of master thieves and their master crimes. Willie Sutton was casing a bank when he noticed that the manager looked a lot like Sutton himself, so he walked into the vault, loaded up with banknotes, and calmly walked out. D.B. Cooper hijacked a plane, demanded $200,000 in payment, and parachuted from the aircraft. He was never captured. Other criminals in this book were no less brazen: Arthur Barry, the greatest jewel thief in American criminal history Vincente Perugia, who boldly stole one of the world's greatest art treasures Amil Dinsio, one of the most accomplished bank vault robbers in the U.S. Victor Desmarais and Leo Martial, a hapless duo who bungled their getaway James Landis, who stole two bricks of freshly printed banknotes from his employer -- the U.S. Treasury Adam Worth, the Napoleon of Crime the Great Train Robbers, who planned one of the largest heists of all time the five heisters of the Great Purolator Caper, whose ineptitude ensured capture Readers will find nothing but high-stakes action in Thieves!. Though many of the bandits ended their careers broke and disillusioned, these impresarios of crime make for great reading.
Scams! by
Ten stories that explore some of the most outrageous swindlers and tricksters of all time. Scams! reveals 10 true tales of trickery that will mesmerize young readers. They will discover how the Germans planned to destroy the British economy during World War II by flooding the world with millions of fake British bank-notes. Scams! also includes: • The Tasady: Stone Age cavemen of the Philippines • The Shakespearean forgery of William Ireland • P.T. Barnum and his greatest show on earth • The creation of the Bibliotheca Phillipica • Le Grand Theresa • John Keely’s engine • Karl May’s extraordinary fiction Readers of any age will be enthralled by these stories of trickery exposed, where the strange twists and turns truly test the limits of credulity.