From Far Away by
When Saoussan immigrated with her family from war-torn Lebanon, she was only seven years old. This picture book tells the story of how she had to adjust to her new home in Canada. She describes the frustration of not understanding the teacher when she started school, not knowing how to ask to go to the bathroom, and being terrified of a Hallowe'en skeleton. This is the perfect book to help kids empathize with immigrant children whose experiences are very similar to Saoussan's.
Stepping Stones by
This unique picture book was inspired by the stone artwork of Syrian artist Nizar Ali Badr, discovered by chance by Canadian children's writer Margriet Ruurs. The author was immediately impressed by the strong narrative quality of Mr. Badr's work, and, using many of Mr. Badr's already-created pieces, she set out to create a story about the Syrian refugee crisis. Stepping Stones tells the story of Rama and her family, who are forced to flee their once-peaceful village to escape the ravages of the civil war raging ever closer to their home. With only what they can carry on their backs, Rama and her mother, father, grandfather and brother, Sami, set out to walk to freedom in Europe. Nizar Ali Badr's stunning stone images illustrate the story. Orca Book Publishers is pleased to offer this book as a dual-language (English and Arabic) edition.
The Breadwinner by
The Breadwinner brings to life an issue that has recently exploded in the international media -- the reality of life under the Taliban. Young Parvana lives with her family in one room of a bombed-out apartment building in Kabul, Afghanistan. Because he has a foreign education, her father is arrested by the Taliban, the religious group that controls the country. Since women cannot appear in public unless covered head to toe, or go to school, or work outside the home, the family becomes increasingly desperate until Parvana conceives a plan. She cuts her hair and disguises herself as a boy to earn money for her family. Parvana's determination to survive is the force that drives this novel set against the backdrop of an intolerable situation brought about by war and religious fanaticism. Deborah Ellis spent several months talking with women and girls in Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan and Russia. This suspenseful, timely novel is the result of those encounters. Royalties from the sale of The Breadwinner will go toward educating Afghan girls in Pakistani refugee camps. "...a potent portrait of life in contemporary Afghanistan, showing that powerful heroines can survive even in the most oppressive ... conditions." -- Booklist
Golden Game by
A junior high soccer team in Vancouver, with mostly refugee and immigrant teen players, is sponsored to play in a big tournament in Toronto. Abbas Wassef, a recent arrival from Syria and a striker on the team, is looking forward to playing the top team in Ontario where he will reconnect with a buddy from Syria. Abbas has a big problem. He has witnessed a bad traffic accident that has given him flashbacks to the strife in Syria, and triggered a fear of airplanes and flying. But Abbas finds a way to conquer his fear and anxiety in time for the tournament. Along the way, he also helps his whole team deal with the pressures of being the only team at the tournament from outside of the GTA, being younger than most of the other players, and meeting the expectations of their sponsors back home. Characters introduced in three other soccer-based novels, Golden Goal, Team Fugee and Tournament Fugee, appear in this book. The quartet of hi-lo novels offer young readers insight into the experiences of young refugees -- and offer refugee students validation for their experiences in dealing with a new culture and a new home.
A New Life by
Eight-year-old Khadija, her older brother, Hamza, and their parents have just arrived in Canada from Pakistan. In their classrooms on the first day of school Khadija and Hamza are confronted by a sea of unfamiliar faces. Everyone looks so different from the way they did back home.
At first Khadija and Hamza feel left out at recess, and they both become the targets of school bullies. It's really hard to have to speak English all day long. And Khadija just can't figure out how to get enough water out of the drinking fountain. Hamza, in particular, misses everything about Pakistan -- his friends, his school and his grandmother. But gradually, Khadija and Hamza find new friends and begin to feel more at home.
Hoping for Home: Stories of Arrival
In this wonderful new short story anthology, eleven of Canada's top children's authors contribute stories of immigration, displacement and change, exploring the frustration and uncertainty those changes can bring. Told in first-person narratives, this collection features a diverse cast of boys and girls, each one living at a different point in Canada's vast landscape and history.
With unforgettable protagonists ― such as Miriam, a Warsaw-ghetto survivor, now reunited with her family in Montreal; Wong Joe-on, a young Chinese immigrant who faces racism in a small Saskatchewan town; and Insy, an Ojibwe girl who makes her first trip to a "white" town in Northern Ontario ― young readers will be moved by the opportunities and difficulties that these characters face, as each one ponders what it means to be Canadian, and struggles to fit in.
Hoping for Home includes stories by Jean Little, Kit Pearson, Brian Dowle, Paul Yee, Irene N. Watts, Ruby Slipperjack, Afua Cooper, Rukhsana Khan, Marie―Andrée Clermont, Lillian Boraks―Nemetz and Shelley Tanaka.
Unikkaatiqatigiit by
Compiled from writing, poetry, and illustrations created by young Nunavummiut, this anthology explores diverse aspects of the theme of weather from Inuit mythology to traditional knowledge, climate change, and daily survival. These creative works, created as part of an Arctic Weather Centre contest in the mid-1990s, are gathered here for the first time, and are accompanied by helpful information about each community represented. Through full-colour illustrations and engaging poetry and stories written both in Inuktitut and English, learn more about the vital force of Arctic weather as seen through the eyes of children.