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Showing 1 - 20 of 90 items
By Lisa Appignanesi, Ma Yan, Pierre Haski. 2005
Ma Yan is a teenager from Ningxia, China, a drought-stricken rural area. Education can be the difference between a life…
of crushing poverty and a better future, but money is scarce. Ma Yan's diary chronicles her struggle to escape hardship and bring prosperity to her family, through her persistent, sometimes desperate, attempts to continue her schooling. Grades 4-7 and older readers. 2002, 2004. Uniform title: Journal de Ma Yan.By Brent Runyon. 2008
Fearing expulsion and parental disapproval after lighting a shirt on fire at his school, Brent goes home, soaks his bathrobe…
with gasoline, steps into his shower, and strikes a match. Suffering horrific burns, Brent faces a long, painful recovery - both mentally and physically. Junior and Senior High. 2008.By Mariatu Kamara, Susan McClelland. 2008
Sierra Leone. At the age of 12, Mariatu Kamara was raped by a family friend, then captured by rebels who…
cut off her hands. Despite her wounds, Kamara walked out of the bush and sought help, ending up in an amputee camp, where she gave birth to a son who died of malnutrition. When foreign journalists interviewed Kamara in the camp, her story garnered international interest and assistance, which eventually brought her to Toronto. Her autobiography testifies to Kamara's horrific trauma, but with the aim of fostering hope and reconciliation. Winner of the 2011 Red Maple Non-Fiction Award. For junior high and older readers. Some strong language, some descriptions of sex, and some descriptions of violence. c2008.By Pamela S Turner. 2016
When Minamoto Yoshitsune was just a baby, his father went to war with a rival samurai family - and lost.…
His father was killed, his mother captured, and his surviving half-brother banished. Yoshitsune was sent away to live in a monastery. Skinny, small, and unskilled in the warrior arts, he nevertheless escaped and learned the ways of the samurai. When the time came for the Minamoto clan to rise up against their enemies, Yoshitsune answered the call. His daring feats and impossible bravery earned him immortality. For junior and senior high readers. 2016.By Ariel Schrag, Katie Rain Hill. 2014
Katie never felt comfortable in her own skin. She realized very young that a serious mistake had been made; she…
was a girl who had been born in the body of a boy. Suffocating under her peers’ bullying and the mounting pressure to be “normal,” Katie tried to take her life at the age of eight years old. After several other failed attempts, she finally understood that “Katie” - the girl trapped within her - was determined to live. She reflects on her pain-filled childhood and the events leading up to the life-changing decision to undergo gender reassignment as a teenager. She reveals the unique challenges she faced while unlearning how to be a boy and shares what it was like to navigate the dating world and experience heartbreak. For senior high readers and older. 2014.By Linda Granfield. 2009
"In Flanders Fields the poppies blow..."Every Canadian student, teacher and parent can recite these powerful words. But behind every poem…
is a poet, who lived, breathed, and in this case, led an extraordinary life. Despite John McCrae reaching Canadian icon status, his life has been largely unknown. This books is a beautiful tribute to this man. Some descriptions of violence. Grades 4-7. 2009.By Teresa Toten. 2010
This anthology features stories by some Canadian authors who were born in another country, and who went through the experience…
of trying to "fit in." Explores their emotions, from the shock of first impressions to the author's first stirrings of "becoming Canadian" and what that meant to them. Contributors include Linda Granfield (U.S), Marina Nemat (Iran), and Eva Wiseman (Hungary). For junior high readers. Some strong language. c2010.By Zlata Filipovic, Melanie Challenger. 2006
Tous les jours, nous voyons les ravages de la guerre à la télévision. Nous voyons, mais nous ne voulons pas…
vraiment savoir. Ces enfants, eux, ont vécu la guerre. Leurs journaux sont bouleversants. Ces "Paroles d'enfants dans la guerre" constituent un témoignage exceptionnel. De l'Allemagne de 1914 à l'Irak de 2004, la douleur et la force qui émanent des journaux sont les mêmes. Dans la violence de la guerre, les enfants sont égaux. Et notre impuissance à empêcher leur souffrance devient, devant ces voix d'enfants qui s'élèvent, un renoncement insupportable. Quelques descriptions de violence. Pour les lecteurs d'école secondaire et plus. 2006.By Kees Vanderheyden. 1994
Pour un enfant insouciant, la guerre ressemble parfois à un jeu.Mais ce livre est aussi une prise de conscience des…
drames effrayants que les conflits entraînent. Un témoignage important en cette époque où, aux quatre coins du monde, des enfants innocents côtoient quotidiennement la guerre et la mort. Années 3-6. 1994.By Nadja Halilbegovićh. 2006
Halilbegovich was just 12 years old on April 6, 1992, when she was told there would be no school that…
day - not because of a holiday, but because of a war. Her diary reveals the hurt, pain, and despair brought on by the fighting within her country and describes the bombings, deaths, and destruction. Grades 4-7. Some descriptions of violence. 2006.The true story of a young German girl, Mercedes Simon, and of the American pilot, Gail Halvorsen, who shared hope…
and joy with the children of West Berlin by dropping candy-filled parachutes during the Airlift. Grades 2-4 and up. 2003.By Linda Granfield, Claudine Azoulay. 2008
Un livre à la mémoire des hommes et des femmes de toutes les forces armées du monde qui reposent, inconnus,…
dans des tombes marquées ou non, sur la terre ou sous la mer. Granfield explique l'origine des monuments commémoratifs du Soldat inconnu de différents pays, dont celui du Canada, des états-Unis, de la France, de l'Angleterre et de plusieurs autres pays. L'auteure explique aussi comment la technologie et l'identification génétique font en sorte qu'il y a aujourd'hui beaucoup moins d'" inconnus ". Années 3-6 et plus. 2008. Titre uniforme: The unknown soldier.By Karen Levine. 2002
In March 2000, a suitcase arrived at a children's Holocaust education centre in Tokyo, Japan, with the name Hana Brady…
painted in white on the outside. The centre's curator searches for clues across Europe and North America to find out who Hana was and what had happened to her. Her journey takes her back through seventy years to a young Hana and her family, whose happy life in a small Czech town was turned upside down by the invasion of the Nazis. Winner of the 2003 Silver Birch Award. Winner of the 2003 CNIB Tiny Torgi Award. Grades 4-7. 2002.By Deborah Ellis. 2012
What has happened to Afghanistan's children since the fall of the Taliban in 2001? In 2011, Deborah Ellis went to…
Kabul to find out. She interviewed children who spoke about their lives now. They are still living in a country torn apart by war, and violence and oppression still exist, particularly affecting the lives of girls, but the kids are surviving with courage and optimism. Some descriptions of violence. Grades 4-7. 2012.By Jessica Dee Humphreys, Michel Chikwanine. 2015
It's 1993, and the Democratic Republic of Congo is going through major political changes. Five-year-old Michel is playing with friends…
one day when, without warning, a group of rebel soldiers pulls up to the school grounds. Forced onto trucks, the frightened boys are taken to a camp in the hills. There they are thrust into a terrifying and violent world. Grades 5-8. Winner of the 2017 Red Maple Non-Fiction Award. 2015.By Michael O Tunnell. 2010
"World War II was over, and Berlin was in ruins. US Air Force Lieutenant Gail Halvorsen knew the children of…
the city were suffering. They were hungry and afraid. The young pilot wanted to help, but what could one man in one plane do?" Grades 4-7. c2005.Thousands of women served as codebreakers in World War II, but a vow of secrecy nearly erased them from history.…
Through interviews with the surviving Code Girls, Liza Mundy brings their courageous stories to life. For senior high readers. 2018.By Maxine Schur. 1986
In 1939, Hannah Szenes left anti-semitic Hungary for a new life in Palestine. In 1943, she parachuted back into Nazi-occupied…
Yugoslavia to save the lives of other Jews. Grades 5-8. 1986.By James Giblin. 2002
Biography of the German political leader whose racial prejudice and personal ambition shaped World War II. Traces Hitler's life and…
career from his birth in Austria in 1889 to his death in Berlin in 1945. Briefly discusses this tyrant's legacy. Some descriptions of violence. Grades 5-8 and older readers. Siebert Award. 2002.By Linda Granfield. 2008
In the aftermath of the First World War, countries mourned their fallen sons, brothers, husbands, and fathers. In 1920, in…
both France and England, memorials were erected to those lost heroes who had remained anonymous. Around the world other countries followed suit, each country creating its own version of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Grades 3-6. 2008.