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On Wednesday April 24 at 10pm ET the CELA website will be unavailable for about 15 minutes for planned maintenance.
Showing 1 - 20 of 204 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 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 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 Philip Caputo. 2005
Overview of the Vietnam conflict by the Pulitzer Prize-winning former soldier. Presents background information on communism and United States' involvement…
in Vietnam. Discusses the war's chief participants and key battles and chronicles the changing political and social climate of 1960s and 1970s America. Some descriptions of violence. Grades 5-8 and older readers. 2005.By Barbara Hehner. 2004
Wally Flood, a Canadian miner turned pilot during World War II, was shot down and put in a prisoner-of-war camp.…
Determined to escape, he eventually joined a group that began organizing the largest breakout ever, now called The Great Escape - over 600 men, tunnelling their way out. They took turns digging, inventing tools, forging documents, and hiding the tons of sand they dug from the tunnels, while facing the constant threat of discovery, with key help from Wally, known as the Tunnel King. Grades 5-8. 2004.By Maxwell Newhouse. 2004
The thundering hooves, the skilled riders, and the dazzling pageantry of the Musical Ride have thrilled audiences young and old…
since it was first performed in 1887. The author tells the history of the Ride and the story of the spectacular black horses, their arduous training and sparkling equipment, and their Mountie riders in bright scarlet. Grades 4-7. 2004.By David Wilkerson, John Sherrill, Elizabeth Sherrill. 1962
David was a country parson until the night he saw the face of a young killer in a magazine. Then…
he knew that his mission was to go to New York. There, later, he founded "Teen Challenge", a fast-growing movement to help lost teenagers to find a new life in the Holy Spirit. Senior High. 1962.By Sterling North, John Schoenherr. 1963
By Peggy J. Parks. 2018
Explores the Black Lives Matter movement that was launched in 2013 to address civil rights issues against African American citizens.…
Covers the divide between black citizens and the police, the formation of the movement, its detractors, and law enforcement accountability. For junior and senior high and older readers. 2018By Diana Wynne Jones. 2012
Collection of essays, speeches, and biographical pieces chosen by bestselling juvenile fantasy writer Diana Wynne Jones (1934-2011). In "Freedom to…
Write" the author explores the fashion of fantasy. Foreword by Neil Gaiman. For junior and senior high and older readers. 2012By Susan R. Barry. 2010
Neuroscientist explains that even after childhood surgery for strabismus, she had no depth perception. Recalls being unaware, despite her scientific…
training, that vision therapy could train her to use both eyes simultaneously. Describes the ocular exercise regimen given her by optometrist Theresa Ruggiero and her emotions upon experiencing stereopsis. 2009By Thi Bui. 2017
The author was 3 months old when her family fled Vietnam. This is the story of her family's history in…
Vietnam and the painful adjustments of being refugees adjusting to the life in the United States. Some strong language and some violenceBreaking Night is slang for staying up through the night until the sun rises. It is also the unforgettable, stunning…
memoir of Liz Murray who at the age of fifteen found herself on the streets when her family of loving but drug-addicted parents finally unraveled. When her mother died of AIDS, Liz returned to high school while homeless, won a New York Times scholarship and made it into Harvard prevailing against all oddsBy Moira Anne Gunn, Moira A. Gunn. 2007
Science journalist and radio host explores biotechnology and its implications. Blends anecdotes from her career with reports on developments in…
the field. Discusses genetically modified food, tumor-killing viruses, obesity genes, and industrial enzymes. 2007By Julie Andrews. 2008
British actress describes growing up a child star with her vaudevillian mother and stepfather. By book's end she has given…
a royal command performance, acted in Broadway's Camelot and My Fair Lady, is married with a child, and is heading to Hollywood in 1963 to film Mary Poppins. Bestseller. 2008By Jamie James. 2008
Details the life and career of American herpetologist Joe Slowinski. Describes the thirty-eight-year-old expedition leader being bitten by a deadly,…
many-banded krait snake in a remote part of Burma on September 11, 2001, and the hours his colleagues spent trying to keep him alive. Some strong language. 2008By Andrew Bridge. 2008
Harvard Law School graduate describes his dysfunctional upbringing. Details the abuse he experienced from the time he was placed as…
a seven-year-old into California's foster care system until the day he left to go to college on scholarship. Advocates for children's rights. Some violence and some strong language. Bestseller. 2008