Europeans came to the American colonies in the 1600s and 1700s in search of a better life. They worked hard and built farms, homes, and towns. But they were still under Great Britain s rule. Many wanted to make their own laws, but that meant going to war against a rich and powerful country. Will you: Travel to Virginia as an indentured servant? Choose between careers as a sailor or a soldier in Massachusetts? Decide which side you ll take as the country marches closer to revolution?"

"Powerful storytelling and immersive art." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "Vibrant writing and magical realism lift this story to one of triumph." --Publishers Weekly "Nolen's lively prose style recalls the richness of the oral tradition in this tale of triumphant courage and abiding hope." --The Horn Book "A moving choice for children's collections." --Booklist A Parents' Choice Silver Award Recipient In this inspiring story in the tradition of American black folktales, an enslaved brother and sister are inspired by a majestic and mysterious bird to escape to freedom in this dramatic and unforgettable picture book. There was nothing civil about that war. They should have called it what it was: a big, bad war. Brother and sister Millicent and John are slaves on Simon Plenty's plantation and have suffered one hurt and heartbreak after another. Their parents had told them old tales of how their ancestors had flown away to freedom just as free and easy as a bird. Millicent and John hold these stories in their hearts long after their parents are gone. "Maybe such a time will come for you," their parents said. Then one day a mysterious bird appears in their lives. The bird transforms them and gives them the courage to set their plan into motion and escape to freedom.

From the horrors of the slave trade to a book that changed the world, Catherine Johnson celebrates the incredible life of Olaudah Equiano in this gripping true story. Born in what is now Nigeria in 1745, Olaudah Equiano's peaceful childhood was brought to an abrupt end when he was captured and enslaved aged 11. He spent much of the next ten years of his life at sea, seeing action in the Seven Years' War. When he was finally able to buy his freedom, he went on to become a prominent member of the abolition movement and in 1789 published one of the first books by a Black African writer. Journey Back to Freedom focuses on Equiano's early life, demonstrating the resilience of the human spirit and one man's determination to be free.

You need three things to become a brave and noble knight:
A warhorse.
A fair maiden.
A just cause.
Will has a horse--a small chestnut stallion with a white blaze in his brow. Ellie is a fair maiden, but she's supposed to marry Will's older brother, Gavin. And as for the cause, King Richard is calling for a Crusade. The Knights of England must go to the Holy Land to fight.
Will and Gavin will go. Blood will be shed. Lives will be taken. But through it all, two things will be constant--Ellie, and a blood-red horse called Hosanna. . . .

New York Times bestseller Jennifer A. Nielsen tells the extraordinary story of a Jewish girl's courageous efforts to resist the Nazis. Chaya Lindner is a teenager living in Nazi-occupied Poland. Simply being Jewish places her in danger of being killed or sent to the camps. After her little sister is taken away, her younger brother disappears, and her parents all but give up hope, Chaya is determined to make a difference. Using forged papers and her fair features, Chaya becomes a courier and travels between the Jewish ghettos of Poland, smuggling food, papers, and even people. Soon Chaya joins a resistance cell that runs raids on the Nazis' supplies. But after a mission goes terribly wrong, Chaya's network shatters. She is alone and unsure of where to go, until Esther, a member of her cell, finds her and delivers a message that chills Chaya to her core, and sends her on a journey toward an even larger uprising in the works -- in the Warsaw Ghetto.Though the Jewish resistance never had much of a chance against the Nazis, they were determined to save as many lives as possible, and to live -- or die -- with honor.

Inspired by award-winning author Elizabeth Laird's own childhood growing up in post-war London, The Misunderstandings of Charity Brown is a classic coming-of-age story, perfect for fans of The Skylarks' War and I Capture the Castle. Charity Brown’s life is about to change – her family have been left a huge, rambling house by a mysterious benefactor, and her parents want to move in and throw open its doors to the needy. Only recently back from hospital after months of isolation with polio, Charity is over-protected and lonely as the only child still at home. Her family are very religious – her sisters are called Faith and Hope, and her brother Ted is studying to be a preacher – so she's both excited and nervous at the thought of sharing her family and new home with strangers. It’s a recipe for confusion, joy and endless misunderstandings, including with the new neighbours, an Austrian family with a daughter just Charity’s age . . .

All Ida Mae Jones wants to do is fly. Her daddy was a pilot, and years after his death she feels closest to him when sheos in the air. But as a young black woman in 1940s Louisiana, she knows the sky is off limits to her, until America enters World War II, and the Army forms the WASPnWomen Airforce Service Pilots. Ida has a chance to fulfill her dream if sheos willing to use her light skin to pass as a white girl. She wants to fly more than anything, but Ida soon learns that denying oneos self and family is a heavy burden, and ultimately itos not what you do but who you are thatos most important.
Read Sherri L. Smith's posts on the Penguin Blog

Adventure thriller set in Renaissance Italy starring Leonardo da Vinci as a young apprentice who witnesses a murder and becomes involved in a plot to take over the city. LEONARDO AND THE DEATH MACHINE is first and foremost a thriller, set against the background of Renaissance Italy. However, the Leonardo of the title is in fact Leonardo da Vinci. This is a totally fictional adventure, but it COULD have happened. When we first meet Leonardo we find him apprenticed to a successful artist in Florence. But although he yearns to be a great artist himself, he's rather disillusioned with his apprenticeship, which has made him more of an errand boy than an art student. Then, when an impromptu street football match ends in an arm injury for his friend Sandro (whom history will know as Botticelli), Leonardo leaps at the opportunity to help out the unfortunate painter who has been commissioned to paint a portrait for the rich Medici family. Little does our young hero know that soon he will be dragged into murder and intrigue, and will be fleeing for his life!

Viking warriors sailed their famous wooden ships throughout the world, leaving fear and destruction in their wake. Will you: Take part in the raid on Lindisfarne monastery? Invade England with the great Viking leader Halfdan Ragnarsson? Fight at the side of King Harald Hardrada at the Battle of Stamford Bridge?

A swashbuckling thriller, part three of THE HIGH SEAS ADVENTURES, set on the oceans at the turn of the nineteenth century - drama, horror, adventure... "There's pirates in the West Indies. Cannibals. They cook you alive. They shrink your head to the size of a walnut," says Mr Spencer to his son. These words will haunt sixteen-year-old John Spencer as he embarks on his first voyage to foreign lands. Carrying cargo destined for Jamaica, John and his Dragon crew set off from London for waters few of them have sailed before. When they come upon a lifeboat adrift at sea, some are wary of the sailor aboard. His name is Horn, and something about this imposing and mysterious sailor isn't right. He carries a chest full of clinking glass, and his story doesn't quite make sense. Still, John respects the stranger's awe-inspiring seamanship. With Horn on deck, both John and the ship's captain believe the Dragon is in the best of hands. But is Horn to be trusted? The answers become more and more complicated as the Dragon encounters a very real - and very dangerous - pirate ship. Now John starts to believe his father's warnings, especially after he becomes separated from his shipmates and is stranded on an island reputed to conceal buried treasure. A place teeming with buccaneers... Brimming with furious high-seas adventure, this companion to The Wreckers and The Smugglers concludes with a bloodcurdling tale of pirates - and a surprise ending...

A music loving teen with OCD does everything she can to find her way back to her mother during the historic race riots in 1969 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in this heart-pounding literary debut. Melati Ahmad looks like your typical movie-going, Beatles-obsessed sixteen-year-old. Unlike most other sixteen-year-olds though, Mel also believes that she harbors a djinn inside her, one who threatens her with horrific images of her mother's death unless she adheres to an elaborate ritual of counting and tapping to keep him satisfied. A trip to the movies after school turns into a nightmare when the city erupts into violent race riots between the Chinese and the Malay. When gangsters come into the theater and hold movie-goers hostage, Mel, a Malay, is saved by a Chinese woman, but has to leave her best friend behind to die. On their journey through town, Mel sees for herself the devastation caused by the riots. In her village, a neighbor tells her that her mother, a nurse, was called in to help with the many bodies piling up at the hospital. Mel must survive on her own, with the help of a few kind strangers, until she finds her mother. But the djinn in her mind threatens her ability to cope.

In this sequel to the award-winning A Boy Is Not a Bird, a boy is exiled to Siberia during World War II. Based on a true story. Torn from his home in Eastern Europe, with his father imprisoned in a Siberian gulag, twelve-year-old Natt finds himself stranded with other deportees in a schoolyard in Novosibirsk. And he is about to discover that life can indeed get worse than the horrific two months he and his mother have spent being transported on a bug-infested livestock train. He needs to write to his best friend, Max, but he knows the Soviet police reads everyone's mail. So Natt decides to write in code, and his letters are a lifeline, even though he never knows whether Max will receive them. Every day becomes a question of survival, and where they might be shunted to next. When his mother is falsely arrested for stealing potatoes, Natt is truly on his own and must learn how to live the uncertain life of an exile. Practice being invisible as a ghost, change your name and identity if you have to, watch out for spies, and never draw the attention of the authorities. Even then, he will need luck on his side if he is ever going to be reunited with his family. Key Text Features author's note Illustrations map Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.3 Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character's thoughts, words, or actions). CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.3 Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., how characters interact). CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative language such as metaphors and similes. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.6 Describe how a narrator's or speaker's point of view influences how events are described. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.7 Analyze how visual and multimedia elements contribute to the meaning, tone, or beauty of a text (e.g., graphic novel, multimedia presentation of fiction, folktale, myth, poem).

Sequel to Raider's Tide. The continuation of Beatrice and Robert's story, historical drama set in 16th Century border country. In Raider's Tide, Beatrice, a sixteen-year-old English girl, saves Robert - a - Scot from death. She has risked her own life, by helping the enemy but in turn is rescued by John, the local pastor. After nearly drowning, and with Robert gone, Beatrice finds it difficult to settle back into everyday life. She starts to learn healing with the Cockleshell Man but is too distraught to concentrate well. A quarrel with her father results in her leaving home to stay at the Parsonage out father's way. There, her relationship with John deepens and they become betrothed. Meanwhile several captured Scots are imprisoned in the infamous dungeons of Lancaster Castle. Robert is among them - he did not make it across the border. The prisoners are almost certain to be hanged after their trials at the Lent Assizes. Beatrice makes repeated attempts to free him, but nothing works and Robert is condemned to die. In desperation Beatrice plots with some travelling players to rescue Robert and in doing so, she jeopardises her relationship with John and narrowly escapes being thrown into jail herself. In saving Robert, Beatrice has become a fugitive from the law herself... and Scotland is the only place she can go.

Derry, 1689. An anonymous letter is read out saying that every last Protestant man, woman and child is to be murdered. Panic takes hold. Two teenage boys, Daniel and Robert Sherrard, help close the city gates against the approaching Catholic army. The siege has begun. Bombs rain down. Behind the walls, tensions grow day by day. Trapped, the people are injured, dying, starving. But there is no going back ... Daniel and Robert are drawn into a fight to the end. 'this fantastically written book will hook you from the start... this is historical fiction at its best.' The Guardian on City of Fate

SHORTLISTED FOR THE EAST ANGLIAN BOOK AWARDS When his mum burns down their house on the Whitehorse estate, sixteen-year-old Joss is sent to live in a sleepy Suffolk village. The place is steeped in history, as Joss learns when a bike accident pitches him back more than 1,000 years to an Anglo-Saxon village. That history also tells him his new friends are in mortal peril from bloodthirsty invaders. Can he warn their ruler, King Edmund, in time? And will he ever get home?

Mori and his family went on a fun journey to Rio de Janeiro. They traveled many historical sites to learn about the rich history and culture of Brazil. This book offers readers valuable knowledge about the largest African Diaspora in the world, Brazil. The Culture Exchange series focuses on educating children on different cultures and aims to challenge early readers. This book comes with a 5th grade lesson plan to test readers on the history of Brazil. Brazilian Culture Exchange makes learning so much fun!

Strong historical fiction and powerful romantic drama set in border country during Elizabethan times - forbidden passions and family loyalties; heresy and witchcraft, but at the heart of it, the burgeoning love of a young girl. The year is 1578 and Queen Elizabeth 1 is on the throne. Sixteen year old Beatie, the daughter of a North Country farmer is defying her family over the matter of her proposed marriage to her cousin Hugh. She is too busy being the elder daughter and watching over her family - overseeing the kitchen work; riding her horse, Saint Hilda, and most importantly keeping a watchful eye out for the first sign of marauding Scots from over the border. The family live in Barrowbeck Tower - a stronghold which should keep out invaders. But the Scots do invade and Beatie has to push at the face of one of them who appears - courtesy of a grappling iron - at an upper window. It is a young face and one that Beatie will never forget. It is the first Scot she has injured, probably killed. Next day, Beatie finds a dirty, bleeding body in the old hermit's hut in the wood, and discovers that it belongs to the Scot she pushed from the window. Through guilt she determines to nurse this enemy back to health, despite the terrible danger to herself which could have her burned at the stake. A smouldering tension of love and intimacy develops between patient and carer, but that isn't the only possible relationship for Beatie. She is also growing very close to the young parson, John Becker. This is an exceptionally atmospheric novel, written in the first person through the voice of this feisty Elizabethan teenager. The reader is immediately taken on a journey to Elizabethan England - the country, not the city - and the smells and sounds are vividly brought to life. Maggie Prince draws a vivid picture too of the wild landscape of the Border Country and the eternal teenage struggle to break free of childhood and lead an independent life.

Newbery Medal winner The Cross of Lead is "a page-turner from beginning to end... full of adventure, mystery, and action" (School Library Journal). Sometimes I ran, sometimes all I could do was walk. All I knew was that if the steward overtook me, I'd not survive for long.... Crispin is a poor thirteen-year-old peasant in medieval England. Accused of a crime he did not commit, he has been declared a "wolf's head," meaning he may be killed on sight, by anyone. He flees his tiny village with nothing but his mother's cross of lead. In the English countryside, Crispin meets a man named Bear, who forces Crispin to become his servant yet encourages him to think for himself. But as Crispin's enemies draw ever closer, he is pulled right into the fortress of his foes, where he must find a way to save their very lives. A master of breathtaking plot twists and vivid characters, award-winning author Avi brings the full force of his storytelling powers to the world of medieval England. "Avi's plot is engineered for maximum thrills, with twists, turns, and treachery aplenty. . . . A page-turner to delight Avi's fans, it will leave readers hoping for a sequel."-Publishers Weekly (starred review) " . . . [T]he book is a page-turner from beginning to end . . . [A] meticulously crafted story, full of adventure, mystery, and action." -School Library Journal (starred review) "Historical fiction at its finest."-VOYA

Sophie Sapwood, daughter of the famous explorer, Bonniface Sapwood, discovers a whalebone pendant hidden at the back of her chest of drawers. At the same time, deep in the frozen wastes of the Antarctic, the ghost of Captain Cathcardo awakens from an ancient sleep, trapped in the Antarctic on his ship, The Riddle.

His three cries for "Help" travel through the stratosphere to three different sets of ears – famous explorer Bonniface Sapwood, renowned naturalist Corona Wottley and oily villain Rancid Swarthy – descendant of Escher Black who was first mate on the Riddle. All three parties immediately organise trips to the Antarctic – all with the same goal in mind (solving the mystery of the Riddle) but each with very different intentions.