Ann Preston (1813-1872) is best known as a medical pioneer and nineteenth century Quaker activist. The immediate cause of the publication of Cousin Ann's Stories for Children (1849) was most likely the then recent 27 hour escape at the end of March, 1849, of Henry "Box" Brown, a Richmond slave who left his family and escaped north in a small wooden crate. Though Cousin Ann's Stories for Children is one hundred and sixty-two years old, it still speaks to contemporary concerns and moral perspectives. In its address "To My Little Readers" she explains, "I thought I would write a little book, and that would be a good way to speak with you, though I am far away." What Cousin Ann speaks of is practicing temperance, healthy diet and avoidance of tobacco, to treasure freedom and abhor slavery, the bounty and beauty of God's creation, the need to treat others generously and honestly.

By A.D. 594 the Christian church has become divided into many competing sects. At a Syrian market, two Christian women are sold as slaves to a young merchant named Mohammed who is searching for truth as well as riches. One of the slaves, Lollia, is eventually sold to the Lady Paulina and taken back to Rome, once the center of the world, but now fallen into disrepair and menaced constantly by the hostile Lombards just outside the walls. Inside the city, the starving people are completely dependent on Bishop Gregory for food. Paulina struggles with the new doctrine of purgatory taught by Gregory and her own sense of unworthiness before God. The other slave, Amina, travels with Mohammed's caravan back to Mecca. There she attempts to share Christ with those around her, including a blind girl named Aseeyah, who embraces the gospel and seeks to influence her tribe in the true worship of God. As the years pass, Mohammed declares himself to be the prophet of God and begins to convert people by persuasion or force. In Rome and Arabia, Lollia, Paulina, Amina and countless others fall into the bondage of man-made religions and must learn at last to find true freedom in the Lord Jesus Christ alone.

Necessary for all of humankind, Under the Broken Sky is a breathtaking work of literature.--Booklist, starred review A beautifully told middle-grade novel-in-verse about a Japanese orphan's experience in occupied rural Manchuria during World War II. Twelve-year-old Natsu and her family live a quiet farm life in Manchuria, near the border of the Soviet Union. But the life they've known begins to unravel when her father is recruited to the Japanese army, and Natsu and her little sister, Cricket, are left orphaned and destitute. In a desperate move to keep her sister alive, Natsu sells Cricket to a Russian family following the 1945 Soviet occupation. The journey to redemption for Natsu's broken family is rife with struggles, but Natsu is tenacious and will stop at nothing to get her little sister back. Literary and historically insightful, this is one of the great untold stories of WWII. Much like the Newbery Honor book Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai, Mariko Nagai's Under the Broken Sky is powerful, poignant, and ultimately hopeful. Christy Ottaviano Books

When the Histronauts travel back in time to the Roman Empire they'll need your help to uncover the secrets of the past. Explore the Roman baths, try on the armour of a legionary, make a sacrifice at the temple of the gods, ride in a speeding chariot and meet ferocious gladiators. An exciting mix of history, facts and activity!

Some summers were made for growing up... Dundee, 1917. When his father goes to fight in the war, 11-year-old James is sent to live with his mill-town relatives and his cousin, Billy. In this unfamiliar world of poverty, bullying, and uncertainty, James fights to be accepted and learns the true value of friendship and family. 'The God of All Small Boys is the one who grows trees, with branches in just the right places, so we can climb right to the top. He invented fireworks and dogs and sticks and horses and muddy puddles. And he lets us find secret places... like this!'

A timeless tale of courage, resistance and friendship, The Umbrella Mouse is a heart-stopping adventure drawing on the true stories of animals caught in the conflict of WWII.

1944, and London is under attack. Young mouse Pip Hanway's safe and quiet world is turned upside down when her home, umbrella shop James Smith & Sons, is destroyed by a bomb. Orphaned and alone, she must begin a perilous quest to find a new home.

But the only way to get there is by joining Noah’s Ark, a secret gang of animals fighting the resistance in France, operating beneath the feet of the human soldiers. Danger is everywhere and as the enemy closes in, Pip must risk everything to save her new friends.

Beautifully illustrated by Sam Usher, Anna Fargher's debut novel takes you on an incredible journey through a war that reaches even the smallest of creatures.

In Nigeria-born, America-based author Ebele Chizea's stunning debut novel, teenager Ada and her mother flee the civil war of their West African home and come to America in 1966, where Ada soon discovers-and blossoms within-the US counterculture movement, developing a drive for anti-war activism which she takes with her back to Nabuka only to uncover new truths about herself as well as family secrets that threaten to shatter her plans for the future. While protesting the Vietnam war in America, Ada forges friendships with other nonconformist youth: free-spirited Stacey, a boisterous hippie, and Sal, a philosophical wanderlust. Soon she seeks independence from her mother, love on her own terms, as well as sexual autonomy. College provides Ada with opportunities for academic success, personal experimentation, and full independence, as well as heartbreak. Despite loss and grief over a decade, Ada's heart becomes her own true compass and guides her to fully become the leader and activist she'd always been deep inside. Chizea's brilliant prose and storytelling skills are fully apparent as she reveals a young woman's struggle to find balance in her life and in herself while straddling physical and social borders of two distinctly different cultures.

Culinary delights abound, romance lingers in the air, and plans go terribly, wonderfully astray in this gender-bent take on My Fair Lady from Jennieke Cohen, author of Dangerous Alliance-perfect for fans of Bridgerton or A Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue. It's 1830s England, and Culinarians-doyens who consult with society's elite to create gorgeous food and confections-are the creme de la creme of high society. Helena Higgins, top of her class at the Royal Academy, has a sharp demeanor and an even sharper palate-and knows stardom awaits her if she can produce greatness in her final year. Penelope Pickering is going to prove the value of non-European cuisine to all of England. Her contemporaries may scorn her Filipina heritage and her dishes, but with her flawless social graces and culinary talents, Penelope is set to prove them wrong. Elijah Little has nothing to his name but a truly excellent instinct for flavors. London merchants won't allow a Jewish boy to own a shop, so he hawks his pasties for a shilling a piece to passersby-but he knows with training he can break into the highest echelon of society. When Penelope and Helena meet Elijah, a golden opportunity arises: to pull off a project never seen before, and turn Elijah from a street vendor to a gentleman chef. But Elijah's transformation will have a greater impact on this trio than they originally realize-and mayhem, unseemly faux pas, and a little romance will all be a part of the delicious recipe.

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?

A lost dog, a hidden time tunnel and a secret lake take Stella and Tom to their home and the children living there 100 years in the past. A page-turning time travel adventure for children aged 8-11. Now enjoyed by over 250,000 young readers! When Stella and her younger brother, Tom, move to their new London home, they become mystified by the disappearances of Harry, their elderly neighbour's dog. Where does he go? And why does he keep reappearing wet-through? Their quest to solve the riddle over the summer holidays soon leads to a boat buried under a grassy mound - and a tunnel that takes them to a secret lake. Who is the boy rowing towards them? Why is he so terrified? And whose are those children's voices carried on the wind from beyond the woods? Stella and Tom soon discover that they have travelled back in time to their home and its gardens almost 100 years earlier. Here they make both friends and enemies and uncover startling connections between the past and present. The Secret Lake has been described by readers as a modern Tom's Midnight Garden and compared in atmosphere with The Secret Garden and the Enid Blyton and Nancy Drew mystery adventure stories. Its page-turning plot, with its many twists and turns, makes it a firm favourite with both boys and girls. Karen Inglis describes it as: "a time travel mystery adventure with modern twists - the kind of story that I loved to read as a child, but brought right up to date".

Jane Austen turns detective in this spooky historical adventure by award-winning author Julia Golding! It's 1789 and a young Jane Austen turns detective as she seeks to solve the mysterious happenings at Southmoor Abbey. When a carriage accident forces a change of plans, 13-year-old Jane is sent to be a companion to Lady Cromwell for a week as the household prepares to celebrate the eldest son's coming-of-age party. While there, Jane vows to solve the mystery of the ghostly monk in the Abbey grounds - for she does not believe in such stories! But this is not the only strange occurrence for the adventurous young Jane to investigate. There are shivery night-time investigations, an Indian girl with secret talents, a library fire, two prize horses in danger, and friends to save from false accusations. With notebook in hand and her faithful dog Grandison by her side, will Jane overcome the continuous obstacles and find out the truth?

"If this whole series existed right now, I'd tear through it to the exclusion of everything else in my life." -Teen Librarian Toolbox The Davenports are one of the few Black families of immense wealth and status in a changing United States, their fortune made through the entrepreneurship of William Davenport, a formerly enslaved man who founded the Davenport Carriage Company years ago. Olivia, the beautiful eldest Davenport daughter, is ready to do her duty and marry. . . until charismatic civil rights leader Washington DeWight sweeps into town and sparks fly. Her younger sister, Helen, is more interested in fixing cars than falling in love-unless it's with her sister's betrothed. Amy-Rose, childhood-friend-turned-maid to the Davenport sisters, dreams of opening her own business-and marrying the one man she could never be with, Olivia and Helen's brother, John. But Olivia's best friend, Ruby, also has her sights set on John Davenport, though she can't seem to keep his interest . . . until family pressure has her scheming to win his heart, just as someone else wins hers. Inspired by the real-life story of the Patterson family, The Davenports follows four determined and passionate young Black women as they discover the courage to steer their own path in life-and love. "Deftly written . . . A dazzling debut." - Kirkus (starred review) "The perfect read for fans of escapist historical fiction." -NBC's TODAY

Knowing full well they may die in the attempt, a small band of monks sets out to convert the savage Danes who have laid waste to the surrounding countryside year after year. Their faith is sorely tested as they face opposition from the angry Priest of Odin as well as doubts, sickness and starvation. The Danes laugh at the idea of leaving their warlike gods for a "weak" God of love, but Osric, the leader of the monks, is unwavering in his attempts to share the "White Christ" with those who reject Him. Then the monks discover a young Christian woman named Elswitha who has escaped being sacrificed to the Danish gods. While they are willing to risk the wrath of the Danes to shelter and care for her, they still wonder what they are supposed to do with a woman. As the monks struggle with discouragement, however, Elswitha becomes the key to reaching the village by showing the love of Christ to those who wanted to kill her. Through her, the Danes at last begin to understand the true meaning of Christianity.

A fictionalized account of an incident in the life of a fourteen-year-old girl who tends her family's lighthouse during a fierce storm on the coast of Maine in the winter of 1856.

Athan Wilde dreams of flight. When his friend, Mr Chen, is murdered, Athan must rescue the flying machine they were building together and stop it falling into the wrong hands. But keeping the machine safe puts his family in terrible danger. What will Athan choose - flight or family?

From the acclaimed author of Murder In Midwinter, Fleur Hitchcock's The Boy Who Flew is a thrilling, murderous tale set among the steep rooftops and slippery characters of Athan's intricately imagined world. Perfect for fans of Philip Pullman, Peter Bunzl and Emma Carroll.