A dazzling debut. Magic-realism blends with Japanese myth and legend in an original story about grief, memory, time and an earthquake that shook a nation. There's a catfish under the islands of Japan and when it rolls the land rises and falls. Sora hates the catfish whose rolling caused an earthquake so powerful it cracked time itself. It destroyed her home and took her mother. Now Sora and her scientist father live close to the zones - the wild and abandoned places where time runs faster or slower than normal. Sora is sensitive to the shifts, and her father recruits her help in exploring these liminal spaces. But it's dangerous there - and as she strays further inside in search of her mother, she finds that time distorts, memories fracture and shadows, a glimmer of things not entirely human, linger. After Sora's father goes missing, she has no choice but to venture into uncharted spaces within the time zones to find him, her mother and perhaps even the catfish itself... Stylish, accomplished and thought-provoking story-telling explores themes of identity, philosophy, science, ecology, life, loss and love. For 14+

"Dear Malala, we have never met before, but I feel like I know you." Malala Yousafzai is an inspiration. A young girl living in Pakistan, she was shot by the Taliban simply because she wanted to go to school. Since that moment, she has captured the attention of the world with her bravery, becoming a voice for the rights of girls everywhere. This is a letter to Malala, illustrated with beautiful photographs. Girls from around the world express their sympathy, sisterhood and admiration for her. Many of them know first-hand the barriers that stand in the way of girls going to school - barriers like poverty, discrimination and violence. In Malala these girls recognize a leader, a champion, and a friend.

When we meet someone, one of the things we notice is the colour of their skin. But what can someone's skin colour tell us about them? Despite what some people say, your skin means very little! Inside we're all the same. Join Njabulo, Aisha, Tim, Chris and Roshni as they discover why humans have different skins, and how people's thinking about skin colour has changed throughout history. Skin we are in is a celebration of the glorious human rainbow, both in South Africa and beyond. One of South Africa's best-selling authors, Sindiwe Magona, has teamed up with well-known American anthropologist, Nina G. Jablonski, and award-winning illustrator Lynn Fellman to create a much-needed book about race and skin colour - for children. Magona has written a story of five friends as they explore and discuss the skin they are in. The scientific narrative, written by Jablonski, expands and supports the conversation topics generated by the children's adventure.

Bestselling author and Coretta Scott King Award winner Andrea Davis Pinkney presents a moving fictional account of school desegregation in the Civil Rights Era. Twelve-year-old Dawnie Rae Johnson's life turns upside down after the Supreme Court rules in favor of desegregation in the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education. Her parents decide that Dawnie will attend Prettyman Coburn, a previously all-white school -- but she'll be the only one of her friends to enroll in this new school.Not everyone in Dawnie's town of Hadley, Virginia, supports integration, though, and much of the community is outraged by the decision. As she starts school, Dawnie encounters the harsh realities of racism. But the backlash against her arrival at Prettyman Coburn is more than she's prepared for, and she begins to wonder if the hardship is worth it. Will Dawnie be able to hold on to the true meaning of justice and remain faithful to her own sense of integrity?

Dad believed people were like money. You could be a thousand-dollar person or a hundred-dollar person'even a ten-, five-, or one-dollar person. Below that, everybody was just nickels and dimes. To my dad, we were pennies.

Fourteen-year-old Manny Hernandez wants to be more than just a penny. He wants to be a vato firme, the kind of guy people respect. But that's not easy when your father is abusive, your brother can't hold a job, and your mother scrubs the house as if she can was the trouble away.

In Manny's neighborhood, the way to get respect is to be in a gang. But Manny's not sure that joining a gang is the solution. Because, after all, it's his life'and he wants to be the one to decide what happens to it.

Winner of the 1996 National Book Award for Young People's Literature, Parrot in the Oven: mi vida is a fresh, original, and powerfully written account of one boy's coming-of-age in a difficult time.

For Manuel Hernandez, the year leading up to his test of courage, his initiation into a gang, is a time filled with the pain and tension, awkwardness and excitement of growing up in a mixed-up, crazy world. Manny’s dad is always calling him el perico, or parrot. It’s from a Mexican saying about a parrot that complains how hot it is in the shade while all along he’s sitting inside the oven and doesn’t know it. But Manny wants to be smarter than the parrot in the oven—he wants to find out what it means to be a vato firme, a guy to respect. From an exciting new voice in Chicano literature, this is a beautifully written, vivid portrait of one Mexican-American boy’s life.

1998 Pura Belpre Author Award
1996 Americas Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature
1997 Books for the Teen Age (NY Public Library)
1996 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature

This book explains civil rights and the reasons why refugees flee their homelands in an accessible way for younger readers. Included is a foreword by award-winning journalist and television presenter, Nelufar Hedayat. Born in Afghanistan, she came to Britain as a refugee, which has shaped her work. A chronological selection of key civil rights moments and movements regarding refugees is explained in a child-friendly way. This book examines some of the reasons why people flee their homelands and the ways they are treated when they arrive in new lands. It looks at historical examples, such as the Huguenots and World War refugees, along with modern crises, such as Syria, refugee camps in Africa and those fleeing violence in South and Central America. Prominent civil rights campaigners and figures are featured and a timeline helps readers to see at a glance how the fight for refugee rights has evolved over time. Sensitive illustrations illuminate the text and help readers to understand some of the harder concepts. Death and violence are mentioned, but are wholly in context and are written about in a non-alarmist way with the age of the reader very much in mind. The Civil Rights Stories series is a vital resource for younger readers aged 7+ who are being introduced to these topics or are studying them in school. Titles in this series: Human Rights LGBTQ+ Rights Racial Equality Refugees and Homelands Slavery Women's Rights and Suffrage

Explosive volcanic eruptions are cool, really, cool. They inject ash into the stratosphere and deflect the sun's rays. When eighth grader Jamie Fulton learns that snow fell in June in his hometown because of an eruption on the other side of the world, he's psyched! He could have snowboarded if he'd lived back in 1815 during the year without a summer. Clara Montalvo, who recently arrived at Jamie's school after surviving Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, has a different take all this. She is astounded-and disturbed-by Jamie's frenzied enthusiasm for what she considers an obvious disaster. The teens' battling arguments cause science class disruption and create academic trouble: Jamie's headed for a failing grade in science, and may not even graduate from eighth grade; Clara's scholarship hopes are dashed. And school isn't the only place where Jamie and Clara are facing hardship: as they quarrel whether natural disasters can be beneficial, their home lives are also unraveling. Uncertainty about Jamie's wounded brother returning from Afghanistan and Clara's unreachable father back in Puerto Rico forces the two vulnerable teens to share their worries and sadness. As their focus shifts from natural disasters to personal calamities to man-made climate changes, the teens take surprising steps that astonish them. Ultimately, through hard work and growing empathy for each other, as well as for their classmates' distress over the climate change affecting their lives, Jamie and Clara empower themselves and the people they touch.

Your home was the one place you felt safe. Now it's your prison. You were invisible. Now your every move is monitored by masked strangers. You looked after your mum, your best friend. Now you barely know her. Everything can change in thirteen hours.

Echo Desjardins just can't stop slipping back and forth in time. In Northwest Resistance, Echo travels to 1885, a period of turmoil. The bison are gone, settlers from the East are arriving daily, and the Metis and First Nations of the Northwest face hunger and uncertainty as their traditional way of life is threatened. The Canadian government has ignored their petitions, but hope rises when Louis Riel returns to help. However, battles between Canadian forces and the Metis and their allies lead to defeat at Batoche. Through it all, Echo gains new perspectives about where she came from and what the future may hold.

In war-torn Britain, inseparable Black Radicals Axel and Dune are arrested. With SIMs implanted in their heads, they are placed in a prison camp for those who defy the Bloods' white supremacist government. The SIMs brainwash them with the Bloods' evil philosophy, and drones constantly monitor their movements and thoughts. In this living nightmare, the couple battle to keep their love alive and to break free. The odds on survival are long. Dune and Axel have very different takes on how to escape. But when things come to a head, will their love hold them together and set them free, or will it tear them apart?

The Same Inside is a sweet and thoughtful collection of poems about friendship, empathy and respect by three of the nation's best-loved poets, Liz Brownlee, Matt Goodfellow and Roger Stevens.

These fifty poems deal sensitively with feelings, empathy, respect, courtesy, bullying, disability and responsibility. They are the perfect springboard to start conversations.

Young children can find the world we live in daunting and a bit scary. There's just so much going on with new schools, making friends and even things like climate change. This book will help young readers to develop a flexible mindset and to explore feelings around FRIENDSHIPS and BULLYING in a gentle and supportive way. Building resilience is a key life skill that is important to learn from a young age. Very cute photographs of animals illustrate each scenario to help young readers understand: why friends are good for you, how to make friends, why sometimes people are unfriendly and how to spot and stop bullying. Readers are asked to think about how those scenarios might relate to their experiences and then encouraged to have a go at some practical activities, ask for help, be brave and to embrace feelings of nervousness as well as enjoying feelings of pride or happiness. The Build Resilience series is suitable for readers aged 6+ and for those studying PSHE as part of the schools curriculum. They are an excellent resource of PSHE topics for parents, teachers and carers as talking points for class discussion or as books to read together. Series consultant, Clare Arnold is a psychotherapist with 25 years' experience working with CAMHS, the NHS's Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services. Titles in this series: Anxiety and Self-esteem Coping with Change Friendships and Bullying Unexpected Challenges

A lyrical story of star-crossed love perfect for readers of The Hate U Give, by National Ambassador for Children's Literature Jacqueline Woodson--now celebrating its twentieth anniversary, and including a new preface by the author Jeremiah feels good inside his own skin. That is, when he's in his own Brooklyn neighborhood. But now he's going to be attending a fancy prep school in Manhattan, and black teenage boys don't exactly fit in there. So it's a surprise when he meets Ellie the first week of school. In one frozen moment their eyes lock, and after that they know they fit together--even though she's Jewish and he's black. Their worlds are so different, but to them that's not what matters. Too bad the rest of the world has to get in their way. Jacqueline Woodson's work has been called "moving and resonant" (Wall Street Journal) and "gorgeous" (Vanity Fair). If You Come Softly is a powerful story of interracial love that leaves readers wondering "why" and "if only . . ."

In A Ceiling Made of Eggshells, Newbery Honor-winning author Gail Carson Levine tells a moving and ambitious story set during the expulsion of Jews from Spain, about a young Jewish girl full of heart who must play her own role in her people's epic history-no matter the sacrifice. Surrounded by her large family, Loma is happy living in the juderia of Alcala de Henares, Spain, and wants nothing more than to someday have a family of her own. Still, when her intimidating grandfather, her Belo, decides to bring her along on his travels, she's excited to join him. Belo has the ear of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, and Loma relishes her adventures with him, adventures that are beyond the scope of most girls of the time. She soon learns just how dangerous the world is for the Jews of Spain, and how her grandfather's influence keeps their people safe. But the older Loma gets, the more she longs to realize her own dreams-if Belo will ever allow her to leave his side.

"Few books are beautifully written, fewer still are important; this novel is both." --"The Washington Post"
Lina is just like any other fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl in 1941. She paints, she draws, she gets crushes on boys. Until one night when Soviet officers barge into her home, tearing her family from the comfortable life they've known. Separated from her father, forced onto a crowded and dirty train car, Lina, her mother, and her young brother slowly make their way north, crossing the Arctic Circle, to a work camp in the coldest reaches of Siberia. Here they are forced, under Stalin's orders, to dig for beets and fight for their lives under the cruelest of conditions.
Lina finds solace in her art, meticulously-and at great risk-documenting events by drawing, hoping these messages will make their way to her father's prison camp to let him know they are still alive. It is a long and harrowing journey, spanning years and covering 6,500 miles, but it is through incredible strength, love, and hope that Lina ultimately survives. "Between Shades of Gray" is a novel that will steal your breath and capture your heart.
Praise for BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY:
"A superlative first novel. A hefty emotional punch." -"The New York Times Book Review "
"A brilliant story of love and survival."--Laurie Halse Anderson, bestselling author of "Speak "and "Wintergirls "
star] "Beautifully written and deeply felt...an important book that deserves the widest possible readership." -"Booklist," Starred Review
A "New York Times" Bestseller
An International Bestseller
A "New York Times "Notable Book of 2011
A "Wall Street Journal" Best Children's Book of 2011
A "Publishers Weekly" Best Book of 2011
The iTunes 2011 Rewind Best Teen Novel
The #1 Book on the Spring 2011 IndieNext List
A" School Library Journal" Best Book of 2011
A "Booklist "Best Book of 2011
A "Kirkus "Best Book of 2011
2012 IRA Children's and Young Adults Book Award for Young Adult Fiction
2012 Indies Choice Young Adult Book of the Year
A Carnegie Medal Finalist
A William C. Morris Finalist

A lively and accessible book for teens on the history, pioneers, theories, questions, arguments, and daily reality of feminism today.

What is feminism? Combining insightful text with graphic illustrations, this engaging book introduces young adult readers to a subject that should matter to everyone. Feminism is... / Heads Up Feminism tackles the most intriguing and relevant topics, such as "Are all people equal?", "Do boys and girls learn the same things?" and "Can men be feminists?" Find out what equality for women really means, get a short history of feminism, and take a look at the issues that affect women at work, in the home, and around sex and identity.

Meet, too, some great women, such as Gloria Steinem, Frida Kahlo, and Malala Yousafzai, "rebel girls" who refused to accept the status quo of their day and blazed a trail for others to follow.

With more than 50 topics that address key feminist concerns, Feminism is... / Heads Up Feminism takes on the issues, is informative, and always thought-provoking.

On August 28, 1963, more than 200,000 people gathered in Washington, DC, to demand equal rights for all races. It was there that Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech, and it was this peaceful protest that spurred the momentous civil rights laws of the mid-1960s. With black-and-white artwork throughout and sixteen pages of photographs, the March is brought to life