An Unexpected Thing is a beautifully illustrated, touching children's picture book about facing fears, dealing with anxiety and learning to explore the world. Fred is afraid. Of everything. He spends his days jumping at loud noises, recoiling from scary shadows and hiding from new people. So you can imagine how he felt when a huge, menacing spot appears as if from nowhere. Too terrified to do anything else, Fred hides away from the spot and imagines all the awful things it could be... Luckily, Coco isn't afraid of anything! She loves exploring new things and sees the best in every new experience that comes her way. When Coco sees the spot she knows that it must be something wonderful. And she's going to find out what it is. And this time, Fred is going to come with her and face his fears once and for all. This is a story of different perspectives, overcoming those feelings of worry and uneasiness, facing your fears and finding out that the world isn't such a bad place afterall of all if you're ready to explore.

All girls [should read] The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis. -- Malala Yousafzai, New York Times The first book in Deborah Ellis's riveting Breadwinner series is an award-winning novel about loyalty, survival, families and friendship under extraordinary circumstances during the Taliban's rule in Afghanistan in the late 1990s. Eleven-year-old Parvana lives with her family in one room of a bombed-out apartment building in Kabul, Afghanistan's capital city. Parvana's father -- a history teacher until his school was bombed and his health destroyed -- works from a blanket on the ground in the marketplace, reading letters for people who cannot read or write. One day, he is arrested for the crime of having a foreign education, and the family is left without someone who can earn money or even shop for food. As conditions for the family grow desperate, only one solution emerges. Forbidden to earn money as a girl, Parvana must transform herself into a boy, and become the breadwinner. The fifteenth anniversary edition includes a special foreword by Deborah Ellis as well as a new map, an updated author's note and a glossary to provide young readers with background and context. All royalties from the sale of this book will go to Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan. Parvana's Fund supports education projects for Afghan women and children. Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: 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.6.3 Describe how a particular story's or drama's plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution.