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Hardships
    Arrival, The
      An amazing and complex immigration story told in a wordless format. Once you start "reading", it's hard to stop - each picture draws you to the next.
      Author: Tan, Shaun HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Arrival, The
      An amazing and complex immigration story told in a wordless format. Once you start "reading", it's hard to stop - each picture draws you to the next.
      Author: Tan, Shaun HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Bird House, The
      This is a modern-day fairy tale that features a homeless girl, an old woman, and birds with magical powers.
      Author: Rylant, Cynthia

    Blues Journey
      Father and son team up to celebrate the blues in beautiful illustrations and lyrics. A short essay introduces the reader to the history and structure of blues. A timeline and glossary enable the reader to immerse himself in the form.
      Author: Myers, Walter Dean

    Declaring Independence
      The events large and small surrounding the struggle for independence of the American colonies from England are told with a wealth of detail and with archival material. Source notes, bibliography, further reading and websites, and an index make the inte
      Author: Miller, Brandon Marie HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Great Migration, The
      This book consists of reprints of a series of sixty paintings, by Jacob Lawrence, depicting the migration of African-Americans from the South to the North. In search of a better life, people moved by the thousands, from rural lifestyles to urban poverty.
      Author: Lawrence, Jacob HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Uncommon Traveler
      Mary Kingsley, who grew up in Victorian England, isolated, without formal education but with her Father's library, made trips to explore West Africa, where she accomplished many firsts and survived many adventures. The beautiful watercolor illustrations,
      Author: Brown, Don HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Voice from the Wilderness, A
      Four-year-old Anna Howard Shaw arrived in the U.S in 1851, lived as a pioneer in Michigan, became a teacher, a minister, a doctor, and worked for women's right to vote before her death in 1919.
      Author: Brown, Don HSE Descriptors: social studies

Hardships > adversity
    Amazing Potato, The
      A wonderful example of thematic writing, this book about the potato includes everything you want to know--and then some. The photographs, fact boxes, sketches, annotated bibliography, index, and interestingly written text produce a self-contained integra
      Author: Meltzer, Milton HSE Descriptors: social studies | science

    Anthony Burns
      The subtitle of this book is "The Defeat and Triumph of a Fugitive Slave." Especially appropriate for use in GED classrooms, Anthony Burns is based on fact and includes a timeline and historical footnotes. Hamilton fills out the details to crea
      Author: Hamilton, Virginia HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Aurora Means Dawn
      This picture book tells the story of the first family to settle in Aurora, Ohio and offers a glimpse of the hardships they willingly endured and of the support of their neighbors.
      Author: Sanders, Scott HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Big Annie of Calumet
      Big Annie is the story of Annie Clemenc who led the miners' strike of 1913 in Calumet, Michigan against the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company. The book contains many photographs of the strike and conditions in the mines and a brief overview of the Industri
      Author: Stanley, Jerry HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Blizzard!
      This book tells the story of an amazing blizzard that struck the Eastern U.S. in March, 1888. The author tells how the storm affected individuals, workers, communication, transportation, and more. The book is illustrated with vintage photographs and maps
      Author: Murphy, Jim HSE Descriptors: social studies | science

    Blues Journey
      Father and son team up to celebrate the blues in beautiful illustrations and lyrics. A short essay introduces the reader to the history and structure of blues. A timeline and glossary enable the reader to immerse himself in the form.
      Author: Myers, Walter Dean

    Bud, Not Buddy
      It's 1936, Flint, Michigan, and 10-year-old Bud (not Buddy) has run away from foster care to search for his father. (Newbery winner)
      Author: Curtis, Christopher Paul HSE Descriptors: language arts - reading | social studies

    Carver
      Personal and professional details of the life of George Washington Carver are told in poems from the perspectives of many people.
      Author: Nelson, Marilyn HSE Descriptors: social studies | science

    Charlie Chaplin
      This interesting biography of Charlie Chaplin discusses his life and work from his impoverished boyhood in London through his Hollywood film career to exile in Europe, ending with knighthood in England. The author expands the use of the book with a bibli
      Author: Turk, Ruth HSE Descriptors: language arts - reading

    Children of Topaz, The
      The authors provide an introduction to the history of the Japanese internment camps in the United States during World War II as well as a Reference and Reading List. The book is a journal kept by a third-grade class taught by Anne Yamauchi in such a camp
      Author: Tunnell, Michael & Chilcoat, George HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Choices
      George Ella Lyon, an accomplished writer of children's books, wrote this collection of stories (and its accompanying text, More Choices) specifically for adult new readers; in fact, she conferred with ABE students from Kentucky while creating the
      Author: Lyon, George Ella

    Dandelions
      As her family struggles to establish a sod home on the Nebraska prairie, Emma finds a way to cheer up her mother.
      Author: Bunting, Eve HSE Descriptors: social studies

    FDR's Alphabet Soup
      The author documents FDR's New Deal agencies from 1932-1939 with lively text, extensive research, and marvelous archival materials and photographs that is extremely timely for the economic conditions of 2012. A postscript, glossary, notes, selected resou
      Author: Bolden, Tonya HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Fish
      The story of the difficult and dangerous journey a family must make out of a country hit with drought and civil unrest. The story is told from the point of view of the family's youngest member who decides to take a live fish on the journey.
      Author: Matthews, L. S. HSE Descriptors: literature and arts | social studies

    Growing Up in Coal Country
      Based on primary documents and oral histories, this book tells the stories of life in the coal mines in eastern Pennsylvania around the turn of the 20th century.
      Author: Bartoletti, Susan HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Harriet and the Promised Land
      The text, consisting of a single rhyming poem, is an accompaniment to Lawrence's contemporary and vivid paintings. The poem tells the story of Harriet Tubman, a slave who led other slaves to freedom.
      Author: Lawrence, Jacob HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Immigrant Kids
      In this unique book, noted nonfiction writer Russell Freedman offers a rare glimpse of what it meant to be a young newcomer to America in the early 1900s.
      Author: Freedman, Russell HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Joan of Arc
      This beautifully illustrated and researched biography of the French peasant girl who became known as Joan of Arc describes how she led the French against the English in the 100 Year's War. The book includes an historical background of the 100 Year's War,
      Author: Stanley, Diane HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Keep on Singing
      The story of the life of the singer Marian Anderson is told in ballad form. The author's notes at the end of the book include additional biographical information.
      Author: Livingston, Myra Cohn HSE Descriptors: language arts - reading | social studies

    Letters from a Slave Girl
      Drawn from her 1861 autobiography, these fictionalized letters tell the story of Harriet Jacobs, a slave from North Carolina who went through great struggles to escape slavery. The book ends with two family trees, one a Black family and one White, a glos
      Author: Lyons, Mary HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Long Way Gone, A: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
      The story of a Sierra Leonian boy who at age 12 was recruited and forced into being a gun toting, drug crazed soldier and then learned how to live with what he had done after going through a UNICEF rehabilitation program.
      Author: Beah, Ishmael HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Lyddie
      Lyddie tells the story of a 19th century farm girl who, because of financial worries, moves to Massachusetts to work in a garment factory. She endures various hardships but does not lose her spunk or integrity.
      Author: Paterson, Katherine HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Matchbox Diary, The
      An Italian immigrant grandfather uses objects he's preserved in matchboxes to tell his granddaughter the story of his life. He created this unique diary because he could not read or write.
      Author: Fleischman, Paul HSE Descriptors: language arts - reading | social studies

    Memory Coat, The
      In order to flee persecution as Jews in Russia, Rachel and her cousin Griska emigrate with their extended family to America where they encounter difficulty at Ellis Island. The author provides additional information on immigration from Russia in the endm
      Author: Woodruff, Elvira HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Midwife's Apprentice, The
      This award-winning novel, set in 14th century England, tells the story of Brat/Beetle/Alyce, a "homeless waif who became the midwife's apprentice-a person with a name and a place in the world" (book jacket).
      Author: Cushman, Karen HSE Descriptors: science | social studies

    Miss Bridie Chose a Shovel
      When offered a choice between a ceramic clock and a shovel as a gift before leaving for America, Bridie chooses the latter and uses it throughout her resourceful life.
      Author: Connor, Leslie

    Miss Spitfire
      Using real letters and records, the author vividly imagines the early days of the relationship between Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan from the teacher's perspective.
      Author: Miller, Sarah

    Miss Spitfire
      Using real letters and records, the author vividly imagines the early days of the relationship between Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan from the teacher's perspective.
      Author: Miller, Sarah

    Moving Mama to Town
      Enterprising Freddy James moves his mother and younger brother to town after his father leaves and the farm fails. He works at the local saloon where he learns from everyone he meets.
      Author: Young, Ronder Thomas

    Nightjohn
      An escaped slave returns to the South to teach others how to read. This 92-page book is very bleak, and the violence is quite graphic.
      Author: Paulsen, Gary HSE Descriptors: social studies

    On the Wings of Peace
      This is a collection of illustrations and various types of text, all provided by noted authors and illustrators, that focus on issues related to peace. Many cultures are represented among characters and in illustrations.
      Author: Hamanaka, Sheila (comp.) HSE Descriptors: language arts - reading | social studies

    Out of the Dump: Writings and Photogrpahs by Children from Guatemala
      Approximately 1500 people, most children, live in a dump at the center of Guatemala City. In 1991 Nancy McGirr began a photography project with about 2 dozen children. She provided cameras; the children photographed their world. In 1993 Kris Franklin bega
      Author: Franklin, Kristine, & McGirr, Nancy (Eds.) HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Picture Book of Anne Frank, A
      This picture book retells the familiar story made famous by the The Diary of Anne Frank of a young Jewish girl who goes into hiding with her family in Amsterdam during the Nazi occupation in World War II. Although the book includes a few quotati
      Author: Adler, David HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Picture Book of Frederick Douglass, A
      This engaging biography tells the life story of the civil rights leader Frederick Douglass and the role he played in a turbulent time of the United States. The book ends with author's notes and a timeline. The Adler biographies are well written and acce
      Author: Adler, David HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Picture Book of Sojourner Truth, A
      As with the other Adler biographies, most readers will find this book engaging and thought provoking. It tells the life story of Sojourner Truth, an African-American woman who lived through most of the 19th century. The book ends with author's notes and
      Author: Adler, David HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Ray Charles
      In a beautiful reprint of a 1973 book, the author tells the story of the legendary blind musician Ray Charles. An Afterword updates the earlier version.
      Author: Mathis, Sharon HSE Descriptors: language arts - reading

    Reappearance of Sam Webber, The
      With the help of adult friends, eleven-year-old Sam Webber adjusts to the disappearance of his father and the reduced circumstances of life in Baltimore. Although the story is told from Sam's perspective, every reader can identify with the ultimately upb
      Author: Fuqua, Jonathon Scott

    Rose Blanche
      A young girl shares her food with those behind barbed wire in Nazi Germany. The title was the name of the German resistance movement during Hitler's regime.
      Author: Innocenti, Roberto HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Roses in My Carpet, The
      This story of a young refugee boy from Afghanistan was inspired by a real child. The boy lives in a refugee camp and weaves rugs.
      Author: Khan, Rukhsana HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Six Days in October
      This is a detailed summary if the events surrounding the Stock Market crash of 1929. Side bars explain some common financial/ investment concepts. Archival photographs, newspaper articles, and cartoons illustrate the material.
      Author: Blumenthal, Karen HSE Descriptors: social studies | math

    To Be a Slave
      Reminiscences of slaves and ex-slaves report their experiences of being owned and sold as property in the United States during the 19th Century. Many accounts of brutality are unsettling. This is a reprint of a 1968 edition with new introductory materia
      Author: Lester, Julius HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Train to Somewhere
      Marianne heads west with 14 other children on an Orphan Train, certain that her mother will be waiting for her at one of the stops. No one shows interest in adopting Marianne until the train arrives at a place called Somewhere, where Marianne meets her n
      Author: Bunting, Eve HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Truce
      Ostensibly writing about the real "Christmas truce" of Dec. 25, 1914, the author provides excellent historical material about the origins and maneuvers of this period of World War I. Photographs give immediacy to the text and back pages and maps provide
      Author: Murphy, Jim HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Truce
      Ostensibly writing about the real "Christmas truce" of Dec. 25, 1914, the author provides excellent historical material about the origins and maneuvers of this period of World War I. Photographs give immediacy to the text and back pages and maps provide
      Author: Murphy, Jim HSE Descriptors: social studies

    True Adventures of Daniel Hall, The
      Based on a true 19th-century adventure, the book tells the story of the survivor of shipboard cruelty on a whaling ship and his escape through the Siberian wilderness. The book contains maps and an afterword about the source of the story.
      Author: Stanley, Diane HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Wagon, The
      At the time of Emancipation and Lincoln's death, a young boy, born into slavery, looks back on his anger at slavery and the support of his family as he helps his father build a wagon for the master which later carries them to freedom.
      Author: Johnston, Tony HSE Descriptors: social studies

    We Are the Ship: The Story of the Negro League Baseball
      This book is about the beginnings and history of Negro League Baseball. The accomplishments of many of the better players are described. Paintings of the players are included. There is a bibliography and filmography at the end of the book.
      Author: Nelson, Kadir HSE Descriptors: | social studies

    When Marian Sang
      This book is an introduction to the life of Marian Anderson, depicting her music, her inspiration, and her struggles as a singer against segregation .
      Author: Ryan, Pam Munoz HSE Descriptors: language arts - reading | social studies

    Why War Is Never A Good Idea
      This beautifully illustrated poetic essay uses images of water and earth to communicate the destructiveness of war. Dscribes war as a "something which has grown old, but not wise as it destroys beautiful things and nice people."
      Author: Walker, Alice HSE Descriptors: social studies

Hardships > disasters
    Disaster of the Hindenburg, The
      The author describes the last flight of the Hindenburg through the eyes of some if the passengers and crew. Included are pictures and diagrams of the great airship.
      Author: Tanaka, Shelley HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Exploring the Titanic: How the Greatest Ship Ever Lost-Was Found
      Author Robert Ballard led the expedition to find and explore the Titanic. This book simultaneously tells the story of the Titanic's construction, maiden voyage, sinking, and rediscovery. This is a long book, and only GED students would be able to read i
      Author: Ballard, Robert HSE Descriptors: social studies | math

    In the Shadow of No Towers
      Part personal reaction to 9/11 and part history of newspaper comics, this book is a bit like a graphic novel. It is raw in tone and difficult to follow at spots.
      Author: Spiegelman, Art HSE Descriptors: social studies | language arts - reading

    Lightship
      Watercolor illustrations and ship diagrams enlarge the scope of this book about floating lighthouses and their crews. An author's note provides additional historical information about lightships.
      Author: Floca, Brian

    Lightship
      Watercolor illustrations and ship diagrams enlarge the scope of this book about floating lighthouses and their crews. An author's note provides additional historical information about lightships.
      Author: Floca, Brian

    On Board the Titanic
      An account of the sinking of the Titanic told through the eyes of two of the survivors. Tanaka includes photographs, diagrams, and accurate facts.
      Author: Tanaka, Shelley HSE Descriptors: social studies

    On Board the Titanic
      An account of the sinking of the Titanic told through the eyes of two of the survivors. Tanaka includes photographs, diagrams, and accurate facts.
      Author: Tanaka, Shelley HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Safekeeping
      Radley returns home to Vermont from a volunteer stay in Haiti to complete chaos. She begins a long trek to try to find her parents and some sense of normalcy in a country becoming completely dysfunctional.The underling message is articulated, as a vision
      Author: Hesse, Karen HSE Descriptors: social studies | language arts - reading | language arts - writing

    September 11, 2001
      A New York Times journalist has chosen to tell the chronology of September 11, 2001, through personal stories. Photographs, maps and diagrams, and a bibliography provide additional resources.
      Author: Hampton, Wilborn HSE Descriptors: social studies

    When Plague Strikes: The Black Death, Smallpox, AIDS
      This carefully written book contains three parts: a prologue, a five-chapter account of the Black Plague, a five-chapter account of the causes and effects of smallpox, a seven-chapter account of AIDS, and a fascinating conclusion on the failures of antibi
      Author: Giblin, James Cross HSE Descriptors: science | social studies

Hardships > disasters > natural disasters
    American Plague, An
      Subtitled "The True and Terifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793," this account focuses on the 1793 outbreak in Philadelphia but also addresses the politics of medical research. It won several awards.
      Author: Murphy, Jim HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Ashfall
      Alex, fifteen, was left alone in Cedar Falls, Iowa, for the weekend while his father, mother and sister, traveled to Illinois to visit an uncle. Then the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts, plunging his hometown into a nightmare of darkness, ash and violenc
      Author: Mullin, Mike HSE Descriptors: social studies | science | language arts - reading

    Blizzard!
      This book tells the story of an amazing blizzard that struck the Eastern U.S. in March, 1888. The author tells how the storm affected individuals, workers, communication, transportation, and more. The book is illustrated with vintage photographs and maps
      Author: Murphy, Jim HSE Descriptors: social studies | science

    Bodies from the Ash:Life and Death in Ancient Pompeii
      With the help of detailed photographs, the author describes how historical fact is established by excavating and reconstructing the volcanic site of Pompeii.
      Author: Deem, James M. HSE Descriptors: science | social studies

    Eye of the Storm
      A storm chaser discusses the techniques, dangers, and difficulties of photographing lightning, tornadoes, and hurricanes.
      Author: Kramer, Stephan HSE Descriptors: science

    Hurricanes
      This story of hurricanes in the 20th Century--how they form, how scientists study them, how people prepare for them--is illustrated with photographs, diagrams, and maps and contains a list of books for further reading.
      Author: Lauber, Patricia HSE Descriptors: science

    Selvakumar Knew Better
      Based on a true story, the book tells of a dog named Selvakumar who saved a South Indian boy from drowning during the tsunami of 2004.
      Author: Kroll, Virginia HSE Descriptors: social studies | science

    Thunderstorm
      A wordless book that follows a storm through Mid-western farm country with only the times listed of the storm.Thunderstorm is a valuable, breathtaking insight into one of the Mid-west's most natural occurrences.
      Author: Geisert, Arthur HSE Descriptors: science | language arts - writing

    Time of Wonder
      This picture book tells a factual story of a family living along the ocean in Maine and what happens to the area when a hurricane brews. It is told to a child reader, and the art is fairly primitive, and thus teachers will want to take care to present it
      Author: McCloskey, Robert HSE Descriptors: science

Hardships > disasters > natural disasters > drought
    Angels in the Dust
      A poignant story of a family living in the Dust Bowl trying to make ends meet.
      Author: Raven, Margot Theis HSE Descriptors: science | social studies

    Children of the Great Depression
      With the aid of archival photographs from The Farm Security Administration, Freedman tells the poignant story of the humiliation, poverty, migration, lack of schooling, and back-breaking work faced by children during the Great Depression of the 1930's in
      Author: Freedman, Russell HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Drylongso
      Drylongso, which takes place west of the Mississippi in 1975, is the story of a poor farming family's battle with a drought. Drylongso, "a youth imbued with simple human kindness . . . a folk hero" (author's notes) arrives, and with him comes ho
      Author: Hamilton, Viginia

    Fish
      The story of the difficult and dangerous journey a family must make out of a country hit with drought and civil unrest. The story is told from the point of view of the family's youngest member who decides to take a live fish on the journey.
      Author: Matthews, L. S. HSE Descriptors: literature and arts | social studies

    Hoover Dam
      This book tells the story of why and how the Hoover Dam was built during the Great Depression with interviews of people who worked on the dam. Illustrations depict the engineering challenges faced by the builders.
      Author: Mann, Elizabeth HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Out of the Dust
      Set in Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl years of the Depression, this powerful book tells in unobtrusive blank verse the story of personal tragedy and community hardship through the experiences of Billy Jo, a 15-year-old girl. The book is so credible that
      Author: Hesse, Karen HSE Descriptors: language arts - reading | social studies

    Skylark
      This is the sequel to the award-winning Sarah, Plain and Tall. When a drought forces Sarah and the children to leave the farm, leaving Jacob behind, everyone wonders if they will ever be a family again.
      Author: MacLachlan, Patricia HSE Descriptors: language arts - reading

Hardships > disasters > natural disasters > fire
    American Safari, An
      Award-winning wildlife photographer Jim Brandenburg shows and tells the story of the American prairies, which once swept for thousands of miles but are now an endangered ecological treasure. The stunning photographs and unforgettable written memories ins
      Author: Brandenburg, Jim HSE Descriptors: science

    Fire in Their Eyes
      Color photographs and lively text follow a group of special wildfire firefighters called "hotshots" through training to their drop by parachute into wildfire zones.
      Author: Biel, Karen HSE Descriptors: science

    Great Fire, The
      By weaving personal accounts from survivors together with carefully researched history, Jim Murphy constructs a riveting narrative that recreates the great Chicago fire with drama and immediacy. Authentic photos and drawings complement the text.
      Author: Murphy, Jim HSE Descriptors: social studies

    John Blair and the Great Hinckley Fire
      This is a retelling of the effects of a firestorm in 1894 on a train and its 150+ passengers. John Blair, the train's porter, became a hero for his common sense and bravery in the face of extraordinary danger.
      Author: Nobisso, Josephine HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Summer of Fire: Yellowstone 1988
      This book chronicles the 1988 fire at Yellowstone National Park and the fire's after-effects. Many stunning photographs accompany the well written text.
      Author: Lauber, Patricia HSE Descriptors: science

    Wildfire
      This beautiful and thoroughly researched book provides a comprehensive look at wildfires. Causes and ways to control them, both historical and current, are highlighted. The book contains a bibliography and glossary.
      Author: Morrison, Taylor HSE Descriptors: social studies | science

    Wildfires
      Interesting text and stunning photographs tell what happens with wildfires and why they are important in the cycle of life, death, and renewal.
      Author: Simon, Seymour HSE Descriptors: social studies | science

    Year of Fire, The
      Grandpa tells granddaughter about the worst fire he has ever known, a fire that happened when the grandfather was a child. (based on a true story)
      Author: Jam, Teddy

Hardships > disasters > natural disasters > flood
    A. D., New Orleans After the Deluge
      This graphic novel originates in the personal involvement of the writer/artist in Hurricane Katrina, contributing seven vivid, authentic voices to enrich our understanding of this national disaster. Juxtaposed alongside the images we saw on television as
      Author: Neufeld, Josh HSE Descriptors: social studies

    A. D., New Orleans After the Deluge
      This graphic novel originates in the personal involvement of the writer/artist in Hurricane Katrina, contributing seven vivid, authentic voices to enrich our understanding of this national disaster. Juxtaposed alongside the images we saw on television as
      Author: Neufeld, Josh HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Flood
      As Sarajean and her family prepare for and deal with the devastating Midwest floods of 1993, they discover what is truly important during a time of trouble.
      Author: Calhoun, Mary

    Kate Shelley: Bound for Legend
      This is the story of a 15-year-old girl who helped prevent a train disaster in 1881.
      Author: San Souci, Robert D. HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Kinderdike
      In this dramatically illustrated book, a Dutch town is flooded and mostly destroyed, although one child in a cradle and a cat are found after the flood waters recede. Together people work to rebuild and name the town Kinderdike (kinder=child in Dutch).
      Author: Fisher, Leonard Everett HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Ninth Ward
      This is a powerful reenactment of the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and how it affected the poor section of the ninth ward. The hurricane and subsequent levee failure come to life through the eyes of a twelve year old special girl. The voi
      Author: Rhodes, Jewell Parker HSE Descriptors: language arts - reading | social studies | science

    Noah's Ark
      Well-known author-illustrator Jerry Pinkney retells the story of Noah and the ark that survives the flooding of the earth in a simple narrative and wonderfully detailed pictures.
      Author: Pinkney, Jerry

Hardships > famine
    Amazing Potato, The
      A wonderful example of thematic writing, this book about the potato includes everything you want to know--and then some. The photographs, fact boxes, sketches, annotated bibliography, index, and interestingly written text produce a self-contained integra
      Author: Meltzer, Milton HSE Descriptors: social studies | science

    Black Potatoes
      The causes and consequences of the Irish potato famine are examined, using individual portraits and anecdotes. Archival photographs, a map of the counties of Ireland, a bibliography, and a timeline complement the text.
      Author: Bartoletti, Susan HSE Descriptors: social studies

Hardships > persecution
    Amistad: A Long Road to Freedom
      When slaves on the ship Amistad rebelled and tried to return home to Africa, they were captured and embroiled in legal battles of slavery and abolition in the U.S. The book includes sections on Further Reading, Bibliography, Epilogue, and endpaper courtr
      Author: Myers, Walter Dean HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Anne Frank
      If you wonder why read another book on Anne Frank, look at this beautifully and realistically illustrated story that simply relates the political situation and gives the characters more three-dimensional personalities. A chronology in the end papers adds
      Author: Poole, Josephine HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Anne Frank
      If you wonder why read another book on Anne Frank, look at this beautifully and realistically illustrated story that simply relates the political situation and gives the characters more three-dimensional personalities. A chronology in the end papers adds
      Author: Poole, Josephine HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Cat with the Yellow Star, The: Coming of Age in Terezin
      Ela Weissberger's life before, during, and after she and her family were forced to live in the Jewish ghetto of Terezin during WWII. Photographs reinforce Ela's memories of survival and hope.
      Author: Rubin, Susan Goldman HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Cats in Krasinski Square, The
      With a simple text and marvelous watercolors, Hesse tells a true story of the bravery of the Jewish Resistance who helped the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II. End matter provides more historical background.
      Author: Hesse, Karen HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Children We Remember, The
      Archive photographs and a simple text tell the story of the Nazis' attempt to starve and kill the Jews during WW II.
      Author: Abells, Chana HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Christmas Menorahs, The
      This picture book recreates the true story of how families and a community decided to stand together to combat bigotry and acts of hatred.
      Author: Cohn, Janice

    Darkness over Denmark
      Written in the form of snippets of interviews, this book tells the stories of the Danish Resistance and the rescue of Jews in WW II. This is an important and inspiring story, which may be unknown to many.
      Author: Levine, Ellen HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Four Perfect Pebbles: A Holocaust Story
      Author's memoir of the years that shaped her childhood as her Jewish family is trapped in Nazi Germany, sent to prison camps, and escapes to the United States.
      Author: Perl, Lila and Blumenthal, Marion Lazan HSE Descriptors: language arts - reading | social studies

    Grab Hands and Run
      Based on a true story, this 165-page book tells of twelve-year-old Felipe, his sister, and his mother as they flee El Salvador when his father disappears. The family escapes, hides, and runs until, caught, they are finally placed in a new home in Canada.
      Author: Temple, Frances HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Hidden Child
      A survivor of the Holocaust describes with illustrations and text his hiding in France during World War II and his search for his family and friends after the war.
      Author: Millman, Isaac HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Hitler Youth
      By following a dozen German youth, the author examines the attraction and occasionally the resistance of the role of the Hitler youth movement in Nazi Germany. The author includes additional material for further exploration.
      Author: Bartoletti, Susan Campbell HSE Descriptors: social studies | language arts - reading | science

    Imprisoned: The Betrayal of Japanese Americans During World War II
      This amazing book takes the reader inside the internment camps and shows the fortitude of the people who survived and thrived despite the hardships imposed on them. An amazing book for readers of all ages. Beautiful photos add to the text.
      Author: Sandler, Martin W. HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Joan of Arc
      This beautifully illustrated and researched biography of the French peasant girl who became known as Joan of Arc describes how she led the French against the English in the 100 Year's War. The book includes an historical background of the 100 Year's War,
      Author: Stanley, Diane HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Memories of Survival
      A mother and daughter create a narrative in stitchery and text of the mother's life in Poland during the Nazi occupation.This collection of memories of the holocaust provides a first hand account of danger, despair and hope. The detailed tapestries provid
      Author: Krinitz, Esther Nisenthal & Steinhardt, Bernice HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Nazi Olympics, The
      Published by the U. S. National Holocaust Museum, this history documents the manipulation of the 1936 Olympics in Berlin by Hitler and the Nazi party and presents the controversy of whether to participate or not on the part of nations and individuals. Ar
      Author: Bachrach, Susan HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Number the Stars
      In 1943, during the German occupation of Denmark, ten-year-old Annemarie learns how to be brave when she helps shelter her Jewish friend from the Nazis. It is about the power of the Danish Resistance, heroes of a nation, the power of human decency over th
      Author: Lowry, Lois HSE Descriptors: social studies | language arts - reading

    One More Border
      Illustrated with paintings, documents, and photos, this is the true story of a family's escape from war-torn Europe during WW II.
      Author: Kaplan, William HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Picture Book of Anne Frank, A
      This picture book retells the familiar story made famous by the The Diary of Anne Frank of a young Jewish girl who goes into hiding with her family in Amsterdam during the Nazi occupation in World War II. Although the book includes a few quotati
      Author: Adler, David HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Poet Slave of Cuba, The: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano
      This true story of 19th Century Cuban poet Juan Francisco Manzano, who was born a slave, is told in free verse from various points of view--the boy, his mother, his father, and his owners.
      Author: Engle, Margarita HSE Descriptors: language arts - reading | social studies

    Remembering Manzanar
      Shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. government ordered forced evacuation of Japanese Americans who lived in the western U.S. This is the story of one relocation camp, Manzanar. The text is supported with archival photographs, end notes, Int
      Author: Cooper, Michael L. HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Rescued Images
      The author contributes a moving and strikingly illustrated memoir of her experience of being a "hidden child" in Holland during World War II and its far-reaching effect.
      Author: Jacobsen, Ruth HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Roses in My Carpet, The
      This story of a young refugee boy from Afghanistan was inspired by a real child. The boy lives in a refugee camp and weaves rugs.
      Author: Khan, Rukhsana HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Song of Be
      When Be was a child, she and her mother left their people--the Namibian Bushmen--to work on a white man's plantation. Spending time with her grandfather helps her forget how much she misses others. With Namibia on the verge of freedom, Be finds the cour
      Author: Beake, Lesley HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Stone Lamp, The
      This book of poems and accounts gives a personal and historical perspective of the meaning of lighting the Menorah lamps representing the eight nights of Hanukkah. The author tells in prose and poetry of real events from 1190 to 1995. Brian Pinkney's vi
      Author: Hesse, Karen HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Streets of Gold
      This story of a Russian family's life in Russia and then in the U.S. is based on an actual immigrant's journals.
      Author: Wells, Rosemary HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Surrender Tree, The
      Cuba has fought three wars for independence and still is not free. Acclaimed poet, Margarita Engle has created a lyrical, powerful portrait of Cuba. The main character is a healer who treats anyone in need. Initially a slave, Rosa becomes a free person w
      Author: Engle, Margarita HSE Descriptors: social studies | language arts - reading

    There Comes a Time
      This book, winner of the 2001 Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, chronicles the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S. The book begins with slave trading and ends with the "Black Power" movement of the late 1960's. A timeline, bibliography, and index are included.
      Author: Meltzer, Milton HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Wall, The: Growing up behind the iron curtain
      Author-illustrator Peter Sis documents his growing up in Czechoslovakia behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War, using extraordinary drawings in black, white, and red that precede two-page spreads of journal entries. Because the running text at the b
      Author: Sis, Peter HSE Descriptors: social studies | language arts - reading | language arts - writing

    We Are One: The Story of Bayard Rustin
      Bayard Rustin's biography not only emphasizes his well-known role as advisor and organizer to leadership in the Civil Rights Movement but expands our view with his activities as speaker, singer, actor, artist, and non-violent activist. This biography pro
      Author: Brimner, Larry Dane HSE Descriptors: social studies

    When I Left My Village
      This book tells the story of an Ethiopian Jewish family and their emigration from their violent and oppressed village to Israel.
      Author: Shur, Maxine Rose HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Witness
      Structured as a play with characters, acts, and text, this story depicts a small Vermont town facing issues of racism and bigotry introduced by the Klu Klux Klan in the 1920's. The courage of two young girls and the adults who support them leads the way t
      Author: Hesse, Karen HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Women of Hope
      The author wrote essays on thirteen African American women to accompany photographs of the Bread and Roses Cultural Project. The essays feature inspiring women who exhibited courage in overcoming barriers of race and gender in fighting for rights we all
      Author: Hansen, Joyce HSE Descriptors: social studies

Hardships > problem solving
    A. D., New Orleans After the Deluge
      This graphic novel originates in the personal involvement of the writer/artist in Hurricane Katrina, contributing seven vivid, authentic voices to enrich our understanding of this national disaster. Juxtaposed alongside the images we saw on television as
      Author: Neufeld, Josh HSE Descriptors: social studies

    A. D., New Orleans After the Deluge
      This graphic novel originates in the personal involvement of the writer/artist in Hurricane Katrina, contributing seven vivid, authentic voices to enrich our understanding of this national disaster. Juxtaposed alongside the images we saw on television as
      Author: Neufeld, Josh HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Alice Ramsey's Grand Adventure
      Alice Ramsey and three other women face floods, mud, and travel without maps as they drive from New York to San Francisco--in 1909. The charming watercolors add realistic humor to the narrative.
      Author: Brown, Don HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Black Whiteness
      During the several months Admiral Richard Byrd spent alone in Antarctica in 1934, he nearly dies of carbon monoxide poisoning before he is rescued. The poetic language, line lengths, and diary excerpts give an intensity and truthfulness to the story.
      Author: Burleigh, Robert HSE Descriptors: social studies | science

    Cats in Krasinski Square, The
      With a simple text and marvelous watercolors, Hesse tells a true story of the bravery of the Jewish Resistance who helped the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II. End matter provides more historical background.
      Author: Hesse, Karen HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Danger Along the Ohio
      The Dunn family is traveling down the Ohio River in 1793. The children become separated from their father and must fend for themselves while heading toward Marietta.
      Author: Willis, Patricia HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Hoot
      This charming and funny young adult mystery by the well-known adult mystery writer, Carl Hiassen, involves corporate greed, suburban expansion, environmental protection, child abuse and neglect, bullying, and social protest.
      Author: Hiassen, Carl

    Lost: A Story in String
      Using string figures, a grandmother tells a story of the uses of imagination and resourcefulness. Beautiful black-and-white clayboard and ink illustrations and clear diagrams and resources encourage readers to try the string figures.
      Author: Fleischman, Paul

    Marven of the Great North Woods
      Marven's immigrant Russian Jewish family sends him alone by train and by ski to a logging camp in Minnesota to escape the diphtheria epidemic in the city of Duluth. He finds a niche for himself in very different cultural surroundings through the friendsh
      Author: Lasky, Kathryn

    Traveling Man
      Based on the real life of Ibn Battuta, who lived from 1304 to 1369, the author writes about the 75,000-mile journey and illustrates it with decorative maps and Arabic style motifs as he tells this incredible travel adventure. The author includes biograph
      Author: Rumford, James

    Trial By Ice
      Illustrated by archival photographs, this biography recounts the life and expeditions of Ernest Shackleton in his attempts to reach the South Pole (he never did). He is nonetheless revered for his leadership, optimism, and courage. Teachers will find th
      Author: Kostyal, K. M. HSE Descriptors: social studies

Hardships > survival
    Antarctica: Journeys to the South Pole
      This non-fiction, photographic picture book tells the history of the Antarctic. The pictures are all accompanied by true stories of heroism and adventure.
      Author: Myers, Walter Dean HSE Descriptors: social studies | language arts - writing | language arts - reading

    Arrival, The
      An amazing and complex immigration story told in a wordless format. Once you start "reading", it's hard to stop - each picture draws you to the next.
      Author: Tan, Shaun HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Arrival, The
      An amazing and complex immigration story told in a wordless format. Once you start "reading", it's hard to stop - each picture draws you to the next.
      Author: Tan, Shaun HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Ashfall
      Alex, fifteen, was left alone in Cedar Falls, Iowa, for the weekend while his father, mother and sister, traveled to Illinois to visit an uncle. Then the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts, plunging his hometown into a nightmare of darkness, ash and violenc
      Author: Mullin, Mike HSE Descriptors: social studies | science | language arts - reading

    Black Potatoes
      The causes and consequences of the Irish potato famine are examined, using individual portraits and anecdotes. Archival photographs, a map of the counties of Ireland, a bibliography, and a timeline complement the text.
      Author: Bartoletti, Susan HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Blizzard!
      This book tells the story of an amazing blizzard that struck the Eastern U.S. in March, 1888. The author tells how the storm affected individuals, workers, communication, transportation, and more. The book is illustrated with vintage photographs and maps
      Author: Murphy, Jim HSE Descriptors: social studies | science

    Breadwinner, The
      This coming-of-age story, told from the point of view of a young Afghan girl left to fend for her family in the times of repressive Taliban influence is both moving and suspenseful.
      Author: Ellis, Deborah HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Breadwinner, The
      This coming-of-age story, told from the point of view of a young Afghan girl left to fend for her family in the times of repressive Taliban influence is both moving and suspenseful.
      Author: Ellis, Deborah HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Brothers In Hope
      The author, who worked with the International Rescue Committee, tells the story of the "lost boys" of Sudan, orphaned by war, who walked to refuge in Ethiopia, and later to Kenya. The first person narrative and vibrant illustrations add immediacy to the
      Author: Williams, Mary HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Can't Get There from Here
      This fictional story of homeless teens trying to survive on NYC streets in winter recounts the perils of drugs, sex, starvation, cold, and the help of a few who try to intervene. This is a gripping story, but not for the faint of heart.
      Author: Strasser, Todd

    Children of the Great Depression
      Freedman describes the impact of the Great Depression on the youth of that time. Topics include the struggles youth had staying in school and finding jobs and what youth did to help their families survive. Photographs by well known photographers accompany
      Author: Freedman, Russell HSE Descriptors: | social studies

    Children We Remember, The
      Archive photographs and a simple text tell the story of the Nazis' attempt to starve and kill the Jews during WW II.
      Author: Abells, Chana HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Close to Shore
      The author details the first shark attacks in American history along the Atlantic Coast of New Jersey in 1916. One reviewer thought the book would appeal to males especially. The suspenseful style makes the book read like a novel.
      Author: Michael Capuzzo HSE Descriptors: science | social studies

    Dakota Dugout
      The book tells the story of a woman pioneer, the hardships, struggles, and pleasures of her life with her husband in a sod house on the prairie.
      Author: Turner, Ann HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Danger Along the Ohio
      The Dunn family is traveling down the Ohio River in 1793. The children become separated from their father and must fend for themselves while heading toward Marietta.
      Author: Willis, Patricia HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Escaping into the Night
      Thirteen year old Halina escapes from a Polish ghetto to a forest community of Jews where she and her friends Batya and Reuven learn to survive despite brutality, extreme hardship, and loss of family. Although this book is fiction, there were real commu
      Author: Friedman, D. Dina HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Fish
      The story of the difficult and dangerous journey a family must make out of a country hit with drought and civil unrest. The story is told from the point of view of the family's youngest member who decides to take a live fish on the journey.
      Author: Matthews, L. S. HSE Descriptors: literature and arts | social studies

    Four Perfect Pebbles: A Holocaust Story
      Author's memoir of the years that shaped her childhood as her Jewish family is trapped in Nazi Germany, sent to prison camps, and escapes to the United States.
      Author: Perl, Lila and Blumenthal, Marion Lazan HSE Descriptors: language arts - reading | social studies

    Gleam and Glow
      The story of a family who fled from the Bosnian-Serb forces to a refugee camp in 1990. When they returned to their home in 1995 they found everything destroyed except 2 pet fish.
      Author: Bunting, Eve HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Gleam and Glow
      The story of a family who fled from the Bosnian-Serb forces to a refugee camp in 1990. When they returned to their home in 1995 they found everything destroyed except 2 pet fish.
      Author: Bunting, Eve HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Good Women of a Well-Blessed Land
      This is a topical history of women in early America (1600s to beginning of American Revolution). Primary source material is used to the extent possible. Lives of White, Black and Native American women are featured. An index, bibliography, and a website b
      Author: Miller, Brandon Marie HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Grab Hands and Run
      Based on a true story, this 165-page book tells of twelve-year-old Felipe, his sister, and his mother as they flee El Salvador when his father disappears. The family escapes, hides, and runs until, caught, they are finally placed in a new home in Canada.
      Author: Temple, Frances HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Henry's Freedom Box
      This simply written picture book tells the true story of Henry Brown, a runaway slave who escaped to freedom by mailing himself in a crate.
      Author: Levine, Ellen HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Hidden Child
      A survivor of the Holocaust describes with illustrations and text his hiding in France during World War II and his search for his family and friends after the war.
      Author: Millman, Isaac HSE Descriptors: social studies

    In Nueva York
      This collection of short, interlocking stories depicts life in one of New York City's Puerto Rican communities.
      Author: Mohr, Nicholasa HSE Descriptors: language arts - reading

    January's Sparrow
      After a fellow slave is beaten to death, Sadie and her family flee the plantation for freedom through the Underground Railroad. As they make a new life in Michigan, they must remain alert for the slave catchers.
      Author: Polacco, Patricia HSE Descriptors: social studies

    January's Sparrow
      After a fellow slave is beaten to death, Sadie and her family flee the plantation for freedom through the Underground Railroad. As they make a new life in Michigan, they must remain alert for the slave catchers.
      Author: Polacco, Patricia HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Long Walk to Water, A
      When the Sudanese civil war reaches his village in 1985, eleven-year-old Salva becomes separated from his family and must walk with other Dinka tribe members through southern Sudan, Ethiopia, and Kenya in search of safe haven. Based on the life of Salva D
      Author: Park, Linda Sue HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Lost: A Story in String
      Using string figures, a grandmother tells a story of the uses of imagination and resourcefulness. Beautiful black-and-white clayboard and ink illustrations and clear diagrams and resources encourage readers to try the string figures.
      Author: Fleischman, Paul

    Lugalbanda
      This retelling of the oldest recorded story ever found from Sumer (now Iraq) recounts the journey of a young prince as he crosses the mountains to join a war and find his brothers, overcoming obstacles on his way. The book includes interesting historical
      Author: Henderson, Kathy HSE Descriptors: language arts - reading

    Ma Dear's Aprons
      The life of the author's great grandmother, a single parent who was a domestic worker in Alabama, is celebrated.
      Author: McKissack, Patricia C.

    Maus I: My Father Bleeds History
      This is the first of two volumes about the experiences of the author's parents in the Nazi concentration camps during WWII. The author depicts Jews as mice and Nazis as cats in his illustrations.
      Author: Spiegelman, Art HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Maus II: A Survivor's Tale
      A powerful graphic novel about a father who survived the Nazi concentration camps and his son in which Jews are depicted as mice and Nazis as cats. The story jumps back and forth between the present life in the Catskills and the past life in the camps.
      Author: Spiegelman, Art HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Mercedes and the Chocolate Pilot
      During the occupation of Germany after WW II, a young girl writes a letter to an American airlift pilot who drops chocolates to children. The author includes a biography of Col. Halvorsen, "the chocolate pilot" of the title.
      Author: Raven, Margot

    Midwife's Apprentice, The
      This award-winning novel, set in 14th century England, tells the story of Brat/Beetle/Alyce, a "homeless waif who became the midwife's apprentice-a person with a name and a place in the world" (book jacket).
      Author: Cushman, Karen HSE Descriptors: science | social studies

    Mud City
      Shauzia, with her dog, has fled Afghanistan and survives on the streets of Peshawar, Pakistan, and in a refugee camp. This is the second part of a trilogy.
      Author: Ellis, Deborah HSE Descriptors: social studies

    My Grandmother's Journey
      The narrator tells the story of the grandmother's life and of the many wars and troubles she experienced in Eastern Europe, until she came to the U.S.
      Author: Cech, John HSE Descriptors: social studies

    My Secret Camera
      As a young man in the Lodz Ghetto in Poland, Mendel Grossman, secretly took hundreds of photographs to document the miserable life of the people in the ghetto and their struggles for survival. Simple text accompanies the photographs.
      Author: Smith, Frank Dabba HSE Descriptors: social studies

    On Board the Titanic
      An account of the sinking of the Titanic told through the eyes of two of the survivors. Tanaka includes photographs, diagrams, and accurate facts.
      Author: Tanaka, Shelley HSE Descriptors: social studies

    On Board the Titanic
      An account of the sinking of the Titanic told through the eyes of two of the survivors. Tanaka includes photographs, diagrams, and accurate facts.
      Author: Tanaka, Shelley HSE Descriptors: social studies

    One More Border
      Illustrated with paintings, documents, and photos, this is the true story of a family's escape from war-torn Europe during WW II.
      Author: Kaplan, William HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Out of the Dump: Writings and Photogrpahs by Children from Guatemala
      Approximately 1500 people, most children, live in a dump at the center of Guatemala City. In 1991 Nancy McGirr began a photography project with about 2 dozen children. She provided cameras; the children photographed their world. In 1993 Kris Franklin bega
      Author: Franklin, Kristine, & McGirr, Nancy (Eds.) HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Parvana's Journey
      Disguised as a boy, Parvana rescues a baby and joins with a young boy as she travels through war-torn Afghanistan searching for her family. The telling of the story through the child's perspective allows the reader to approach a sensitive current event an
      Author: Ellis, Deborah HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Poet Slave of Cuba, The: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano
      This true story of 19th Century Cuban poet Juan Francisco Manzano, who was born a slave, is told in free verse from various points of view--the boy, his mother, his father, and his owners.
      Author: Engle, Margarita HSE Descriptors: language arts - reading | social studies

    Pride of Baghdad
      This graphic novel of a family of lions liberated from the Baghdad zoo by U.S. bombing raids provides a symbolic understanding of the war from the dangers they encounter.
      Author: Vaughan, Brian K. HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Real Time
      A gripping story told in real time (hence the title)from the viewpoints of several characters involved in the bombing of an Israeli bus.
      Author: Kass, Pnina Moed HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Rite of Passage
      The book is set in Harlem in the late 1940s. Protagonist Johnny Gibbs, 15, is a model child and student until he learns that he is a foster child who must go to live with another family. Johnny feels betrayed and reacts by running away. What follows pu
      Author: Wright, Richard HSE Descriptors: language arts - reading

    Roses in My Carpet, The
      This story of a young refugee boy from Afghanistan was inspired by a real child. The boy lives in a refugee camp and weaves rugs.
      Author: Khan, Rukhsana HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Run Far, Run Fast
      When a mother tells a young girl in 14th C Europe to "run far, run fast" to escape the pestilence, the girl discovers that she cannot outrun the plague but is helped by a friendly man. The exquisite pen and ink drawings are integral to the story. The on
      Author: Decker, Timothy HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Run Far, Run Fast
      When a mother tells a young girl in 14th C Europe to "run far, run fast" to escape the pestilence, the girl discovers that she cannot outrun the plague but is helped by a friendly man. The exquisite pen and ink drawings are integral to the story. The on
      Author: Decker, Timothy HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Safekeeping
      Radley returns home to Vermont from a volunteer stay in Haiti to complete chaos. She begins a long trek to try to find her parents and some sense of normalcy in a country becoming completely dysfunctional.The underling message is articulated, as a vision
      Author: Hesse, Karen HSE Descriptors: social studies | language arts - reading | language arts - writing

    Sarah's Key
      The story of the roundup of the Jews in France during WWII. A heart-wrenching look at the infamous collaboration of French officials with the Nazis It is told through two people: a 10-year-old Jewish girl and an American journalist 60 years later.
      Author: de Rosnay, Tatiana HSE Descriptors: social studies | language arts - reading

    Selvakumar Knew Better
      Based on a true story, the book tells of a dog named Selvakumar who saved a South Indian boy from drowning during the tsunami of 2004.
      Author: Kroll, Virginia HSE Descriptors: social studies | science

    Shattered
      This collection contains twelve stories about the impact of war on children and teenagers, some fictional, some personal experiences. A trailer with historical background crawls across the bottom of the page. Biographies of the authors are included.
      Author: Armstrong, Jennifer (ed.) HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World
      On an expedition to cross Antarctica, Ernest Shackleton and his crew lost their ship in the ice flow. Shackleton and five others left in small boats to get help. This is a higher reading level version of Spirit of Endurance by the same author.
      Author: Armstrong, Jennifer HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Slavery Time: When I Was Chillun
      Excerpts from 12 oral histories from former slaves, gathered during the Depression by WPA workers, provide several perspectives about slave life as remembered by the people interviewed, who were in their 80s and 90s at the time of the interviews.
      Author: Hurmence, Belinda HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Sold
      Lakshmi is a thirteen-year-old girl who lives with her family in a village in Nepal. Her stepfather sells her into sexual slavery and her life of prostitution begins in a large city in India. The book is written in short paragraphs, sentences, and phrases
      Author: McCormick, Patricia HSE Descriptors: social studies | language arts - reading

    Spirit of Endurance
      The book employs maps, archival photographs, blueprints, and paintings to tell the exciting story of Ernest Shackleton's rescue of his men on his expedition in Antarctica when their boat, The Endurance, was destroyed in an ice floe. The author includes a
      Author: Armstrong, Jennifer HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Story in String, A
      When their apartment loses power, Grandma tells the story of a little girl who gets lost in the snow looking for her dog. To illustrate the story, Grandma uses a piece of her knitting yarn to make string figures.
      Author: Fleischman, Paul

    Swan Song
      The poet and artist collaborated to create poetic, humorous post-mortems for extinct creatures. A timeline crawls across the bottom margin and back matter provides more information about the creatures and their habitats.
      Author: Lewis, J. Patrick HSE Descriptors: science

    Talking with Tebe
      Editor Lyons collected these excerpts about Clementine Hunter, considered one of America's finest folk artists, from magazine and newspaper articles and tape-recorded interviews. The artist's work illustrates the book.
      Author: Lyons, Mary E. (Ed.) HSE Descriptors: language arts - reading

    Taste of Salt
      This gripping novel tells the story of two teenagers in Haiti, Djo, one of Aristides' orphaned boys who is hospitalized with terrible injuries, and Jeremie, a convent-educated girl who visits Djo to hear his stories and who begins to fall in love with him
      Author: Temple, Frances

    This Our Dark Country: The American Settlers of Liberia
      This is a history of Liberia which was established on the west coast of Africa in 1822 as a haven for free African Americans. Some U.S. history is also included as background context. End matter includes photos, maps, endnotes, bibliography, and index. Th
      Author: Reef, Catherine HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Tibet Through the Red Box
      The author-illustrator returns to his father's home as an adult to learn the contents of a mysterious red box that his father had brought back from Tibet years before. The past is revealed through a diary, memories, and extraordinary illustrations.
      Author: Sis, Peter

    Touching Spirit Bear
      Cole, a juvenile "delinquent," is offered jail or "circle justice," a system based on Native American traditions that attempts to provide healing for the criminal, his victim, and the community. Cole's time at a remote Alaskan island and his interactions
      Author: Mikaelsen, Ben

    Tree Girl
      Based on true experiences that were shared with the author, Gabriela, a Guatemalan girl who loves to climb trees, escapes a massacre, eventually reaching a refugee camp where she is reunited with her little sister, both of whom must overcome the trauma an
      Author: Mikaelsen, Ben

    Trial By Ice
      Illustrated by archival photographs, this biography recounts the life and expeditions of Ernest Shackleton in his attempts to reach the South Pole (he never did). He is nonetheless revered for his leadership, optimism, and courage. Teachers will find th
      Author: Kostyal, K. M. HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Truce
      Ostensibly writing about the real "Christmas truce" of Dec. 25, 1914, the author provides excellent historical material about the origins and maneuvers of this period of World War I. Photographs give immediacy to the text and back pages and maps provide
      Author: Murphy, Jim HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Truce
      Ostensibly writing about the real "Christmas truce" of Dec. 25, 1914, the author provides excellent historical material about the origins and maneuvers of this period of World War I. Photographs give immediacy to the text and back pages and maps provide
      Author: Murphy, Jim HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Under the Sun
      After his father sends him and his mother to relatives outside Sarajevo to escape the perils of the war in the former Yugoslavia, 13-year-old Ehmet must find the way through land mines, burned villages, and hostile bands of armed men to his grandparents i
      Author: Dorros, Arthur HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Voices from the Fields
      Photographs, poems, and interviews capture glimpses of life for today's migrant children.
      Author: Atkin, S. Beth HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Washington at Valley Forge
      In Freedman's inimitable style, he captures the grit and triumphs over the lack of provisions for General Washington's winter encampment at Valley Forge during the Revolutionary War. Excellent and unfamiliar paintings of Washington accompany the text. Th
      Author: Freedman, Russell HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Why War Is Never A Good Idea
      This beautifully illustrated poetic essay uses images of water and earth to communicate the destructiveness of war. Dscribes war as a "something which has grown old, but not wise as it destroys beautiful things and nice people."
      Author: Walker, Alice HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Words Set Me Free: The Story of Young Frederick Douglass
      Born a slave with little hope of ever learning to read, this story of Frederick Douglas, a man determined to read despite huge hurdles, provides an inspiring story for people of all ages.
      Author: Cline-Ransome, Lisa HSE Descriptors: social studies | language arts - reading

    Words West: Voices of Young Pioneers
      Diary and journal excerpts and archival photographs enliven a well-written text about the Westward Movement as seen from the perspective of children. The book includes short biographies of the children who are quoted often as well as a chronology, furthe
      Author: Wadsworth, Ginger HSE Descriptors: social studies

    Wreck of the Zanzibar, The
      When Laura Perryman dies, her great-nephew Michael gets her diary. The diary reveals remarkable stories about a time when people lived off the bounty (and at the mercy) of the ocean. This story "of a family bound by respect for nature seamlessly blends
      Author: Morpurgo, Michael


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