A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl's Journal, 1830-32


Joan W. Blos - 1979
    So begins the journal of a girl coming of age in nineteenth-century New Hampshire. Catherine records both the hardships of pioneer life and its many triumphs. Even as she struggles with her mother’s death and father’s eventual remarriage, Catherine’s indomitable spirit makes this saga an oftentimes uplifting and joyous one. Quiet yet powerful, this Newbery Medal–winning book is sure to touch all who read it.

Caddie Woodlawn


Carol Ryrie Brink - 1935
    She'd rather hunt than sew and plow than bake, and tries to beat her brother's dares every chance she gets. Caddie is friends with Indians, who scare most of the neighbors -- neighbors who, like her mother and sisters, don't understand her at all. Caddie is brave, and her story is special because it's based on the life and memories of Carol Ryrie Brink's grandmother, the real Caddie Woodlawn. Her spirit and sense of fun have made this book a classic that readers have taken to their hearts for more than seventy years.

The Great Turkey Walk


Kathleen Karr - 1998
    . . turkeys?Big, brawny Simon Green, who's just completed third grade (for the fourth time), may not be book smart, but he's nobody's fool. When it's time to be done with school and make his way in the world, Simon hatches a plan that could earn him a bundle. He intends to herd a huge flock of bronze turkeysall the way from his home in eastern Missouri to the boomtown of Denver, where they'll fetch a mighty price. In the year 1860, the hazards of such a trek are many - how does one shepherd the birds across a river, for instance? - but Simon is undaunted. Accompanied by a faithful drover, and eventually to be joined by two boon companions, he undertakes the biggest journey of his young life, in this high-spirited Wild Wild West adventure by an acclaimed author of historical fiction.

A Girl Named Disaster


Nancy Farmer - 1996
    Before her twelfth birthday, Nhamo runs away to escape marriage to a cruel husband, and spends a year going from Zimbabwe to Mozambique. Alone on the river in a stolen boat, swept into the uncharted heart of a great lake, she battles drowning, starvation, wild animals.Orchard collectible editions have new designs, author prefaces and discussion guides.

Breaking Stalin's Nose


Eugene Yelchin - 2011
    He breaks a classmate's glasses with a snowball. He accidentally damages a bust of Stalin in the school hallway. And worst of all, his father, the best Communist he knows, was arrested just last night.This moving story of a ten-year-old boy's world shattering is masterful in its simplicity, powerful in its message, and heartbreaking in its plausibility.

Red Scarf Girl


Ji-li Jiang - 1997
    But it's also the year that China's leader, Mao Ze-dong, launches the Cultural Revolution—and Ji-li's world begins to fall apart. Over the next few years, people who were once her friends and neighbors turn on her and her family, forcing them to live in constant terror of arrest. And when Ji-li's father is finally imprisoned, she faces the most difficult dilemma of her life.

Trial and Triumph: Stories from Church History


Richard M. Hannula - 1999
    6:16). Christianity is a faith in love with history. God took on human flesh and dwelt among us. The Spirit carried that divine work over the centuries, providing courage and maturity even amid our imperfections.Christians find their true family line not through tribes and ethnic blood but in the bond of faithfulness and shed blood that has united our family for millennia. We too often view Church history as the story of obscure aliens instead of the lives of brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers.In this collection of forty-six brief biographies for children, Hannula sketches the stirring trials and triumphs of many famous and some lesser known figures in our family of faith—including Augustine, Charlemagne, Luther, Bunyan, and C.S. Lewis. Through them we can begin to enjoy the old paths and find rest for our souls.

A Long Way from Chicago


Richard Peck - 1998
    Join Joey and his sister Mary Alice as they spend nine unforgettable summers with the worst influence imaginable--their grandmother!

The Winged Watchman


Hilda van Stockum - 1962
    Every element of occupied Holland is united in a story of courage and hope: a hidden Jewish child, an "underdiver," a downed RAF pilot, an imaginative, daring underground hero, and the small things of family life which surprisingly carry on in the midst of oppression. The Verhagen family, who live in the old windmill called the Winged Watchman, are a memorable set of individuals whose lives powerfully demonstrate the resilience of those who suffer but do not lose faith.

Secret of the Andes


Ann Nolan Clark - 1952
    An Indian boy who tends llamas in a hidden valley in Peru learns the traditions and secrets of his Inca ancestors.

Madeleine Takes Command


Ethel C. Brill - 1946
    Harassed by Iroquois, the Verchere family's fort must keep a continual guard. 14-year-old Madeleine is left alone with two younger brothers and few others when the Indians attack. We follow the brave and determined stratagems of Madeleine and her small circle. Madeleine's youthful leadership, especially of her brothers, will win the reader's admiration.

The Trojan War


Olivia E. Coolidge - 1952
    Vibrant storytelling and finely wrought action have made her version of the classic tale of the Fall of Troy accessible to generations of young readers.

The Hundred Dresses


Eleanor Estes - 1944
    Wanda Petronski is ridiculed by her classmates for wearing the same faded blue dress every day. She claims she has one hundred dresses at home, but everyone knows she doesn’t. When Wanda is pulled out of school one day, the class feels terrible, and classmate Maddie decides that she is "never going to stand by and say nothing again." A gentle tale about bullies, bystanders, and having the courage to speak up.

Twenty and Ten


Claire Huchet Bishop - 1952
    Will the children be able to withstand the interrogation and harassment?

Pedro's Journal


Pam Conrad - 1991
    Pedro captured his experience between the pages of a journal. If he did not return alive perhaps someone, someday would find it and learn of his incredible journey to the New World.