Synopsis: A Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Honor WinnerAt the outset of World War II, Denmark did not resist German occupation. Deeply ashamed of his nation's leaders, fifteen-year-old Knud Pedersen resolved with his brother and a handful of schoolmates to take action against the Nazis if the adults would not. Naming their secret club after the fiery British leader, the young patriots in the Churchill Club committed countless acts of sabotage,…

Synopsis: 2013 Laura Ingalls Wilder AwardMeli Lleshi is positive that her drawing of her teacher with his pelican nose started it all. The Lleshis are Albanians living in Kosovo, a country trying to fight off Serbian oppressors, and suddenly they are homeless refugees. Old and young alike, they find their courage tested by hunger, illness, the long, arduous journey, and danger on every side. Then, unexpectedly, they are brought to America by a church…

Synopsis: For readers of Unbroken and Flags of Our Fathers, The Mailbox is a sympathetic portrayal of veterans and the burdens they carry throughout their lives.   Vernon Culligan had been dead to the town of Draydon, Virginia, so long that when the crusty Vietnam vet finally died, only one person noticed. Twelve-year-old Gabe grew up in the foster care system until a social worker located his Uncle Vernon two years before. When he comes home to discover…

Synopsis: A Gathering of Days is Joan W. Blos' novel that serves as a fictional version of a New England girl's journal.The journal of a 14-year-old girl, kept the last year she lived on the family farm, records daily events in her small New Hampshire town, her father's remarriage, and the death of her best friend.

Synopsis: Follow a brother and sister in this coming-of-age tale filled with heart, history, and just the right amount of trouble!When Joey and his sister Mary Alice leave Chicago to spend the summer with their Grandma Dowdel, they expect a quiet visit in a sleepy country town. Instead, they get nine summers of jaw-dropping surprises, laugh-out-loud mischief, and moments that will change them forever. Grandma may be older than dirt and tougher than a…

Synopsis: He is a motherless child, a coal miner, a circus star, a con artist, a seer, a hero, and a survivor. This is the tale of Billy Creekmore, a young boy with mystifying powers and the gift of storytelling. But his life in the Guardian Angels Orphanage is cruel and bleak, and when a stranger comes to claim Billy, he sets off on an extraordinary journey. From the coal mines of West Virginia to the world of a traveling circus, he searches for…