Where the streets had a name by
"Thirteen-year-old Hayaat is on a mission. She believes a handful of soil from her grandmother's ancestral home in Jerusalem will save her beloved Sitti Zeynab's life. The only problem is the impenetrable wall that divides the West Bank, as well as the check points, the curfews, the permit system and Hayaat's best-friend Samy, who is mainly interested in football and the latest elimination on X-Factor, but always manages to attract trouble. But luck is on their side. Hayaat and Samy have a curfew-free day to travel to Jerusalem. However, while their journey may only be a few kilometres long, it may take a lifetime to complete."--Provided by publisher.
A Long Walk to Water by
The book is written as two concurrent stories that take place almost 25 years apart. They're tied together by their location, the Sudan. There are two main characters, young Nya, a girl in contemporary Sudan whose sole job is to walk miles across the blazing, barren countryside twice a day to fetch muddy water. Her job, in other words is to keep her family alive. The other character, Salva, is one of the "lost boys" separated from his family by the civil war in 1985.
The River and the book by
In our village we had two treasures: the River, which was our road and our god; and the Book, which was our history, our oracle and our soul. Simbala is a Keeper of the Book, the latest in a long line of women who can read the Book to find answers to the villagers' questions. As developers begin to poison the river on which the villagers rely, the Book predicts change. But this does not come in the form that they expect; it is the sympathetic Westerner who comes to the village who inflicts the greatest damage of all.
Trouble Tomorrow by
Obulejo, a sixteen-year-old Madi boy, is asleep when the town is attacked by Rebel troops. Separated from family, Obulejo flees on a terrifying journey. Once across the border in a refugee camp, he is safer but has no future -- until he joins a pioneering peace education program and begins to find ways to create a more hopeful life for himself and others.
No ballet shoes in Syria by
Aya is eleven years old and has just arrived in Britain with her mum and baby brother, seeking asylum from war in Syria. When Aya stumbles across a local ballet class, the formidable dance teacher spots her exceptional talent and believes that Aya has the potential to earn a prestigious ballet scholarship. But at the same time, Aya and her family must fight to be allowed to remain in the country, to make a home for themselves, and to find Aya's father - separated from the rest of the family during the journey from Syria.
The Heaven Shop by
Compelling and uplifting, The Heaven Shop is a contemporary novel for young people that puts a very real face on the African AIDS pandemic. Binti is a complex character who readers will never forget. There is a lion in our village, and it is carrying away our children.
Binti was the child star of a popular radio program in Malawi. She always believed she was special, but now she is nothing. Now she is just another AIDS orphan. But Binti Phiri is not about to give up. If she and her brother and sister are to be together, Binti will have to look outside herself and find a new way to be special.
Emilio by
A moving novel about one teenager's life in the middle of the drug war in Mexico.