Sitti's Bird

 

Sitti's Bird

Sitti's Bird: a Gaza Story by Malak Mattar

A recounting of her own lived experience growing up in occupied Palestine, the plot takes place during the 2014 airstrikes on Gaza when a little girl finds strength and hope through her painting. Malak goes to school, plays in the ocean, and visits her grandmother Sitti’s house on Fridays. Sitti keeps a white bird in a cage and the girl wonders if they, too, are in a cage. Her grandmother consoles her by encouraging her to fly in her dreams. One day bombings begin and Malak spends the next fifty days at home with her parents worrying and feeling scared, until one day she finds some paints and begins to create. Months later, an international art exhibit invites her to attend with her parents, but sadly she must decline, for Gaza is closed and she cannot leave. The focus of the book is the love and support of family throughout a heartbreaking ordeal, with themes of hope, freedom, and art expression. Art is shown as an escape and a strategy to keep dreams from completely dying. It’s a thoughtful, hopeful, age-appropriate introduction to events in Gaza for children aimed at grades 3-5. Even though children in Gaza suffer much worse, the author kept the story child-friendly.

Our Fort

Our Fort

Our Fort by Marie Dorléans 

It’s spring! Warm and green, the great outdoors beckons, especially when you’ve built a fort to play in with your friends. Our Fort is the story of three friends who set out one day to visit their secret fort at the edge of the woods. The weather looks fine, but no sooner have they left home and walked into the hills than the sun disappears behind the clouds. Crows fly by, calling, and the wind begins to blow. Suddenly the day turns into night. It’s a storm! Will the friends make it to shelter? Will their fort survive the storm? Marie Dorléans’s illustrations capture the sensory pleasures of nature, as well as its capriciousness, while her story reminds us of the simple joy of being with friends and sharing a great adventure.

My Night in the Planetarium: A true story about a child, a play, and the art of resistance

 

by Innosanto Nagara

There aren’t a lot of picture books that portray what it’s like for a child to live under dictatorship. Innosanto Nagara, the Indonesian-born graphic artist and acclaimed author/illustrator of A Is for Activist and Counting on Community, tells his own story of facing dictatorship and oppression in My Night in the Planetarium. At the age of seven, he watched his father, a playwright, put on plays that indirectly lampooned the corrupt and violent rulers of his country in the 1970s and 1980s. Sometimes the youngster acted in the plays. Ultimately, this love gives both parents and children the strength they need to survive and thrive in the most difficult of circumstances.

The Stray and the Strangers

The Stray and the Strangers

by Steven Heighton

Kanella is a scrawny orphan doggie who timidly slinks around the wharfs, waiting for scraps. Eventually settling uphill in a camp, the story of the refugee situation on the Greek island of Lesvos is told through the close perspective of Kanella, the dog with the white-socked paws, whose name means cinnamon. She helps out with the newcomers, bonds with a little boy, and grows quietly fat. When the refugee camp is dismantled, Kanella needs to find a new forever home ... and she does.

Based on a true story, Kanella was the heart of the largest ever refugee community of over 20,000.

Witches of Brooklyn

 Witches of Brooklyn

By Sophie Escabasse

When 11-year old Effie’s mother dies, she moves in with her two strange aunts who live together in a Brooklyn brownstone. Montreal-based author illustrator Sophie Escabasse delivers vivid images for this feelgood story. In the middle of one of her first nights staying there, Effie’s favourite singer and idol, Tilly Shoo, shows up at the house. Tilly has come for her aunts healing powers and at first Effie believes her aunts, Carlotta and Selimene, are acupuncturists and herbalists, but soon enough she realizes there may be magic at play. Is Effie magic, too? This is a delightful and warm fantasy graphic novel for ages 8-12.

The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane

The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane

By Julia Nobel

Emmy is a lonely kid.  Her mother, a so-called parenting expert, is so busy that she doesn’t have much time for Emmy.  Her father disappeared when she was three, and Emmy’s mother won’t talk about him – in fact, she has disposed of everything her father owned.

But there’s one exception.  Emmy finds a box tucked away in the attic.  It looks like a treasure box, and is filled with intricately carved medallions.  Emmy is certain that the box is a clue to her dad’s whereabouts, and she takes it for herself.  When Emmy learns that she is being sent to Wellsworth, a prestigious boarding school in England, she brings the box with her.

Wellsworth is different from any school she’s ever attended.  The old stone buildings and wind off the North Sea give it an air of mystery.  As Emmy becomes immersed in life at Wellsworth, she learns that many things are not what they seem.  Latin Society, for example, is much less a society for learning Latin and more of a clique that doesn’t want her around.  Her new friends, Lola and Jack, as well as some of the teachers, even suggest she quit the Latin Society.  But why?

As Emmy delves into the secrets of the Latin Society, she stumbles upon some shocking information – her father, Thomas, attended Wellsworth as well, but Emmy is warned not to speak of him.  Those in power at Wellsworth, it seems, have secrets that they don’t want uncovered – secrets that have something to do with Emmy’s father and his box of medallions.

Emmy and her two companions begin to realize that they are becoming involved in some very serious business.  In fact, their lives might be in danger.  But Emmy is determined to learn more about her father.  When Emmy, Lola and Jack discover a secret passageway, they know it will provide some answers.  But once they enter, will they get back out in one piece?

This suspenseful page-turner is a boarding school story at its best.  Mystery-lovers: don’t miss it!

The One and Only Ivan

The One and Only Ivan

By Katherine Applegate

Ivan is not your typical gorilla.  Although he is massive and strong like other silverbacks, he doesn’t have the opportunity to use his power to protect his family.  Ivan doesn’t live in the lush forests with other gorillas.  He lives at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall – in a small cage he calls a domain – and his best friends are Bob the dog and Stella the elephant.

Ivan can hardly recall the life he led as a young gorilla.  The only thing he remembers vividly is his sister, Tag, and the way she used to chase him playfully through the trees.  He misses Tag, but he loves Stella and Bob, and even Julia, a girl who comes to see him on a daily basis.  Ivan also loves to draw and paint, and Julia is fond of bringing him supplies.

When Ruby, a young elephant, arrives to share Stella’s cage, Ivan starts to realize that maybe life in the mall is not normal.  Maybe gorillas (and elephants) belong in wild places with their own kind.  As Ivan becomes more and more protective of Ruby, he vows to get her out of the mall – somehow.

The One and Only Ivan is a sad story.  Both Ivan and Ruby have lost their families because of the cruel actions of humans.  But there may just be some humans who are good and loving.  Will Ivan be able to convince those kind people to help him and the other animals?

Based in part on a true story, The One and Only Ivan might make you cry, but will also give you hope.  Maybe humans aren’t all bad.

The Vanderbeekers and the Hidden Garden

The Vanderbeekers and the Hidden Garden

By Karina Yan Glaser

Another run-of-the-mill summer has just started for Josie, Oliver, Hyacinth and Laney (a.k.a. the Vanderbeekers).  Their sister Isa is away at music camp, but otherwise things are pretty standard at their Harlem brownstone.

But when their beloved upstairs neighbour, Mr. Jeet, has a stroke, and his wife, Miss Josie, leaves to care for him at the hospital, the Vanderbeeker kids know they have to do something to help.  They embark on a project to turn an empty lot in their neighbourhood into a beautiful garden in honour of Miss Josie and Mr. Jeet.

Although the kids pour their heart and soul into the garden for weeks, they manage to keep it a secret from all the adults in their life.  After all, the empty lot does not belong to them and they’re not ready to reveal what they are doing with it.  When Mr. Huxley, a friend’s dad, tries to sell the land right out from under them, the Vanderbeekers are heartbroken.

Can they save the garden?  Can they motivate Mr. Jeet to get well again?

The Vanderbeekers and the Hidden Garden is a feel-good book about a very positive and loving family.  Reading this book may just inspire you to embark on a project all your own!

The Last

The Last

 by Katherine Applegate



The Last is book #1 in the Endling Series by Katherine Applegate.  

It is the story of Byx, the baby of her pack, and a member of the nearly extinct dairne species. Dairnes are dog-like creatures that have magical abilities and are able to glide when they spread their arms and expand their wings.

Byx returns home to find that her family has been hunted and killed, leaving her to be possibly the only one left of her kind. She is the Endling. Byx sets out quickly to avoid being hunted herself and to find somewhere safe to stay. 

Along the way, Byx meets up with new creatures of human and animal form and, for reasons of their own, join Byx in her quest to safety and to find other dairnes. This motley crew begins their journey as strangers, but as time goes on they become a kind of family, looking out for each other. 

They discover a secret plot in their kingdom of Nedarra that threatens every creature in their world. Will they be able to take on those that plot against them and save their kingdom?

The characters are magical, the setting is mystical and the story is adventurous. It is an exciting read with a good message about society and the need to respect each other. I can't wait for the next installment in the series!

Revenge On The Fly

Revenge On The Fly

  By Sylvia McNicoll

It’s the summer of 1912 and William Alton is traveling from Ireland to Canada to start a new life.  William and his father, Arthur, will be reunited with Will’s Uncle Charlie and Will is to start school.  The impoverished Altons have lost both Will’s mom and sister, Colleen, to disease, and their grief is palpable.

Life in Canada is difficult for Will and his father as they discover that many Canadians don’t like the Irish.  But soon Will learns of a contest that could change his life.

  

Dr. Roberts from the Health Department wants to spread the word that flies carry killer diseases like summer complaint and consumption – diseases that killed Will’s family.  As such, Dr. Roberts is starting a contest to find the child that can kill the most flies.  The winner will get $50!

 

Will is determined to win.  $50 – a large sum of money in 1912 -- would help his father buy a house.  But better yet, winning the contest would allow him to avenge the deaths of his mother and sister, and save other people from disease along the way.

As the contest progresses, Will must compete against his arch enemy, Fred Leckie.  But he also becomes friends with Ginny Malone and her family and Rebecca Edwards, all of whom are behind him 100%.  Eventually Will learns that friendship and family are more important than winning.

If you're looking for some Canadian historical fiction, Revenge On The Fly is a great place to start!