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Problems in Society
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Famine |
Homelessness |
Nuclear Weapons |
Pollution |
Poverty |
Racism |
Refugees |
Slavery |
Terrorism
s u b j e c t >>
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Famine
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Nory Ryan's Song
2000
by
Patricia Reilly Giff
When a terrible blight attacks Ireland's potato crop in 1845, twelve-year-old Nory's courage and ingenuity help her family and neighbors survive.
176 pages,
Grades 4-7
related subjects:
19th Century, Famine, Ireland
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b a c k t o t o p |
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Homelessness
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Alphabet of Dreams
2006
by
Susan Fletcher
In ancient Persia, Mitra and her little brother, Babak, scratch out a living by begging and stealing food, but Mitra knows they are exiled royals if they could only rejoin the rest of their family. Then they discover that Babak has a strange power, he can dream other people's dreams. They use this gift to gain money until they attract the attention of the wrong person.
304 pages,
Grades 7 and up
related subjects:
Homelessness, Middle East
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Room One: A Mystery or Two
2006
by
Andrew Clements
Ted loves to read mysteries, but when he sees a face in the window of the abandoned Anderson house, he becomes involved in a real-life mystery.
176 pages,
Grades 3-5
related subjects:
Detectives, Homelessness
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Mud City
2003
by
Deborah Ellis
Sequel to Parvana's Journey. Fourteen-year-old Shauzia dreams of seeing the ocean and eventually making a new life in France, but it is hard to reconcile that dream with the terrible conditions of the Afghan refugee camp where she lives.
176 pages,
Grades 4-7
related subjects:
Homelessness, Middle East, Refugees
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Milkweed
2003
by
Jerry Spinelli
A tale of heartbreak, hope, and survival through the bright eyes of a young orphan in Nazi-occupied Warsaw.
224 pages,
Grades 4-7
related subjects:
Jewish Holocaust, Survival, World War II, Homelessness
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Parvana's Journey
2002
by
Deborah Ellis
Sequel to The Breadwinner. Kabul, Afghanistan is in ruins. Parvana, separated from the rest of her family, sets out alone to find them. She meets other victims of war: an infant boy in a bombed-out village, a nine-year-old girl who thinks she has magic powers over landmines, and a boy with one leg. The strength of their bond helps them to survive the most desperate conditions.
176 pages,
Grades 4-7
related subjects:
Homelessness, Middle East, Refugees
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A Single Shard
2001
by
Linda Sue Park
Tree-ear, a thirteen-year-old orphan in medieval Korea, lives under a bridge in a potters' village, and longs to learn how to throw the delicate celadon ceramics himself.
192 pages,
Grades 4-7
related subjects:
Korea, Pottery, Homelessness
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The Midwife's Apprentice
1995
by
Karen Cushman
In 14th Century England, a nameless, homeless girl is taken in by a sharp-tempered midwife, and in spite of obstacles and hardship, eventually gains the three things she most wants: a full belly, a contented heart, and a place in this world.
128 pages,
Grade 4-7
related subjects:
14th-15th Century, Homelessness
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b a c k t o t o p |
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Nuclear Weapons
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Hiroshima
1995
by
Laurence Yep
Describes the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, particularly as it affects Sachi, who becomes one of the Hiroshima Maidens.
64 pages,
Grades 4 and up
related subjects:
Japan, Nuclear Weapons, World War II
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Hiroshima
1946, 1985 reissue
by
John Hersey
On August 6, 1945, Hiroshima was destroyed by the first atom bomb ever dropped on a city. Told through the memories of survivors, this book tells what happened on that day.
160 pages,
Grades 7 and up
related subjects:
Japan, Nuclear Weapons, World War II
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Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes
1977, 1999 reissue
by
Eleanor Coerr
Hospitalized with the dreaded atom bomb disease, leukemia, a child in Hiroshima races against time to fold one thousand paper cranes to verify the legend that by doing so a sick person will become healthy.
80 pages,
Grades 3-6
related subjects:
Japan, Nuclear Weapons
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b a c k t o t o p |
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Pollution
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You Can Save the Planet: 50 Ways You Can Make a Difference
2008
by
Jacqui Wines, Illus. by Sarah Horne
Smart, practical, and fun things you can do to make your home, school, neighborhood, and planet more environmentally friendly.
112 pages,
Grades 4-6
related subjects:
Pollution
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Flush
2005
by
Carl Hiaasen
Noah's dad is sure that the owner of the Coral Queen casino boat is flushing raw sewage into the harbor, which has made the local beach into toilet. He canıt prove it though, so he decides to sink the boat. But the boat is pumped out and back in business within days and Noahıs dad is stuck in jail. Now Noah is determined to prove that the Coral Queen is dumping illegally.
272 pages,
Grades 5 and up
related subjects:
Fathers, Pollution
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b a c k t o t o p |
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Poverty
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The Turning
2006
by
Gloria Whelan
In the months leading up to the August 1991 coup attempt that resulted in the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union, a young dancer with the Kirov Ballet struggles to decide whether to defect while on an upcoming trip to Paris.
224 pages,
Grades 5 and up
related subjects:
Russia, Poverty, Dancing
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Dust to Eat: Drought and Depression in the 1930's
2004
by
Michael L. Cooper
The 1930s in America will be remembered for twin disasters-the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. This book documents this tumultuous period, beginning with the 1929 stock market crash and continuing with the severe drought in the Midwest, chronicling the everyday struggle for survival by those who lost everything, as well as the mass exodus westward to California on Route 66.
96 pages,
Grades 4-7
related subjects:
Great Depression, Poverty, Drought
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The Wishing Moon
2004
by
Michael O. Tunnell
When beggar girl, Animah appeals to the princess for help, the black-hearted wife of Aladdin throws an old lamp at her head. The lamp holds a jinni who informs Aminah that she can make three wishes after each full moon. With the jinni's magic, Aminah regains security and comfort. But the power-hungry princess hunts down Aminah and the lamp.
272 pages,
Grades 4-7
related subjects:
Genies (or Djinn), Middle East, Poverty
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Dancing in Cadillac Light
2001
by
Kimberly Willis Holt
In 1968, eleven-year-old Jaynell's life in Texas is enlivened when her eccentric Grandpap comes to live with her family.
176 pages,
Grades 5 and up
related subjects:
Grandparents, Poverty
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Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
1976
by
Mildred D. Taylor
Cassie and her brothers do not understand the racism and discrimination they face as a black family living in Mississippi in the 1930s.
288 pages,
Grades 4-7
related subjects:
Great Depression, Poverty, Racism
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b a c k t o t o p |
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Racism
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So Long, Jackie Robinson
2007
by
Nancy L.M. Russell
Twelve-year-old Matthew moves to Montreal in the summer of 1946, and gets a job at the baseball stadium to watch Jackie Robinson break into the major league.
221 pages,
Grades 4-7
related subjects:
Racism, Baseball
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Satch and Me
2006
by
Dan Gutman
Many baseball players claim that Satchel Paige was the fastest pitcher in the history of the game. Stosh and his coach are on a mission to find out. With radar gun in tow, they travel back to 1942 and watch Satch pitch to power hitter Josh Gibson in the Negro League World Series.
192 pages,
Grades 4-6
related subjects:
Baseball, Racism
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Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two
2005
by
Joseph Bruchac
As a Navajo boy at American school, Ned Begay was punished for speaking Navajo, but when war broke out with Japan, the navajo language formed an unbreakbale code that saved many American lives.
240 pages,
Grades 6 and up
related subjects:
World War II, Racism
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Stormwitch
2005
by
Susan Vaught
In Mississippi in 1969, sixteen-year-old Ruba, trained by her Haitian grandmother in both voodoo and Amazonian war tactics, uses her skills to fight against racism and the African witch Zashar, coming ashore in the form of Hurricane Camille.
208 pages,
Grades 7 and up
related subjects:
Civil Rights Movement, Racism, Hurricanes
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Project Mulberry
2005
by
Linda Sue Park
While working on a project, Julia, a Korean-American, and her friend Patrick learn not just about silkworms, but about tolerance, prejudice, friendship, and patience.
240 pages,
Grades 4-7
related subjects:
Korea, Racism
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Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy
2004
by
Gary Schmidt
In 1911, Turner Buckminster hates his new home in Maine, but things improve when he meets Lizzie Bright, a girl from a from a poor, nearby island community founded by former slaves that the town fathers want to change to a tourist spot.
224 pages,
Grades 7 and up
related subjects:
Best Friends, Racism
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Witness
2001
by
Karen Hesse
Free-verse poems express the views of various people in a small Vermont town, including a young black girl and a young Jewish girl, during the early 1920s when the Ku Klux Klan is trying to infiltrate the town.
272 pages,
Grades 4-8
related subjects:
Racism
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Jackie and Me
1999
by
Dan Gutman
With his ability to travel through time by using baseball cards, Joe goes back to 1947 to meet Jackie Robinson, the man who broke baseball's color barrier.
160 pages,
Grades 4-6
related subjects:
Baseball, Racism
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Dragon's Gate
1994
by
Laurence Yep
Sequel to Mountain Light. When he accidentally kills a Manchu, a fifteen-year-old Chinese boy is sent to America to join his father and other Chinese working to build a tunnel for the transcontinental railroad through the Sierra Nevada mountains in 1867.
352 pages,
Grades 5 and up
related subjects:
China, 19th Century, Wild West Pioneers, Racism
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Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
1976
by
Mildred D. Taylor
Cassie and her brothers do not understand the racism and discrimination they face as a black family living in Mississippi in the 1930s.
288 pages,
Grades 4-7
related subjects:
Great Depression, Poverty, Racism
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Dragonwings
1975
by
Laurence Yep
Moon Shadow was eight when he sailed from China to join his father Windrider in America. Windrider lived in San Francisco's Chinatown and worked in a laundry. With Moon Shadow's help, Windrider was willing to endure the mockery of the other Chinese, the poverty, and the longing for his wife and his own country in order to make his dream come true.
256 pages,
Grades 4-7
related subjects:
China, Racism
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b a c k t o t o p |
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Refugees
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The Arrival
2007
by
Shaun Tan
This wordless graphic novel powerfully captures the immigrant experience.
128 pages,
Grades 5 and up
related subjects:
Refugees
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Dawn and Dusk
2007
by
Alice Mead
Thirteen-year-old Azad, a Kurdish boy living in Iran, tries desperately to cling to the life he has known, but the political situation in Iran during the war with Iraq, and Saddam Hussein's persecution of the Kurds forces his family to flee.
152 pages,
Grades 7 and up
related subjects:
Refugees, Middle East
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Under the Persimmon Tree
2005
by
Suzanne Fisher Staples
During the 2001 Afghan War, the lives of Najmah, a young refugee from Afghanaistan, and Nustrat, an American-Muslim teacher who is awaiting her husband's return from Mazar-i-Sharif, intersect at a school in Pakistan.
288 pages,
Grades 6 and up
related subjects:
Middle East, Refugees
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Fish
2004
by
L.S. Matthews
As fighting closes in on the village where Tiger's parents are aid workers, the three of them and native guide set out on a difficult journey to safety.
192 pages,
Grades 4-7
related subjects:
Survival, Refugees, Drought
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Escape from Saigon:How a Vietnam War Orphan Became an American Boy
2004
by
Andrea Warren
This book documents the true story of Long, a Vietnam War orphan, his struggle to survive in war-torn Vietnam, his dramatic escape to America as part of "Operation Babylift" during the last chaotic days before the fall of Saigon, and his life in the United States as "Matt," part of a loving Ohio family.
128 pages,
Grades 6 and up
related subjects:
Vietnam, Refugees
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Mud City
2003
by
Deborah Ellis
Sequel to Parvana's Journey. Fourteen-year-old Shauzia dreams of seeing the ocean and eventually making a new life in France, but it is hard to reconcile that dream with the terrible conditions of the Afghan refugee camp where she lives.
176 pages,
Grades 4-7
related subjects:
Homelessness, Middle East, Refugees
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Parvana's Journey
2002
by
Deborah Ellis
Sequel to The Breadwinner. Kabul, Afghanistan is in ruins. Parvana, separated from the rest of her family, sets out alone to find them. She meets other victims of war: an infant boy in a bombed-out village, a nine-year-old girl who thinks she has magic powers over landmines, and a boy with one leg. The strength of their bond helps them to survive the most desperate conditions.
176 pages,
Grades 4-7
related subjects:
Homelessness, Middle East, Refugees
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Goodbye, Vietnam
1992
by
Gloria Whelan
Thirteen-year-old Mai and her family embark on a dangerous sea voyage from Vietnam to Hong Kong to escape the unpredictable and often brutal Vietnamese government.
144 pages,
Grades 4 and up
related subjects:
Vietnam, Refugees
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Kiss the Dust
1992
by
Elizabeth Laird
Her father's involvement with the Kurdish resistance movement in Iraq forces thirteen-year-old Tara to flee with her family over the border into Iran, where they face an unknown future.
288 pages,
Grades 7 and up
related subjects:
Refugees, Middle East
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Return
1988
by
Sonia Levitin
Desta and the other members of her Falasha family, Jews suffering from discrimination in Ethiopia, finally flee the country and attempt the dangerous journey to Israel.
192 pages,
Grades 6 and up
related subjects:
Middle East, Refugees
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b a c k t o t o p |
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Slavery
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Elijah of Buxton
2007
by
Christopher Paul Curtis
In 1859, eleven-year-old Elijah Freeman, the first free-born child in Buxton, Canada, which is a haven for slaves fleeing the South, uses his wits to try to bring justice to the lying preacher who stole money that was saved to buy a family's freedom.
288 pages,
Grades 4-7
related subjects:
19th Century, Funny, Slavery
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Spilled Water
2004
by
Sally Grindley
On the day that her uncle takes her to be sold to the highest bidder, eleven-year-old Lu Si-Yan learns what it really means to be born a girl in her culture. Torn from her family, she is taken to the big city where she will become a servant to a wealthy family, and someday marry their son. But Lu Si-Yan is determined to return to her mother and brother, so she embarks on a journey to escape and find her way home.
224 pages,
Grades 5 and up
related subjects:
China, Slavery
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b a c k t o t o p |
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Terrorism
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Code Orange
2005
by
Caroline B. Cooney
When Mitty finds a smallpox scab in an envelope, he fears he may have contracted the disease, but when a terrorist group discovers his situation, they kidnap him to use the disease against innocent people.
208 pages,
Grades 6 and up
related subjects:
Disease Epidemics, Terrorism
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The Terrorist
1997
by
Caroline B. Cooney
When terrorist violence in London tears an American family apart, sixteen-year-old Laura becomes obsessed with finding her brother's killer.
208 pages,
Grades 5-7
related subjects:
Terrorism
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b a c k t o t o p |
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