National Network for Equitable Library Service

Thirteen-year-old Jakob’s family has hidden their true identity as Jews and are living as Catholics in Budapest during WWII. One day, in a burst of loyalty, Jakob decides to reveal that he is Jewish, a choice that puts his whole family in danger. Jakob hopes his best friend Ivan, a Christian whose father is a high-ranking military official, will help his family, but he comes to believe that Ivan has abandoned them. Sent as a prisoner to Auschwitz, Jakob is kept alive by his passion for revenge against Ivan.

Bernadette continues her adventures with Annie, Keisha, and Megan, aka "The Lunch Bunch". Things are great until Bernadette ignores her new friends in favor of spending time with her old friend Jasmine. She then has to prove to the Lunch Bunch that she values their friendship. The follow-up to Bernadette and the Lunch Bunch.

By the prizewinning author of the classics Red is Best, The Bare Naked Book and Big or Little, this chapter book is about a man who spends every day in a school but who cannot read. Mr. Elliot has a job he loves. He is the custodian in a primary school. He is so useful to everyone that sometimes he sees himself as the king of the castle. But Mr. Elliot has a secret. He can't read. Using many excuses like pretending not to have his glasses, he has hidden his inability to read all of his life.

Yeny and her family have escaped from the violence in their mountain village in Colombia to live in the city. But danger remains all around her — from groups of armed men who have kidnapped her uncle to a scary bully at school. Yeny feels powerless until her new friends decide to organize a peace carnival. Before long, the peace movement has attracted young people from across the country, and they decide to hold a national vote for peace.

Peggy is starting to outgrow Notherland, the imaginary world she created as a child, and wants to cut her ties - not knowing it will destroy Notherland completely.

This hilarious sequel to Jeremy and the Aunties will entertain readers as they follow the antics of the aunties -- weird and wonderful old lady mannequins who come to life and take over the air waves of the local television station.

Meryl's mother was a great bard—a storyteller and musician who sang of life and the world around her. Meet Meryl, already an orphan, who wants to follow in her mother's footsteps. Highly spirited and curious, she has broken a sacred rule and has been suspended from her studies. Undaunted, Meryl decides to achieve her goal in a different way—she undertakes a special quest in search of the mythical Avalon. Her great adventure leads her to find her own true voice through music and song.

For ages 8+. The heroine, Gabi, recounts how as a young Jewish girl she lived on a family farm in Eastern Europe during the Second World War. She describes her community before the Nazi occupation and the events that unfolded afterwards. When the Nazis conducted house searches for Jewish children, Gabi successfully hid in the dining-room dresser. The only thing retrieved from the home after the war was the dresser that saved Gabi's life. It now sits in author Kathy Kacer's home in Toronto. Kacer is Gabi's daughter, and has based the story on her mother's experiences.

After years of being passed around to various relatives, Cassandra Jovanovich has found a home where she feels she belongs. All she wants to do is forget her past and pursue her dream of becoming an actress. But her new friend, Leanna Mets, "the most annoying person she has ever met," wants to know how Cassandra became an orphan, and encourages her to write her story. Cassandra’s memories reveal how the death of her grandmother and the cruelty of the other adults in her life turned her into the distrustful, secretive twelve-year-old she is.

When Poppy's supply teacher disdainfully calls her a "bird brain," Poppy turns into an imaginary bird. But the neighborhood cat soon threatens! Go on a bird's-eye journey of the imagination in this captivating fifth book in the series.