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Product Description: When Pancho arrives at St. Anthony's Home, he knows his time there will be short: If his plans succeed, he'll soon be arrested for the murder of his sister's killer. But then he's assigned to help D.Q., whose brain cancer has slowed neither his spirit nor his mouth. D.Q. tells Pancho all about his "Death Warrior's Manifesto," which will help him to live out his last days fully — ideally, he says, with the love of the beautiful Marisol. As Pancho tracks down his sister's murderer, he finds himself falling under the influence of D.Q. and Marisol, who is everything D.Q.

It is still dark in Kabul, Afghanistan when the library bus rumbles out of the city. There are no bus seats ― instead there are chairs and tables and shelves of books. And there are no passengers ― instead there is Pari, who is nervously starting her first day as Mama's library helper. Author Bahram Rahman grew up in Afghanistan during years of civil war and the Taliban regime. He wrote this story to tell new generations about the struggles of women who, like his own sister, were forbidden to learn.

Opposing slavery in Cuba in the nineteenth century was dangerous. The most daring abolitionists were poets who veiled their work in metaphor. Of these, the boldest was Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda, nicknamed Tula. In passionate, accessible free verse, Engle evokes the voice of this book-loving feminist and abolitionist who bravely resisted an arranged marriage at the age of fourteen and was ultimately courageous enough to fight against injustice. Historical notes, excerpts, and source notes round out this exceptional tribute.

"Up on the altiplano, the littlest llama wants to have fun, but the other llamas are busy. He sets off on a short journey to find playmates, but something 'fierce and orange and round like the sun' (a child's ball) chases him, and he scurries home, frightened. There, a surprise awaits: a new baby llama to play with, and also, most important, Mama's comforting cuddle…Throughout, the text and art give a strong sense of llama behavior, from dust bathing to neck wrestling, and incorporate South American cultural elements." — Booklist

Shy takes the summer job to make some money.  But then, an earthquake more massive than any ever recorded hits California and Shy's life is changed forever. The earthquake is only the beginning. Twenty-four hours and a catastrophic chain of events later, Shy is lost at sea, fighting to survive — and stuck with her.
 

Young Laurence didn't really where he fit in. He thought of himself as American, especially since he didn't speak Chinese and couldn't understand his grandmother, who lived in Chinatown. But others saw him as different in the conformist American of the 1950s. In this engaging memoir, the two-time Newbery Honor author tells how writing helped him start to solve the puzzle.

Tien and his mother may come from different cultures — she's an immigrant from Vietnam still struggling with English; he’s been raised in America — but through the fairy tales he checks out from the local library, those differences are erased. But as much as Tien's mother’s English continues to improve as he reads her tales of love, loss, and travel across distant shores, there’s one conversation that still eludes him — how to come out to her and his father. Is there even a way to explain what he’s going through in Vietnamese?