During World War Two, an Englishman named Nicholas Winton anonymously saved the lives of 669 Jewish children living in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia by arranging visas and finding foster homes for each one.
The book tells the story through the experience of Vera, one of the children saved by Mr. Winton. While he never told anyone about his actions, years later, his wife found the records and arranged a surprise meeting between Nicholas and dozens of the children, now middle-aged adults, whose lives he saved. I was brought to tears reading it, not just the first time, but when I re-read it prior to writing this.
A heartwarming book and an amazing story about the good one compassionate person can do.
In 1938, twenty-nine-year-old Nicholas Winton saved the lives of almost 700 children trapped in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia-a story he never told and that remained unknown until an unforgettable TV appearance in the 1980s reunited him with some of the children he saved.
Czech-American artist, MacArthur Fellow and Andersen Award winner Peter Sis dramatises Winton's story in this distinctive and deeply personal picture book. He intertwines Nicky's efforts with the story of one of the children he saved-a young girl named Vera, whose family enlisted Nicky's aid when the Germans occupied their country. As the war passes and Vera grows up, she…
Ruby Finley is a gifted child with an interest in science...particularly entomology, or the study of insects.
One day she discovers a new species of bug. Men from the government appear almost immediately. They tell her it is an invasive species that must be eradicated, but she suspects things are not as they seem. Is it simply an ecological threat? Or a full-blown alien invasion?
I loved this book for Ruby. She’s a delightful protagonist that I think would be best friends with my own main character, Dotty Morgan.
Eleven-year-old Ruby is a Black girl who loves studying insects, much to the grossed-out dismay of her Gramma and the pride of her parents. So when she finds the weirdest insect she's ever seen in her front yard, she makes sure Gramma isn't looking and captures it for further study.
But then Ruby realizes that the creature isn't just a rare insect. It's an alien bug. And it has promptly burned a hole through her window and disappeared. Soon things around the neighborhood go missing, and no one's heard from the old lady down the street for a week. Ruby…
Addie is a young, autistic girl in Scotland. She learns dozens of women were executed for witchcraft right in her own village. She is horrified even though it took place hundreds of years before.
Addie feels a kinship with the women and becomes determined to create a memorial for them. Unfortunately, other than her big sister and her best friend, no one else understands her passion for women who died so long ago.
The story is written in first person, and is an #ownvoices book, as the author, Elle McNicoll, is autistic herself. Neurodiverse people are under-represented in literature, but A Kind of Spark helps readers see that autistic people can be the heroes of their own stories.
Perfect for readers of Song for a Whale and Counting by 7s, a neurodivergent girl campaigns for a memorial when she learns that her small Scottish town used to burn witches simply because they were different.
"A must-read for students and adults alike." -School Library Journal, Starred Review
Ever since Ms. Murphy told us about the witch trials that happened centuries ago right here in Juniper, I can’t stop thinking about them. Those people weren’t magic. They were like me. Different like me.
I’m autistic. I see things that others do not. I hear sounds that they can ignore. And…
When a potato pilfering phantom targets Elderton, twelve-year-old supernatural sleuth, Dotty Morgan, takes the case. Her investigation uncovers a plot to enslave the townspeople. Dotty must identify the culprit before it is too late. Complicating matters are the bullies who harass Dotty at every opportunity, the adults who won’t listen to her, and her crush on the dangerous new girl, Hannah.
The Case of the French Fry Phantom is book one of the Dotty Morgan Supernatural Sleuth Series.
