Country/ Region

Author

Title

Annotation

Afghanistan

Ellis, Deborah

Parvana’s Journey

640L

Sequel to the popular read aloud from seventh grade social studies- The Breadwinner. After her father's death, Parvana, now thirteen-years-old, continues to search for her mother in war-torn Afghanistan

Africa

Mikaelsen, Ben

Countdown

 650L

When 14-year-old Elliot Schroeder is selected by NASA to be the first Junior Astronaut, he has no way of knowing the profound effect it will have on Vincent Ole Tome, a Maasai herder who is also 14 years old. An unexpected event puts the boys in contact via short-wave radio, and an African drought and an in-space emergency bring about a climactic fact-to-face meeting.

Africa

St. John, Lauren

The White Giraffe

940L

The night Martine Allen turns eleven years old is the night her life changes completely. Martine’s parents are killed in a fire, so she must leave her home to live on an African wildlife reserve with a grandmother she never even knew she had. When Martine arrives, she hears tales of a mythical animal living there?a white giraffe.

Guatemala

Pellegrino, Marge

Journey of Dreams

Thirteen-year-old Tomasa’sK’iche’ Indian family live in the highlands of Guatemala, where the government campaign against indigenous peoples is intensifying—and terrifying. After Tomasa’s older brother narrowly escapes conscription, he and her mother—who has publicly criticized the government and growers for toxic spraying in nearby fields—must disappear for their own safety.

Guatemala

Mikaelsen, Ben

Sparrow Hawk Red

620L

When thirteen-year-old Ricky Diaz discovers that his mother was actually murdered by drug dealers, he's desperate for revenge. But his father, a former drug enforcement agent, refuses the mission the DEA now offers: to steal an airplane with an American-made radar detector that the cartel uses to smuggle drugs from Mexico.

Guatemala

Mikaelsen, Ben

Red Midnight

690L

When guerrilla soldiers strike Santiago's village, they destroy everything in their path -- including his home and family. Santiago and his four-year-old sister escape, running for their lives.

India

Keeping Corner

Sheth, Kashmira

760L

Pretty as a peacock, twelve-year-old Leela has been spoiled all her life by everyone in her Gujarat village. She’s never been interested in school and barely takes notice of the growing unrest between the British colonists and her own countrymen.  Why should she? Her future has been planned since her engagement at two and marriage at nine. And now, as the day she moves in with her husband’s family draws near, she’s too busy collecting bangles and ribbons to care about much else.

India

Boys without Names

Sheth

670L

Trapped.

For eleven-year-old Gopal and his family, life in their rural Indian village is over: We stay, we starve, his baba has warned. They flee to the big city of Mumbai in hopes of finding work and a brighter future. Gopal is eager to help support his struggling family, so when a stranger approaches him with the promise of a factory job, he jumps at the offer.

Mexico

Alegria, Malin

Estrella’sQuinceanera

690L

Estrella's mother and aunt are planning a gaudy, traditional quinceañera for her, even though it is the last thing she wants.

Mexico

Paulsen, Gary

The Crossing

1150L

Thirteen-year-old Manny, a street kid fighting for survival in a Mexican border town, develops a strange friendship with an emotionally disturbed American soldier who decides to help him get across the border.

Pakistan

Staples, Suzanne Fisher

Shabanu, Daughter of the Wind

670L

  In a year that brings several disasters, Shabanu, the 11-year-old daughter of a nomad, becomes a victim of her people's view of sex role.

Sri Lanka

Perkins, Mitali

Monsoon Summer

750L

Secretly in love with her best friend and business partner Steve, fifteen-year-old Jazz must spend the summer away from him when her family goes to India during that country's rainy season to help set up a clinic.

Burma

Perkins, Mitali

Bamboo People

Bang! A side door bursts open.

Soldiers pour into the room. They're shouting and waving rifles.

I shield my head with my arms. It was a lie! I think, my mind racing.

Girls and boys alike are screaming. The soldiers prod and herd some of us together and push the rest apart as if we're cows or goats.

Their leader, though, is a middle-aged man. He's moving slowly, intently, not dashing around like the others. "Take the boys only, Win Min," I overhear him telling a tall, gangly soldier. "Make them obey."