Shanta
by Marie Thøger
A sensitive, beautifully descriptive story of a twelve-year-old Indian girl's first visit to a big city, and the tragedy lying in wait for her family. A girl from a small village in India tells of the tragic and happy year she was "twelve rainy seasons old," when the joys of a trip to a harvest festival and her betrothal are offset by the cruelty of her parent's death and the strenuous demands of tending the annual rice crop. Translated from the Danish. [goodreads]
The Silver Sword
by Ian Serraillier
The silver sword became the symbol of hope and courage which kept four deserted and starving children alive through the years of occupation, and afterwards on the search to find their parents and is based on a true story. [goodreads]
Leon
by Helen Griffiths
For Leon there could only be one master. The large, part sheep-dog mongrel gave his allegiance to Hilario, the boy who had once saved his life. Set during the Spanish Civil War. [goodreads]
The Wheel on the School
by Meindert DeJong
Why do the storks no longer come to the little Dutch fishing village of Shora to nest? It was Lina, one of the six schoolchildren who first asked the question, and she set the others to wondering. And sometimes when you begin to wonder, you begin to make things happen. So the children set out to bring the storks back to Shora. The force of their vision put the whole village to work until at last the dream began to come true. [goodreads]
