Embedded Files
WALKERTOWN MIDDLE SCHOOL MEDIA CENTER
* Dive Into Books for Diverse Readers!*
All of these books are available in the WMS Media Center!
Growing up on the rough streets of Newark, New Jersey, Rameck, George,and Sampson could easily have followed their childhood friends into drug dealing, gangs, and prison. But when a presentation at their school made the three boys aware of the opportunities available to them in the medical and dental professions, they made a pact among themselves that they would become doctors.
It took a lot of determination—and a lot of support from one another—but despite all the hardships along the way, the three succeeded. Retold with the help of an award-winning author, this younger adaptation of the adult hit novel The Pact is a hard-hitting, powerful, and inspirational book that will speak to young readers everywhere.
The first three chapters in this book—Animal Dangers, Natural Dangers, and Human Hazards—describe what to do in a total of 24 specific emergencies. The fourth chapter, Basic Survival Skills, has 14 important tips on emergency preparedness and survival skills. The life-threatening scenarios include these examples:
How to escape from a bear
How to avoid being struck by lightning
How to escape from water in a car
Making a shelter & a fire
Finding food
Tying knots
Isabella lives in two worlds. She’s a double-backpack-carrying child of divorce, so she lives with her mom one week, and her dad the next. In addition, she’s bi-racial, and she sees herself as the caramel swirl milkshake that resulted from her mom’s vanilla and her dad’s chocolate ice cream.
Izzy is an accomplished pianist, and as she practices for a crucial recital, the black keys and the white keys of her life combine to create an unexpected symphony of race, terror, and finally peace.
While the event is disturbing, Draper writes with compassion and respect for the intelligence & emotional lives of young readers. This is Draper at her best, penning a current & ultimately uplifting story.
Esperanza thought she'd always live with her family on their ranch in Mexico, and that she'd always have fancy dresses, a beautiful home, and servants. But a sudden tragedy forces Esperanza and Mama to flee to California during the Great Depression, and to settle in a camp for Mexican farm workers. Esperanza isn't ready for the hard labor, financial struggles, or lack of acceptance she now faces. When their new life is threatened, Esperanza must find a way to rise above her difficult circumstance; Mama's life, and her own, depend on it.
"When I was a child, I always assumed my grandmother grew up in poverty because the stories she told were primarily about raising her children in farm labor camps in California in the 1930s. It wasn't until I was a young woman that she told me about her childhood in Mexico. I was so moved by her riches-to-rags fairytale that I felt compelled to share her story." — Pam Munoz Ryan.
Bruchac brings to life for young adults the stories of some of the unsung heroes of World War II — here, the young Navajo men who were a crucial part of the American effort in sending and receiving messages that used their native language.
After being taught in a boarding school run by whites that Navajo is a useless language, Ned Begay and other Navajo men are recruited by the Marines to become Code Talkers, sending messages during World War II in their native tongue."
“Readers who choose the book for the attraction of Navajo code talking and the heat of battle will come away with more than they ever expected to find.”—Booklist, starred review
Critically acclaimed nonfiction author Deborah Hopkinson pieces together the story of the TITANIC & that fateful April night, drawing on the voices of survivors & archival photographs.
Author Deborah Hopkinson weaves together the voices and stories of real TITANIC survivors &witnesses to the disaster -- from the stewardess Violet Jessop to Captain Arthur Rostron of the CARPATHIA, who came to the rescue of the sinking ship. Packed with heartstopping action, devastating drama, fascinating historical details, loads of archival photographs on almost every page, & quotes from primary sources, this gripping story follows the TITANIC and its passengers from the ship's celebrated launch at Belfast to its cataclysmic icy end.
The year is 1941. Krystia lives in a small Ukrainian village under the cruel — sometimes violent — occupation of the Soviets. So when the Nazis march into town to liberate them, many of Krystia's neighbors welcome the troops with celebrations, hoping for a better life. But conditions don't improve as expected. Krystia's friend Dolik and the other Jewish people in town warn that their new occupiers may only bring darker days.
The worst begins to happen when the Nazis blame the Jews for murders they didn't commit. As the Nazis force Jews into a ghetto, Krystia does what she can to help Dolik and his family. But what they really need is a place to hide. Faced with unimaginable tyranny and cruelty, will Krystia risk everything to protect her friends and neighbors?
Twelve-year-old Lanesha lives in a tight-knit community in New Orleans' Ninth Ward. She doesn't have a fancy house like her uptown family or lots of friends like the other kids on her street. But what she does have is Mama Ya-Ya, her fiercely loving caretaker, wise in the ways of the world and able to predict the future. So when Mama Ya-Ya's visions show a powerful hurricane — Katrina — fast approaching, it's up to Lanesha to call upon the hope and strength Mama Ya-Ya has given her to help them both survive the storm.
Ninth Ward is a deeply emotional story about transformation and a celebration of resilience, friendship, and family — as only love can define it. 2011 Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book
This is the amazing true story of four African-American female mathematicians at NASA who helped achieve some of the greatest moments in our space program.
Before John Glenn orbited the earth, or Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of dedicated female mathematicians known as "human computers" used pencils, slide rules, and adding machines to calculate the numbers that would launch rockets, and astronauts, into space.
This book brings to life the stories of Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden, four African-American women who lived through the civil rights era, the Space Race, the Cold War, and the movement for gender equality, and whose work forever changed the face of NASA and the country.
The uplifting, amazing true story—a New York Times bestseller!
June 6, 1944. D-Day.
Nearly 160,000 troops crossed the English Channel to invade German-occupied France, most of them from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. Thousands more in France fought the Nazis at home. It was a day of unprecedented unity and cooperation.
But many people played heroic roles on D-Day only to return to lives after the war filled with prejudice, segregation, and injustice. Algerian Muslim soldiers fought in the French Resistance and the Free French Army, only to have to wage a bloody war for independence after the war. Jewish soldiers fighting for the liberation of concentration camps dealt with anti-Semitism among the very men who fought alongside them. African-American soldiers fought on the beaches at D-Day but remained segregated from white soldiers throughout the war, and returned home to find German prisoners of war treated better than they were in their hometowns.
Their stories and others are told in Allies, a novel that, like D-Day itself, proves we are stronger together.
Three different kids.
One mission in common: ESCAPE.
Josef is a Jewish boy in 1930s Nazi Germany. With the threat of concentration camps looming, he and his family board a ship bound for the other side of the world…
Isabel is a Cuban girl in 1994. With riots and unrest plaguing her country, she and her family set out on a raft, hoping to find safety and freedom in America…
Mahmoud is a Syrian boy in 2015. With his homeland torn apart by violence and destruction, he and his family begin a long trek toward Europe…
All three young people will go on harrowing journeys in search of refuge. All will face unimaginable dangers–from drownings to bombings to betrayals. But for each of them, there is always the hope of tomorrow. And although Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud are separated by continents and decades, surprising connections will tie their stories together in the end.
She lost her arm in a shark attack and nearly died, but she never lost her faith. Now a major motion picture, "Soul Surfer" is the moving story of Bethany Hamilton's triumphant return to competitive surfing and has continued to be a beacon of inspiration to all who hear it.
They say Bethany Hamilton has saltwater in her veins. How else could one explain the passion that drives her to surf? Or that nothing — not even the loss of her arm — could come between her and the waves?
"When can I surf again?" was the first thing Bethany asked after her emergency surgery, leaving no doubt that her spirit and determination were part of a greater story — a tale of personal empowerment and spiritual grit that shows the body is no more essential to surfing, perhaps even less so, than the soul.
Click book cover for movie trailer. Motion picture is based on the book.
The last place on earth Taylor Sorenson wants to be is in Saigon in the middle of the Vietnam War. His mom dragged him here to visit his dad, who's stationed at the US embassy, and Taylor is bored out of his skull.
One night, during an embassy dinner, he decides to sneak out to see the Tet celebrations in the city. But before he makes it very far, fighting erupts across all of South Vietnam — and Taylor is captured by the North Vietnamese Army.
Realizing he could be an important bargaining chip, the NVA decides to move Taylor to the north. The only way there is the Ho Chi Ming Trail, a series of dangerous paths that snake from South Vietnam through Laos and Cambodia before finally reaching North Vietnam. But thousands have died on the trail, and Taylor doesn't know what's waiting for him at the end.
What follows is a harrowing journey during one of the most controversial wars in US history, where one boy is forced to confront the true cost of war, and what it really means to survive.
A memoir of the Civil Rights Movement from one of its youngest heroes...
As the youngest marcher in the 1965 voting rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Albama, Lynda Blackmon Lowery proved that young adults can be heroes.
Jailed eleven times before her fifteenth birthday, Lowery fought alongside Martin Luther King, Jr. for the rights of African-Americans.
In this memoir, she shows today’s young readers what it means to fight nonviolently (even when the police are using violence, as in the Bloody Sunday protest) and how it felt to be part of changing American history.
Straightforward and inspiring, this beautifully illustrated memoir brings readers into the middle of the Civil Rights Movement.
Critically acclaimed Sibert Honor author Deborah Hopkinson brings to bold life the remarkable story of the Danish resistance and rescue of over 7,000 Jews during WWII. When the Nazis invaded Denmark on Tuesday, April 9, 1940, the people of this tiny country to the north of Germany awoke to a devastating surprise. The government of Denmark surrendered quietly, and the Danes were ordered to go about their daily lives as if nothing had changed. But everything had changed.
Award-winning author Deborah Hopkinson traces the stories of the heroic young men and women who would not stand by as their country was occupied by a dangerous enemy. Rather, they fought back. Some were spies, passing tactical information to the British; some were saboteurs, who aimed to hamper and impede Nazi operations in Denmark; and 95% of the Jewish population of Denmark were survivors, rescued by their fellow countrymen, who had the courage and conscience that drove them to act.
With her talent for digging deep in her research and weaving real voices into her narratives, Hopkinson reveals the thrilling truth behind one of WWII's most daring resistance movements.
When a young girl gains confidence from her failures and strength from what her community dreads most, life delivers magic and hope. Stella Mills and her brother Jojo witness the Ku Klux Klan burning a cross late one starry night, setting off a chain reaction that leaves their entire community changed. During the Depression, North Carolina was less than hospitable for African-Americans forced to work more to earn less while being deprived of basic human rights. Through the perspective of Stella, young readers glimpse the nearly suffocating anguish that envelops this black community, illuminating the feelings associated with suppression. In a telling passage, Stella's mother attempts to comfort her: " 'It's gonna be all right,' her mother whispered as she smoothed down Stella's hair. But Stella felt the tension in her mother's arms, and she knew that in reality, fear hugged them both."
Draper expertly creates a character filled with hope, dreams and ambition in a time when such traits were dangerous for a girl of color.. A tale of the Jim Crow South that's not sugar-coated but effective, with a trustworthy narrator who opens her heart and readers' eyes.
Rena Finder was only eleven when the Nazis forced her and her family — along with all the other Jewish families — into the ghetto in Krakow, Poland. Rena worked as a slave laborer with scarcely any food and watched as friends and family were sent away.
Then Rena and her mother ended up working for Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who employed Jewish prisoners in his factory and kept them fed and healthy. But Rena's nightmares were not over. She and her mother were deported to the concentration camp Auschwitz. With great cunning, it was Schindler who set out to help them escape.
Here in her own words is Rena's gripping story of survival, perseverance, tragedy, and hope. Including pictures from Rena's personal collection and from the time period, this unforgettable memoir introduces young readers to an astounding and necessary piece of history.
Justyce McAllister is a good kid, an honor student, and always there to help a friend-but none of that matters to the police officer who just put him in handcuffs.
Justyce looks to the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for answers. But do they hold up anymore?
He starts a journal to Dr. King to find out.
“Vivid and powerful.” -Booklist, Starred Review
(Rec: 8th grade)
READING EMPOWERS & REFRESHES THE MIND LIKE WATER NOURISHES & SUSTAINS OUR BODIES.
In the years between 1939 and 1945, the world was plunged into a devastating global conflict.
From the children in bombed-out cities who were evacuated to the countryside, to the civilians working in munition factories, and the soldiers fighting on land, sea, and air, this book provides an incredible overview of this momentous time in our history. Learn how the war led to advances in technology, medicine, and weaponry, along with special features including life inside a U-boat and spy techniques. A dynamic design and full-color illustrations throughout help readers imagine what it was like for the brave men, women, and children who lived, and died, during World War II.
For Jews in Nazi-occupied Paris, every day brings new dangers. So when Odette's father is thrown into a work camp and the Nazis suspect her mother of helping the Resistance, Odette is sent to the French countryside. Inspired by the life of the real Odette Meyer, this moving free-verse novel is a story of triumph over adversity.
Today’s children are told never to keep secrets. But what if your life depends on it? What if you learn to lie so well that you start to forget who you really are? And if that happens, how will you find your true self again?
Odette Meyers was a Jewish child who survived WWII in France by hiding in plain sight. Many of the 84% of Jewish children saved in that country lived through the war in this way. This historical novel “is a gentle introduction to a dark period.”
Malala Yousafzai was only ten years old when the Taliban took control of her region. They said music was a crime. They said women weren't allowed to go to the market. They said girls couldn't go to school.
Malala Yousafzai was only ten years old when the Taliban took control of her region. They said music was a crime. They said women weren't allowed to go to the market. They said girls couldn't go to school.
Raised in a once-peaceful area of Pakistan transformed by terrorism, Malala was taught to stand up for what she believes. So she fought for her right to be educated. And on October 9, 2012, she nearly lost her life for the cause: she was shot point-blank while riding the bus home from school. No one expected her to survive.
Now Malala is an international symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest ever Nobel Peace Prize winner. Read the remarkable firsthand story of a girl who knew from a young age that she wanted to change the world—and did. Malala's powerful story will open readers' eyes to another world and will make them believe in hope, truth, miracles, and the possibility that one person—one young person—can inspire change in her community and beyond.
This Young Readers Edition of her bestselling memoir has been reimagined specifically for a younger audience and includes exclusive photos and material.
Page updated
Report abuse