Jean Little's poignant novel about an abandoned girl, and the dog who helps teach her how to trust again. Ten-year-old Min has had a long history of foster care since she was abandoned at age three. Now, let go by yet another foster family, Min continues to build a protective wall around herself. Her newest caregiver, a former Children's Aid doctor, sees past Min's hardened shell and tries to find a way to reach her...and does, finally, by taking in a sick, neglected dog that has escaped from a puppy mill. While watching the dog recover and open its heart to its new owners, Min comes out of her own shell. Readers will rejoice as Min opens her heart and allows herself to be a part of a loving family, to make friends and to finally stand up to the taunts of a bully, whose hurtful words have contributed to her lack of self-esteem.

Named a Notable Translated Book of the Year by World Literature Today A poignant and unexpectedly inspirational account of women’s suffering and resilience in Stalin’s forced labor camps, diligently transcribed in the kitchens and living rooms of nine survivors. The pain inflicted by the gulags has cast a long and dark shadow over Soviet-era history. Zgustová’s collection of interviews with former female prisoners not only chronicles the hardships of the camps, but also serves as testament to the power of beauty in face of adversity. Where one would expect to find stories of hopelessness and despair, Zgustová has unearthed tales of the love, art, and friendship that persisted in times of tragedy. Across the Soviet Union, prisoners are said to have composed and memorized thousands of verses. Galya Sanova, born in a Siberian gulag, remembers reading from a hand-stitched copy of Little Red Riding Hood. Irina Emelyanova passed poems to the male prisoner she had grown to love. In this way, the arts lent an air of humanity to the women’s brutal realities. These stories, collected in the vein of Svetlana Alexievich’s Nobel Prize-winning oral histories, turn one of the darkest periods of the Soviet era into a song of human perseverance, in a way that reads as an intimate family history.

Young dancer Sofia wakes up to a quiet, white world--it's a snow day! She makes her way outside to the neighborhood park, where a field awaits her, white and shining and open. It isn't long before the rest of the neighborhood wakes its sleepy head--and the other kids make their way to the park, scattering all of Sofia's beautiful silence. But with the help of a new young friend, Sofia is ready to show everyone what a snow dancer can do on a perfect day like this. With lyrical language and gorgeous art, this book sparkles with all the joy and beauty of a snow day.

Rabbit’s Snow Dance Master storytellers Joseph and James Bruchac present a hip and funny take on an Iroquois folktale about the importance of patience, the seasons, and listening to your friends. Pair it with other stories about stubborn animals like Karma Wilson’s Bear Wants More and Verna Aardema’s Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears. Rabbit loves the winter. He knows a dance, using an Iroquois drum and song, to make it snow—even in summertime! When rabbit decides that it should snow early, he starts his dance and the snow begins to fall. The other forest animals are not happy and ask him to stop, but Rabbit doesn’t listen. How much snow is too much, and will Rabbit know when to stop? The father-son duo behind How Chipmunk Got His Stripes, Raccoon’s Last Race, and Turtle’s Race with Beaver present their latest retelling of Native American folklore. “The telling is sprightly, and Newman's ink-and-watercolor artwork makes an ideal companion. An appealing addition to folktale shelves.” —Booklist “This modern retelling maintains [the Bruchacs’] solid reputation for keeping Native American tales fresh.” —School Library Journal “The picturesque language makes it a pleasure to read aloud.”—BCCB

Dancing in the white room is slang for skiing or boarding in deep powder snow. The dancer is PD Bell, one of the best extreme skiers on the planet. Mallory Prescott, the woman who lives with him and loves him, is used to Bell's exploits. A patrolwoman at Whiteface Mountain near Lake Placid, New York, Mallory is no stranger to risk, but this time Bell is taking on the West Rib of Denali, highest and most dangerous mountain in North America. It's a descent that has never been done, though it's been tried. Five years ago, Bell tried it. The attempt nearly killed him. Five years ago he promised Mallory he wouldn't try again. Over the six weeks in which he's gone, Mallory begins to question her relationship with Bell. Does he really love her? Is he in it for the duration? What has loving him cost her? Mallory's life choices are thrown into stark relief when her daughter Emily takes a terrible fall. Together with her lifelong friend, Creech Creches, she must work her way through a maze of uncharted territory at a hospital miles from home. Dancing in the White Room is the story of the love we keep, the price we pay for that love, and the forgiveness it takes to hold on to what is precious.

In 1985 Massachusetts, fifth-grader Annie wants to shape her own future but as the youngest of nine, she is held back by her hand-me-down clothing, a crippling case of dyslexia, and a dark family secret.

"Will must find her way after she's plucked out of a wonderful life in Zimbabwe and forced to go to boarding school in England."--Provided by publisher.