Why is a girl forbidden to read or receive an education? This story about a Muslim girl bound by traditional Islamic customs but who yearns for something more explores women’s rights, freedom, religion, and identity. In the Libyan city of Ghadames, Malika watches her merchant father depart on one of his caravan expeditions. She too yearns to travel to distant cities, and longs to learn to read like her younger brother. But nearly 12 years old, and soon to be of marriagable age, Malika knows that—like all Muslim women—she must be content with a more secluded, more limited life. Then one night a stranger enters her home . . . someone who disrupts the traditional order of things—and who affects Malika in unexpected ways. “I was enchanted by this story of a brave Berber girl who dares to dream and its filigree of details about harem life, ancient trade routes, goddesses and healers. The real beauty of The Shadows of Ghadames is that it transcends the exotic to explore universal truths about the condition of being human.”—Suzanne Fisher Staples, author of the Newbery Honor Book Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind *“Stolz invigorates her tale with elegant prose and a deft portrayal of a girl verging on adolescence. The vivid backdrop is intoxicating, but the story’s universal concerns will touch readers most.”—Booklist, Starred

In the spirit of their last collaboration, Apartheid and Racism in South African Children's Literature, 1985-1995, Yulisa Amadu Maddy and Donnarae MacCann once again come together to expose the neo-imperialist overtones of contemporary children's fiction about Africa. Examining the portrayal of African social customs, religious philosophies, and political structures in fiction for young people, Maddy and MacCann reveal the Western biases that often infuse stories by well-known Western authors. In the book's introductory section, Maddy and MacCann offer historical information concerning Western notions of Africa as "primitive," and then present background information about the complexity of feminism in Africa and about the ongoing institutionalization of racism. The main body of the study contains critiques of the novels or short stories of eleven well-known writers, including Isabel Allende and Nancy Farmer--all demonstrating that children's literature continues to mis-represent conditions and social relations in Africa. The study concludes with a look at those short stories of Beverley Naidoo which bring insight and historical accuracy to South African conflicts and emerging solutions. Educators, literature professors, publishers, professors of Diaspora and African studies, and students of the mass media will find Maddy and MacCann’s critique of racism in the representation of Africa to be indispensible to students of multicultural literature.

Learn all about Middle Eastern culture and how to use that literature in K-12 schools to promote understanding. • Use this one-stop resource for information on Middle Eastern culture and literature • Share this resource with classroom teachers to make your school more inclusive and culturally responsive • Chapters provide background information about the countries and peoples of the place, literature related to the region and to the major ethnic groups of the region, guidelines for selecting children's and young adult literature about the region, and strategies for incorporation This new resource includes an annotated bibliography of children's and young adult books with evaluations, reading/interest level, review sources, awards/prizes, and Accelerated Reader/Reading Counts availability.

This annotated bibliography-organized geographically by world region and country, describing nearly 700 books representing 73 countries-is a valuable resource for librarians, teachers, and anyone else seeking to promote international understanding through children's literature. It is the third volume sponsored by the United States Board on Books for Young People. The first, Carl M. Tomlinson's Children's Books from Other Countries (1998) is a compendium of international children's literature with annotations of both in and out of print books published between 1950 and 1996. Susan Stan's The World Through Children's Books (2002) was the second and it included books published between the years 1997 and 2000. Crossing Boundaries includes international children's books published between 2000 and 2004, as well as selected American books set in countries other than the United States. Editor Doris Gebel has compiled an important tool for providing stories that will help children understand our differences while simultaneously demonstrating our common humanity.

This resource book for librarians and teachers of elementary and middle grade readers introduces over 400 titles of books (fiction, nonfiction, and poetry) written and illustrated by international authors and illustrators. Windows on the World: International Books for Elementary and Middle Grade Readers helps librarians and teachers open the eyes of elementary and middle grade readers to what life is like for children like themselves around the globe. In this extraordinary resource, you will find introductions to over 400 fiction, nonfiction, and poetry titles for age levels 4-8 and 8-12, written and illustrated by international authors and illustrators, and matched with related curriculum activities correlated with national curriculum standards. Windows on the World consists of over 100 lead books and over 350 related books published in the last ten years, organized by countries and cultures. It includes work from non-American authors working in the United States and abroad, as well as reissues of classics, and a few American titles noted for their authentic representations of other cultures. Each entry includes bibliographic data, information about the author and illustrator, identification of genre, recommended age level, a synopsis, suggested curriculum responses correlated with national curriculum standards, and related books.

This volume recommends some 500 positive, heart-warming stories for young readers—stories of the human spirit and what it can accomplish; stories of loving families surviving crises in positive ways; historical tales full of quick-witted people (especially girls); fairy tales with strong women; true stories of survival; and more. These gentle and uplifting reads span every genre—from science fiction and fantasy, to mysteries, realistic fiction, biographies, and nonfiction. They are Accelerated Reader titles, Reading Counts titles, and Junior Library Guild selections. Primarily intended for grades 5 to 9, this is a list of reading suggestions for the young adult who wants a great read but does not want to be offended. Grades 5-9.

Describes the history, government, economy, people, geography, and cultural life of Libya.