Yeny and her family have escaped from the violence in their mountain village in Colombia to live in the city. But danger remains all around her -- from groups of armed men who have kidnapped her uncle to a scary bully at school. Yeny feels powerless until her new friends decide to organize a peace carnival. Before long, the peace movement has attracted young people from across the country, and they decide to hold a national vote for peace. Inspired by the Colombian Children's Movement for Peace. On October 25, 1996, millions of kids throughout Colombia held a vote that resulted in one full day with no bombs, shootings, or kidnappings. The group has been nominated every year since for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Yeny's family moved from a village to a city in Colombia hoping to escape violence, only to face kidnappers and bullies. Yeny and her friends decide to face the danger and organize a peace carnival, but can a group of kids actually change one of the most violent countries in the world?

The true story of Shannen Koostachin and the people of Attawapiskat First Nation, a native Cree community in Northern Ontario, who have been fighting for a new school since 1979 when a fuel spill contaminated their original school building. Shannen's fight took her all the way to Parliament Hill and was taken up by children around the world. Shannen’s dream continues today with the work of the Shannen's Dream organization and those everywhere who are fighting for the rights of Aboriginal children.

How can Canadian educators begin to instill cultural sensitivity and social awareness in elementary and secondary school students? This vital text attempts to answer that question by bringing together literacy scholars and practicing teachers in a unique cross-Canadian exploration of children’s literature and social justice. Through reflection on the experience of teaching with various Canadian texts including picture books, novels, and graphic novels, the contributors behind Challenging Stories create a “pedagogy of discomfort” that will encourage both educators and their students to develop critical literacy skills. The compelling contributions to this collection highlight the complexities of teaching with texts that address issues of discrimination, historical marginalization, colonialism, racial and gender intolerance, sexual orientation, language, and cultural diversity. The authors offer first-hand insight into the possibilities and challenges of implementing curricular and pedagogical changes to promote equity and social justice in the classroom. Featuring the stories of participating teachers and an annotated bibliography of children’s literature, this invaluable resource will prove to be essential reading for current and future educators.

This thoughtful book is rooted in the belief that teachers can lead their students to develop their reading tastes and grow in their love of reading at the same time as supporting and stretching students in their meaning-making experiences. This practical resource highlights more than 50 instructional strategies that invite students to work inside and outside a book through reading, writing, talk, and arts experiences. It highlights the work of guest voices that include classroom teachers, occasional teachers, special education teachers, and librarians who share their best literacy practices. Take Me to Your Readers uses 5 essential areas to structure classroom experiences through children's literature: Motivation; Theme Connections; Genre Connections; Cross-Curricular Connections; and Response. Extensive booklists, teaching tips, a wide range of activities, and reproducible pages provide practical support. Ultimately, this book is designed to take teachers to their readers and start them on a lifelong journey through great books!

Severn Suzuki's speech at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio caught the attention of the world. As the daughter of environmentalist David Suzuki, Severn's concern for the environment was fueled by a trip to the Amazon rainforest at age nine. Back home in Vancouver, she and her friends started ECO, the Environmental Children's Organization, combining their efforts to raise enough money to travel to Rio. They couldn't have imagined the effect they would have on the adults gathered there. More than twenty years later, Severn's speech continues to receive thousands of hits on YouTube. Severn's story is about the power that children have to create change when they work together, and how their voices can stand out above the politics and cynicism of adults.

Sylvan has been angry ever since his parents split up. And now that an embarrassing photo has appeared in the paper, he's stuck with a lame nickname too. Charity is back in the United States after several years in Africa. And she's learning that home can be a strange place when you've been away for a while. Neither of them knows what's up with Brian. He spends whole afternoons alone on his trampoline. From the first day of school, Sylvan knows he doesn't want to hang out with weirdoes like Charity or Brian. He'd rather just be a normal kid. But when the principal gets ready to fire their favorite teacher, Sylvan, Charity, and Brian have to find a way to work together.

A New York Times Best Book of the Year A Kids' Indie Next List An Indies Introduce Selection New York Public Library's Best of the Year ABC Group Best Books for Young Readers "A transformative, noteworthy debut. A philosophical read, begging discussion and interpretation."—Pam Muñoz Ryan, New York Times ★ "Algorta's narrative glides with skillful pacing and poetic yet accessible language; Rickenmann's soft, detail-rich illustrations tonally match the refined internal rhythm of the prose."—Publishers Weekly (starred) ★ "Poetic...lyrical and moving novel with a melancholic ode to coming of age."—Foreword Reviews (starred) ★ "An unmissable tale about loss and reclamation."—Kirkus (starred) "A memorable and meaningful ride."—Horn Book Fabio flies through the streets of Bogotá on his bicycle, the children of his neighborhood trailing behind him. It is there that life feels right—where the world of adults, and their lies, fades away. But then one day, he simply forgets. Forgets how to ride his bicycle. And Fabio will never be the same again. From Colombia comes a special debut talent, Alejandra Algorta, and a first novel of discovery and heartbreak. Algorta's distinct and poetic prose has been translated by award-winning author Aida Salazar, and presented in English and Spanish.

A fast-moving middle-grade novel set in the seventeenth century about two Portuguese orphans who are sent to Brazil where they encounter slaves from Africa. Together with their new friend, an aboriginal boy, they work towards reuniting the slaves with their families and helping them escape to freedom. The novel opens when Bento is wrongly thrown into Lisbon’s prison by the king’s guards, leaving his younger sibling, Manu, to fend for himself. Fortunately, a nobleman’s family helps to reunite the siblings — although they will have to lead a life of exile in Brazil. They keep secret the fact that Manu is a girl in disguise so that she will be able to accompany her brother aboard ship. The story shifts to the African savannah, where a young boy, Odjigi, is hunting gazelle with his father and other men. But the hunters soon become the hunted — they are kidnapped by slave traders, as are the women and children of the village, marched to the sea, shut up in dark, airless huts to prepare for the voyage across the Atlantic, and then undergo the horrifying trip itself. In Brazil, the siblings quickly adapt to their new lives, but they are shocked by the existence and treatment of African slaves. Manu befriends an aboriginal boy, Caiubi, and a slave, Didi, who has been separated from his father. Meanwhile Bento falls in love with Rosa, a beautiful young slave who is also searching for her family. When Manu learns from Caiubi that escaped slaves have formed quilombos — villages hidden deep in the forest where they live in freedom — she is determined that they must help Didi and Rosa escape.

Justine McKeen, the Queen of Green is ready for her third adventure! Justine McKeen talks a little too much, bosses a little too much, and tells the truth, just not all at once. She's trying to save the planet, one person at a time, and when she decides to get something done, it's a lot of fun. In Justine McKeen, Pooper Scooper, the third book in the Justine McKeen series, Justine gets her friends to help her clean up the dog poop in the park across from the school board's offices in an effort to get the attention of the superintendent of schools. She hopes the efforts of her crew of cheerful pooper scoopers will help get the superintendent to see that bringing their school librarian back to work is the right thing to do.