Children's Books
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Unlike the extensive Holocaust literature available to young readers, little has been written about the atrocities committed by the Communists called the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia in the 1970's. Years later, Cambodian, Nawuth Keat first shared his life story and that of his frequently murdered countrymen with his college professor, Martha Kendall, and then with her help it was published to reveal to young readers everywhere how one person's courage and determination allows him to escape starvation, privation, and random violence. When he was nine years old in 1973, his hometown was attacked by Khmer Rouge ruffians taking the lives of his mother, baby sister, and three other relatives. Despite being shot three times he survives by playing dead. For the next three years he hides out in the jungle with his dad. After his father is taken prisoner, Nawuth stays with his older sister, her husband, and others of his family - subsisting somehow by working in the rice paddies and stealing or trapping in order to live. Eventually the family escapes their work crew and walks for days to reach a U.N. Refugee camp where arrangements are bought to enable Nawuth to emigrate to a safe haven with a sponsor / family in the United States. This clearly remembered life story should interest both junior and senior high school students. The time line which is appended (p. 128-9) is immensely helpful - perhaps some of its information could have been included in the introductory material. 
In an intriguing example of parallel development, author Patricia Reilly Giff introduces readers to two "wild girls." The first is the daughter of a Brazilian horse trainer who is left with relatives at age 8 in Sao Poalo after her mother's death and her father's and brother's move to New York. The other "wild girl" is a filly born in South Carolina but destined to live and race in New York state. After a five year wait, Lidie travels to the United States where sadly her father and brother treat her like the little child they left behind; the language barrier at school seems insurmountable; and her first attempts to cope end in disasters. She befriends the filly which has come to live and be trained by her father, and somewhat predictably together they prove their worth to everyone involved. This novel will interest those who face similar "moving" challenges and especially to those middle grade students who love horses. 
With the subtitle, "The True Story of Bob and Joe Switzer's Bright Ideas and Brand-New Colors", the reader quickly realizes what this book is about. The use of the eye-popping fluorescent colors on the cover doesn't hurt either. This very short, but very entertaining non-fiction picture book tells of the two brothers' invention of those glowing colors - orange, yellow, and green that have become commonplace today. Growing up, Bob wanted to be a doctor and Joe wanted to be a magician. Interesting that these two career paths would lead to the discovery of glow-in-the-dark colors, but the combination of Bob's involvement in an accident that left him recovering in a darkened basement, and Joe's desire to spice up his magic act with something called fluorescence, they built their own ultraviolet lamp. With this lamp they could detect substances that glowed in the dark. They experimented with these substances and soon had a paint that would glow in the dark. Unfortunately, it didn't glow in the light, and that was their next challenge. By accident, while providing fluorescent posters and billboards for customers, they invented colors that glowed both at daytime and nighttime. New uses for these colors quickly became apparent in items like buoys, guiding planes at night into airports, as distress signals on the sea, and then in more ordinary products like magazine covers, construction cones, hunting vests, and even paintings. This interesting biography has a high vocabulary reaching into sixth grade, but will appeal to readers as young as 6, if read aloud. Additional information on fluorescence is provided at the back of the book. This would be useful in units on inventions. A nice touch was the use of black and white illustrations for the period prior to the use of fluorescent colors, with increasing brightness as discoveries are made, until the last pages where everything pops off the page with glowing colors. This was a fascinating story about a little-known discovery, and adults who remember when these colors did not exist, and even those who do, will find it interesting as well. 
When the pharaoh Cheops died, his pyramid was complete and filled with everything he would need in his afterlife. What he did not have was a boat to provide safe passage there. Two boats were ordered to be built by Cheops' son, the first to "guide Cheops safely through the dark, perilous underworld of night, and the other to carry him up across the sky to embark on his eternal journey with the sun". This brief book in picture book form is two stories in one. The first involves the creation of the two boats for Cheops by expert Egyptian shipbuilders. The detailed description of the unique techniques used at the time are truly fascinating, not to mention the lengths gone to disassemble the ships and carefully place them in boat pits next to the pyramid where they were preserved for literally thousands of years. The second story involves the discovery of the boats and the challenge of Ahmed Youssef Moustafa, a restoration expert for the Egyptian Antiquities Service, to fit all the pieces together again without any instructions. It took years to solve this puzzle, and even more to build and reassemble the boats multiple times to ensure that they were built correctly.
A new twist is taken in this book about Abraham Lincoln. Readers follow the Civil War as new inventions are introduced, including the telegraph, railroads, surveillance balloons, iron-clads and submarines, and high-powered weapons. Accompanied by period photographs, cartoons and illustrations, each new development is explained with references to President Lincoln's involvement in its deployment during the war. One of my favorite things about this fascinating book was realizing how much President Lincoln understood all aspects of the war and that he was an early "techie". He caught on to the new technologies much faster than many of his army leaders and understood how they would help armies fight wars differently. It is interesting to note that the generals and other war leaders fighting on both sides attended West Point together, and all studied Napoleon's war tactics. Consequently, they fought battles the same way. However, with the addition of these "modern" gadgets, they were forced to adapt to new strategies - some with more resistance than others. It will be a rare child that will pick up this text-heavy book and read it cover-to-cover, but one interested in the Civil War, or war strategy, or inventions, or President Lincoln will enjoy this immensely. Named 2010 Notable Book for Older Readers as well as other honors and awards including a 2009 Top 10 book in Science & Technology. Recommended for grades 5 and up. 
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