WELCOME TO AUSTRALIAN USED HOMESCHOOL BOOKS!
HISTORICAL FICTION - EUROPE, RUSSIA, ASIA/THE PACIFIC, AFRICA & THE MIDDLE EAST
PICTURE BOOKS
The Lady with the Ship on Her Head (Deborah Nourse Lattimore) $5 PB VGC A fanciful story that pokes fun at the ridiculous extravagances reached by women's coiffures in 18th-century France. Madame Pompenstance, the book's somewhat rattle-brained heroine, is a perfect example of the silliness of the times. Preparing for the annual Fancy Dress Ball, this fatuous fashion plate is seeking a suitably excessive hairstyle that will win her the prestigious Medal for Best Headdress. When Madame strolls down to the beach for inspiration, a small triple-masted sailing ship docks right on top of her head. Thinking the sun is beating rather strongly, she doesn't realize what has happened. Her day goes from bad to worse--the "headache" becoming increasingly painful--but that night at the ball, Madame is at last awarded the coveted prize, never discovering the reason. Lattimore has crafted exquisite, historically accurate illustrations that will provide as much mirth as her tongue-in-cheek tale. 4-9 YO http://www.amazon.com/Lady-Ship-Her-Head/dp/0152435263
William Tell (Margaret Early) $7 HBDJ EC, $6 PB VGC A beautiful picture book that recounts how the legendary Swiss folk hero, forced to shoot an apple from his son's head by the evil governor, catalyzed the Swiss mountaineers' revolt against Austrian tyranny in the early 1300's. This version of a time-honoured legend goes beyond the memorable incident of the shooting of the apple to the continued conflict with Gessler, who seeks to imprison Tell in an island fortress. The illustrations, reminiscent of stained glass windows, medieval manuscripts, and even of such works as the Bayeaux Tapestry, are outstanding in both detail and artistic rendering. Borders that vary from page to page and the use of jewel-like colours and gold highlights will fascinate and captivate viewers. Recommended! 7-12 YO http://www.alibris.com/search/books/qwork/7234319/used/William%20Tell
William Tell: Adapted from the Rossini Opera (Alan Blackwood) $3 HB GC Recounts how the legendary Swiss folk hero was forced to shoot an apple from his son's head by the evil governor. A great book for younger children and full of colourful and detailed artwork. 6-10 YO http://www.librarything.com/work/3662235
Stories from Famous Music “William Tell” (Illustrated by Hiroshi Mizusawa) $4 HB EC (Ex lib) The story of William Tell, an expert marksman who shot an apple off his son's head with bow and arrow, is a story familiar to boys and girls all over the world. But the background of the story, in the setting of the towering Swiss Alps, is often forgotten. This Fantasia Pictorial presentation captures both the beauty and the excitement of the real event which was an important page in the history of Switzerland's fight for freedom. 10+ http://www.trademe.co.nz/Books/Rare-collectable/Other/1950-today/auction-317527980.htm
Coal Mine Peaches (Michelle Dionetti) $5 HBDJ NEW A young girl reminisces about the family history her grandfather has described to her, tying the narrative together with the poetically named plums he used to joke about with his brothers when they worked as boys in a coal mine in Italy. Beginning with her grandfather's boyhood in Italy, she then describes his arrival in the United States and the life he lived with her grandmother and their children and grandchildren. A nostalgic slice of social history as represented by one hard-working Italian-American family, handsomely illustrated in sweeping impressionistic watercolours. Gorgeous! 6-10 YO http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/0531059480/ref=dp_image_text_0?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books
Gunga Din (Rudyard Kipling) $6 HBDJ VGC (Ex lib) A picture book version of the poem about both the triumphs and shames of the British Empire, especially in India. Illustrated with stunning watercolour and gouache paintings of India in the Indian Mutiny of 1857. Vivid pictures of disciplined troops with banners held high, in stunning contrast with scenes of fierce battles abound. Through all the chaos and terror, Gunga Din is there: carrying water to the beleaguered soldiers whom he serves faithfully while they insult and abuse him, until he dies. Younger readers may need help with the dialogue, but they'll catch the spirit expressed in rhyme and pictures. 6-10 YO http://www.alibris.co.uk/booksearch.detail?invid=10155550222&isbn=9780152004569&qsort=&page=1
CHAPTER BOOKS & NOVELS
Europe
Bullseye Step Into Classics “The Three Musketeers” (Alexandre Dumas, adapted by Deborah Felder) $4 PB EC Dumas's tale of swashbuckling and heroism follows the fortunes of d'Artagnan, a headstrong country boy who travels to Paris to join the Musketeers - the bodyguard of King Louis XIII. Here he falls in with Athos, Porthos and Aramis, and the four friends soon find themselves caught up in court politics and intrigue. Together they must outwit Cardinal Richelieu and his plot to gain influence over the King, and thwart the beautiful spy Milady's scheme to disgrace the Queen. A great adaptation for younger readers. 7-11 YO http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Three-Musketeers/Deborah-Felder/e/9780679860174
The Rebel (Hester Burton, illustrator Victor Ambrus) $5 HBDJ VGC (Ex lib) This novel is partially inspired by events in the life of William Wordsworth at the time of the French Revolution. Catherine Parkin lives with her two brothers Stephen and Josh in the Westmorland town of Camberstock. As orphans they are under the care of their two narrow-minded uncles. Stephen is a passionate lover of freedom and rebels against both the subservient respect paid to local landowners and the country’s attitude to the poor. The story traces his adventures in revolutionary France. 11+ http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/b/hester-burton/rebel.htm
Riders Of The Storm (Hester Burton, illustrator Victor Ambrus) $5 HBDJ VGC (Ex lib, tape residue on endpapers) The sequel to ‘The Rebel”, continues the story of Stephen Parkin, a radical young man who is charged with conspiracy. He is teaching in a slum school in eighteenth-century Manchester as well as travelling through France during a time of great political unrest. 11+ http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/b/hester-burton/riders-of-storm.htm
A Tale Of Two Cities (Charles Dickens) $2 PB GC Set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. It depicts the plight of the French proletariat under the brutal oppression of the French aristocracy in the years leading up to the revolution, and the corresponding savage brutality demonstrated by the revolutionaries toward the former aristocrats in the early years of the revolution. 12+ http://www.amazon.com/Tale-Two-Cities-Signet-Classics/dp/0451526562
Gracie And The Emperor (Errol Broome) $4 PB EC As long as Gracie could remember, she had been told stories of Napoleon Bonaparte, who would stop at nothing to rule the world and plant the French flag on the Tower of London. Now, the most famous, the most dreaded man is coming to the very island where she lives. St Helena is like a small ship stuck fast in the ocean, far away from anywhere. When Napoleon Bonaparte arrives, in 1815, Gracie wants to run away, but she has nowhere to go. Errol Broome tells the extraordinary story of an emperor who saw the courage of a hard-working young girl, and a girl who saw the other face of the man they called the Emperor Napoleon. 10+ http://books.google.com.au/books?id=mTbg-hxQfS8C&dq=Gracie+And+The+Emperor+(Errol+Broome)&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0
I Have Friends In Heaven (Max Catto) $2 HBDJ GC Near a tiny Italian village, a 12 year old waif finds an ancient relic, a marble head of Julius Caesar. The boy’s own (and only) name happens to be Caesar, and to him the marble head becomes an omen of future greatness. Young Caesar’s simple faith in his destiny is confirmed when he is one of the few to survive an earthquake that destroys his village. He heads to Rome on an arduous trek full of challenging circumstances in which he struggles to survive. 10+ http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/c/max-catto/i-have-friends-in-heaven.htm
Shadow Of A Bull (Maia Wojciechowska) $7 PB NEW Manolo's father was a spectacular and beloved bullfighter. Now, as Manolo nears his 12th birthday, he must choose his career path. Will he become a bullfighter as great as his father, as all the citizens of Arcangel hope? Or will he please himself and pursue a career in medicine? At the moment of truth, he makes his decision. A moving story about a boy's growth toward manhood. NEWBERY MEDAL WINNER 10+ http://www.sonlight.com/6R25.html
Leon (Helen Griffiths) $2 PB GC (Ex lib, light tanning) Leon was a starving mongrel puppy, Hilario was a farm boy with dreams of becoming a doctor, and this is the story of their growing up, together and apart, about the time of the Spanish Civil War. 11+
Russia
The Crimson Oak (E.M. Almedingen) $4 HB GC (Tape residue on endpapers) Set in a time of Russia's history where education was only allowed to the rich, and peasants were allowed very little at all. Peter, a Russian peasant boy, twelve years old in the year 1739 and full of dreams, chances to cross paths with the exiled Princess Elizabeth and comes to realize his fate is linked to hers. The author was born in Russia and the story is rich with culture and heritage. 9-12 YO
Anna (EM Almedingen) $6 HBDJ VGC (Ex lib) Based on the journals and letters of the author's great-grandmother, this family chronicle tells of her life in eighteenth-and nineteenth-century Tsarist Russia. 11+ http://www.alibris.com/booksearch.detail?invid=10432275861&qwork=333719&qsort=r&page=2
Angel On The Square (Gloria Whelan) $7 PB BRAND NEW A young girl joins Russian Tsar Nikolai II, Empress Alexandra, and their children when her mother becomes one of the empress's ladies-in-waiting. Katya Ivanova, as companion to the Romanov children, has an insider's view of the crumbling of tsarist Russia from 1913 to 1918. Initially, life is lavish and amusing for this young aristocrat, although her friend Misha's revolutionary ideas often battle in her mind with her own loyalty to the tsar. Gradually, though, the world outside begins to enter the palace walls, and Katya's life--along with that of all nobility--changes forever. Whelan's balanced treatment of both sides of the Russian revolution is remarkably accessible. Katya is an appealing protagonist; readers will hang on her every word as she is transformed from a spoiled, sheltered child into a caring, hard-working adult. Young readers couldn't ask for a better introduction to this terrifying, earthshaking epoch in history. 11+ Highly recommended! http://www.amazon.com/Angel-Square-Gloria-Whelan/dp/0060290307
Days Of Terror (Barbara Smucker) $4 PB GC Days of peace turn to days of terror for a young boy caught in the tensions of revolutionary times. Set in 1917 and the years following, this great read tells the story of ten-year-old Peter Neufeld and his family. Sickened by the horrors of anarchy, famine and the Russian revolution, the Neufelds decide to join the mass exodus of Mennonites to North America. But will they survive the journey? 10+ http://images.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0140313060.01._SX140_SY225_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.librarything.com/work/310482&usg=__LBVwf2g2xGE9fU7080ovB8Zt_Ok=&h=225&w=135&sz=11&hl=en&start=14&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=C5e8Xd5-2euxXM:&tbnh=108&tbnw=65&prev=/images%3Fq%3DDays%2BOf%2BTerror%2B(Barbara%2BSmucker)%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26rlz%3D1R2GPEA_en%26tbs%3Disch:1
The Endless Steppe (Esther Hautzig) $2 PB GC In June 1942, the Rudomin family is arrested by the Russians. They are "capitalists — enemies of the people." Forced from their home and friends in Vilna, Poland, they are herded into crowded cattle cars. Their destination: the endless steppe of Siberia. For five years, Ester and her family live in exile, weeding potato fields and working in the mines, struggling for enough food and clothing to stay alive. Only the strength of family sustains them and gives them hope for the future. 11+ A fantastic read! Highly recommended! http://www.amazon.com/Endless-Steppe-rack-Growing-Siberia/dp/006447027X
Shadow Under The Sea (Geoffrey Trease) $6 HBDJ EC Set in Russia in the era of glasnost, a story about smuggling and skulduggery. 10+ http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/t/geoffrey-trease/shadow-under-sea.htm
Asia
My Story “Indian Mutiny: Hanuman Singh, India, 1857-1858” (Pratima Mitchell) $7 PB VGC “We watched General Rose's army moving towards us from the ramparts of the Fort. A sickle moon hung in the sky like a curved blade and the dull red granite of the Fort breathed out the day's heat. I marvelled at the neatness of the enemy's formation, as it progressed steadily towards us in the blue haze. They stopped about a quarter of a mile short of the city and struck camp. Not one of us slept that night, knowing that the battle was about to begin. At dawn we saw the bonfires sparking, throwing up billows of smoke to disguise movement, and our soldiers started to fire...” 11+ http://www.amazon.co.uk/Indian-Mutiny-Hanuman-Singh-1857-1858/dp/0439981085
A Passage To India (E.M. Forster) $3 PB VGC Set against the backdrop of the British Raj and the Indian independence movement in the 1920s. Revolves around three characters: Dr. Aziz, his British friend Cyril Fielding, and Adela Quested. During a trip to the Marabar Caves, Adela accuses Aziz of indecency. Aziz's trial, and its run-up and aftermath, bring out all the racial tensions and prejudices between indigenous Indians and the British colonists who rule India. Forster employs his first-hand knowledge of India. A great insight into colonial India. 12+ http://media.lunch.com/d/d7/314081.jpg?2
Save The Khan (B. Bartos-Hoppner) $5 HBDJ VGC (Ex school, tape residue) One stormy night on the Russian steppes, a shepherd is discovered in his solitary tent by some Cossacks riding home to Tobolsk. He tells of Daritai, a descendant of the great Genghis Khan and of the loyalty and treachery seen in the last struggle of the Tartars against the invasion of the Russians. 11+ http://www.stellabooks.com/shop/see_stock_photo.php?StockNumber=379843
The Firework-Maker’s Daughter (Philip Pullman) $4 PB VGC (Inner binding taped, sound) Lila, the heroine of Philip Pullman's charming fable, was, as a baby, "a cross little thing, always crying and refusing her food, but Lalchand built a cradle for her in the corner of the workshop, where she could see the sparks play and listen to the fizz and crackle of the gunpowder." Once out of her cradle, she showed a marked talent for pyrotechnics, even inventing her own fireworks with names like Tumbling Demons and Shimmering Coins. Nevertheless, when Lila tells her father she'd like to become a master firework-maker, he's shocked. Firework-making is no job for a girl, he tells her; besides, with her burned fingers and singed eyebrows, he's afraid he'll never be able to find a husband for her. 8-11 YO http://www.amazon.com/Firework-makers-Daughter-Philip-Pullman/dp/0440866405%3FSubscriptionId%3D0ACM1RC83GP83JK10M02%26tag%3Dspeculativefic05%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D0440866405
Dragonkeeper (Carole Wilkinson) $7 PB VGC $4 PB FC (Ex lib) Ancient China, Han Dynasty. A slave girl saves the life of an ageing dragon and escapes her brutal master. Pursued by a ruthless dragon hunter, the girl and the dragon make an epic journey across China carrying a mysterious stone that must be protected. This is the story of a young slave girl who believes she is not worthy of a name but finds within herself the strength and courage to make this perilous journey — and do what must be done. 10+ CHILDREN’S BOOK COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA BOOK OF THE YEAR: YOUNGER READERS; NSW PREMIER’S LITERARY AWARDS SHORTLISTED; AUREALIS AWARD WINNER http://www.carolewilkinson.com.au/books/dragonkeeper/Dutch
Chinese Cinderella: The Secret Story Of An Unwanted Daughter (Adeline Yen Mah) $6 PB GC Christened with the Chinese name Jun-ling, her mother died just a few days after her birth, and from that moment her fate within her family was sealed. As one of seven siblings, including two children from her father's second marriage, Jun-ling struggled to maintain her dignity from a young age, treated as she was with a vicious contempt by all around her at home, apart from her beloved Aunt Baba and her elderly grandfather. Growing up as she did in a relatively wealthy Chinese family in the 40s and 50s, the privileges that money would normally give such a child passed her by, and even her intelligence which shone through as early as kindergarten could not save her from the emotional brutality of a family who simply did not love her. 12+ http://www.amazon.co.uk/Chinese-Cinderella-Unwanted-Daughter-Teenage/dp/0141304871
Chinese Cinderella And The Secret Dragon Society (Adeline Yen Mah) $8 PB EC In this work of historical make-believe set during World War II, 12-year-old CC's father throws her out of the house after she has a bitter argument with her stepmother, a woman familiar to readers of Mah's ‘Chinese Cinderella’. Fortunately she is taken in by a resourceful woman known as Grandma Wu, an operative of the Secret Dragon Society. At Grandma Wu's she meets three boys of mixed backgrounds and of different religions, and together they learn many useful skills - kung fu and cooking among them. Soon she becomes a full-fledged member of the society, a lifelong commitment made just in time. Japan has occupied Shanghai and is at war with the United States. When the Americans plan a bombing raid on Japan, the children are instrumental in passing vital information to them. They rescue some downed pilots and later plan a daring prison escape. 12+ http://books.google.com.au/books?id=0udFWlqpAK8C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Chinese+Cinderella+And+The+Secret+Dragon+Society+(Adeline+Yen+Mah)&source=bl&ots=d1ZeAZqBwg&sig=1AOf3MOVPRpvFHM6aRPqlj7sqKM&hl=en&ei=CMfYS8v9C4zQtgPJ_92dBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CA0Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Chinese%20Cinderella%20And%20The%20Secret%20Dragon%20Society%20(Adeline%20Yen%20Mah)&f=false
The Third Dragon (Garry Kilworth) $3 PB VGC Following the massacre at Tiananmen Square, Xu flees to Hong Kong, where he is befriended by John and his two friends, Peter and Jenny. After hiding Xu in a hillside cave, the three youngsters find themselves swept up in a hazardous adventure that could have deadly results. 11+
Plum Rain Scroll (Ruth Manley) $4 HBDJ GC (Ex lib), $4 PB GC A fantastic tale of peril and heroic deeds set in Idzumo, the old Japan of legend and living folklore. Marishoten, the evil Black Iris Lord, seeks to overthrow the Mikado and usurp the Chrysanthemum throne. But first he must find the Plum-Rain Scroll, which holds the three secrets which will help him to achieve his victory. From the humble Tachibana-ya, the Orange Tree Inn, two unlikely companions set forth to seek the Scroll before Marishoten can achieve his evil design: Taro, the Odd Job boy, and Prince Hachi (Lord Eight Thousand Spears.) Their quest takes them far into the countryside, where they are joined by seven even more unlikely companions. When this courageous group finally arrive in Miyako, their adventures reach a stunning climax as they come face to face with their enemy. 11+ CHILDREN’S BOOK COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA BOOK OF THE YEAR. http://home.netspeed.com.au/reguli/plumrain2.jpg
The Dragon Stone (Ruth Manley) $4 PB GC (Ex lib) Filled with characters from Japanese folklore and mythology, this unique story continues the chronicles of Idzuno, old Japan, started in the award-winning story, Plum Rain Scroll. Ruth Manley’s deep knowledge of Japanese language and literature, particularly her affinity with Japanese folklore, has created an enduring masterpiece. 11+ http://home.netspeed.com.au/reguli/dragon2.jpg
The Master Puppeteer (Katherine Paterson) $7 PB BRAND NEW Who is the man called Sabura, the mysterious bandit who robs the rich and helps the poor? And what is his connection with Yosida, the harsh and ill-tempered master of feudal Japan's most famous puppet theatre? Young Jiro, an apprentice to Yosida, is determined to find out, even at risk to his own life. Meanwhile, Jiro devotes himself to learning puppetry. Kinshi, the puppet master's son, tutors him. When his sheltered life at the theatre is shattered by mobs of hungry, rioting peasants, Jiro becomes aware of responsibilities greater that his craft. As he schemes to help his friend Kinshi and to find his own parent, Jiro stumbles onto a dangerous and powerful secret.... Recommended! 11+ http://www.amazon.com/Master-Puppeteer-Katherine-Paterson/dp/0064402819
The Ghost In The Tokaido Inn (Dorothy Hoobler) $7 PB BRAND NEW In eighteenth-century Japan, 14-year-old Seikei is a merchant's son with secret dreams of becoming a samurai. Although his status in society restricts him from doing anything more than following in his father's footsteps, Seikei has both the resolve and temperament of a wise, brave warrior. On a stopover at the Tokaido Inn, Seikei witnesses a legendary ghost stealing a jewel belonging to a samurai. His bravery in saving a falsely accused guest earns Seikei the respect of Judge Ooka, who hires Seikei to help him investigate the crime and solve the mystery. With a sharply authentic voice and an adeptly plotted story that progresses from the haunting ghost legend to the dark, volatile world of a travelling kabuki show, this mystery builds with stirring intrigue and plays out to a most satisfying conclusion. Rich with atmosphere and details that teach much of the Japanese culture. 11+ http://www.longitudebooks.com/find/p/67668/mcms.html
Time Soldiers “Samurai” (Kathleen Duey) $3 PB EC In the sixth novel of this innovative series, the Time Soldiers can finally choose where—and when—they want to travel. When they journey to the city of Edo in ancient Japan and encounter an elderly Samurai warrior who has one regret, they help him change the past, and in doing so discover another piece of the mystery of the time portal and the green stones scattered throughout time. This remarkable series couples classic photography and bold images with an engaging story that encourages young readers to become lifelong learners. 6-10 YO http://www.amazon.com/Samurai-Time-Soldiers-Book/dp/1929945639
The Big Wave (Pearl Buck) $3 PB GC (Older copy with some tanning), $6 PB BRAND NEW Kino lives on a farm on the side of a mountain in Japan. His friend, Jiya, lives in a fishing village below. Everyone, including Kino and Jiya, has heard of the big wave. No one suspects it will wipe out the whole village and Jiya's family, too. As Jiya struggles to overcome his sorrow, he understands it is in the presence of danger that one learns to be brave, and to appreciate how wonderful life can be. The famous story of a Japanese boy who must face life after escaping the tidal wave destruction of his family and village. 6-11 YO http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/b/pearl-s-buck/big-wave.htm
My Brother, My Sister, and I (Yoko Kawashima Watkins) $5 HBDJ VGC (Ex lib) In extreme poverty, the Kawashimas – 13 year old Yoko, her 17 year old sister, and her 21 year old brother - struggle to survive as refugees in post-World War II Japan. This autobiographical novel is totally gripping as the young people lose their wretched temporary home and are accused of burning a warehouse and committing a double murder. With the aid of new friends and personal aplomb, they find clues that clear their names and lead to the discovery of the true culprits. Along the way are fascinating details of how they make do and manage to preserve their dignity; the cruelty and humiliation Yoko endures in school; the interesting friendship they share with a Burakumin (outcast) couple; and an emotional reunion with their POW father, during which they must tell him that their mother died six years ago. 11+ http://www.amazon.com/My-Brother-Sister-I/dp/0027925269#_
The Land I Lost (Quang Nhuong Huynh) $7 PB BRAND NEW The author grew up in a hamlet in the central highlands of Vietnam, and these are his stories of that childhood. A collection of beautifully written, true stories of growing up, of earthy humorous happenings and memories. Mai's action-filled illustrations impressively evoke a land physically lost to both author and artist but very much alive in this compelling volume. 8+ http://www.amazon.com/Land-Lost-Adventures-Vietnam-Harper/dp/0064401839
Water Buffalo Days: Growing Up In Vietnam (Quang Nhuong Huynh) $7 PB BRAND NEW The village social life and customs in the central highlands of Vietnam prior to the involvement of the US provide an affecting platform for the author's warm memories of a childhood enriched by close relationships with the animals vital to the family's economic survival. Delicate pencil drawings accompany the first-person narrative that shows the role water buffaloes played during dry-season farming and rainy-season hunting. Quang Nhuong is delighted and describes various escapades he shares with the bull, playing hide-and-seek, an encounter with a crocodile, and a battle with an otter. 8+ http://www.amazon.com/Water-Buffalo-Days-Growing-Vietnam/dp/0064462110#reader_0064462110
The Pacific
Valley of Heavenly Gold (Eve Sutton) $4 HB VGC, $3 PB VGC A father goes into the New Zealand gold fields and strikes it rich. When he comes home sick, his son goes to find the gold. Great courage is required by the boy and he finds great comfort in his father's Bible. 7-11 YO http://www.abebooks.fr/servlet/FrameBase?content=/fr/imagegallery/imagegallery.shtml?images=http://pictures.abebooks.com/FILBRY/1243848575.jpg
Swag & Tucker (Margaret Hall) $5 PB VGC (Cover crease) Fifteen-year-old Mary McKendrick lives with her pioneer family in the isolated settlement of Swag and Tucker Beach and, although life is hard, there is no shortage of excitement when some gold thieves pay a visit. 9+
Hidden Valley (Margaret Beames) $5 HBDJ EC Vicky and Johnny Bell live in New Zealand at the turn of the century. Their parents are local farmers who help out when a ship is wrecked on the coast. A prize bull being imported escapes and swims to land, only to disappear into the bush in an unexplored valley. Vicky and Johnny take part in the finding and capture of the bull. 7-11 YO
Call It Courage (Armstrong Sperry) $3 PB VGC, $5 HB EC Ever since his mother was killed in a hurricane, Mafatu, the son of the Great Chief of the people of Hikueru, an island in the southern Pacific ocean, has feared that Moana, the Sea God, would kill him, too. Tired of being called a coward and saddened by the shame he has brought his father, 12-year-old Mafatu decides to face and conquer Moana on his own. 7-11 YO NEWBERY MEDAL WINNER http://www.simonsays.com/content/book.cfm?tab=1&pid=404852
The Middle East
Me And Jeshua (Eleanor Spence) $4 PB GC The story of Jesus’ boyhood. It is attractive and compelling, a robust story full of insight, humor, and vigor. Yet it remains wholly true to what we know of Jesus and his times. CHRISTIAN BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD; AUSTRALIAN CHILDREN’S BOOK OF THE YEAR COMMENDATION 10+ http://www.amazon.com/Jeshua-StarMaker-Books-Eleanor-Spence/dp/0884896714/ref=sr_1_1/104-4310397-7091943?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1192842065&sr=1-1 (Cover different)
Shadow Spinner (Susan Fletcher) $7 PB BRAND NEW A young girl, Marjan, rescues the fabled Shahrazad from the Sultan's wrath in this exciting and thought-provoking novel. With her crippled foot, Marian never expects to be dragged off to the palace, but that is what happens after a chance meeting with Shahrazad, the storyteller who wins her life each night with cliffhanging stories for the sultan. Heartbroken at leaving her Aunt Chava and her Uncle Eli, Marian confronts cruelty within the palace's lush interior, where wives and concubines can be executed at the sultan's whim, and where the Khatun, the sultan's mother, spies on everyone. Dispatched by Shahrazad to find more stories, Marjan sneaks out into the marketplace, where she eventually finds an old storyteller who tells her the end of a story of which the sultan has become fond. Beaten and imprisoned by the Khatun, Marjan escapes the palace, only to return and tell the sultan an allegory that enables him to realize his love for Shahrazad, and to spare her life. A great read! 10+ http://www.buy.com/prod/shadow-spinner/q/loc/106/30535084.html
Africa & South America
Aztec Gold (Peter Dawlish – Oxford University Press, London) $4 HBDJ VGC A stirring adventure with Conquistadors and Aztecs set in Elizabethan times. 11+ http://cars2.ebay.com.au/AZTEC-GOLD-BY-PETER-DAWLISH_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQitemZ250575418567 (Ours much better condition)
Harvest of the Sun (E.V. Thompson) $4 HBDJ VGC 1846, a ship is bound for Australia. Aboard are Josh Retallick and Miriam Thackeray, prisoners destined for the convict settlements...until the random hand of fate wrecks their vessel on the Skeleton Coast of South Africa. Far from the brooding Bodmin Moor, Josh and Miriam find themselves in a strange and hostile land, an alien world of Bushmen and Hereros, of foraging Boers and greedy traders, of ivory tusks and smuggled guns . . . 12+ http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/t/e-v-thompson/harvest-of-sun.htm (Cover different)
Black Ivory (Norman Collins) $5 HBDJ GC (Some wear commensurate with age to jacket) Set in 1829, this is the story of Ralph Rudd, the son of a farmer who has been evicted from his landholding by an unjust landlord. He goes to Liverpool where a gang of scoundrels force him to sign on as a cabin-boy on board the Nero, which he later discovers to be a slave ship bound for another load of ‘black ivory.’ An exciting and informative tale full of adventures, perils and misfortunes on land and sea, including close encounters with high-jacking, mutiny and violence off the African slave coast. 11+
Long Walk to Lavender Street: A Story from South Africa (Belinda Hollyer) $5 PB VGC (Ex lib) It is 1966 in apartheid South Africa and the Group Areas Act is wishing to turn Cape Town's District Six into a whites only area. Whole families are being forced to move to segregated zones, according to the colour of their skin. What will this mean for 13-year old Siesie's family? Siesie's father is Xhosa and her mother is Cape Coloured. How can Siesie and her family stay together when the authorities are determined to tear them apart? An introduction and epilogue set the story in historical context, and a map provides good geographical context. 10+ http://www.amazon.com/Long-Walk-Lavender-Street-Survivors/dp/075023637X
Chain of Fire (Beverley Naidoo) $5 PB VGC, $4 PB GC When Naledi and Tiro discover a number painted on the door of their house, they know there will be trouble. This is South Africa under apartheid, and the government is forcibly removing black people from their villages to so-called ‘homelands’. Protestors are arrested and beaten. Naledi and Tiro are injured in a student protest march. But still people fight on. Freedom lies at the end of a long road. 11+ http://childrensbookshop.com/images/bookimages/62/62718.jpg
(Last update April, 2011)
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