A new middle-grade tale from critically acclaimed, award-winning author Kristin Levine about facing your fears, set in Vienna during the Bosnian genocide.
Most twelve-year-olds would be excited to fly to Austria to see their dad for the summer but then Becca is not most twelve-year-olds. Suffering from severe anxiety, she fears that the metal detectors at the airport will give her cancer and the long international flight will leave her with blood clots. Luckily, she's packed her Doomsday Journal, the one thing that always seems to help. By writing down her fears and what to do if the worst happens, Becca can get by without (many) panic attacks.
Routines and plans help Becca cope but living in a new country is full of the unexpected--including Becca's companions for the summer. Like Felix, the short and bookish son of Becca's dad's new girlfriend. Or Sara, the nineteen-year-old Bosnian refugee tasked with watching the two of them for the summer. As Becca explores Vienna and becomes close to her new friends, she soon learns she is not alone in her fears. What matters most is what you do when faced with them.
A mysterious treasure hunt helps to heal a broken family in critically acclaimed author Kristin Levine's first contemporary tale-perfect for fans of Wendy Mass and Jennifer L. Holm
Claudia Dalton's father has disappeared. What began as a late night at work has spiraled into a missing persons case-one that's left twelve-year-old Claudia questioning everything she's ever known about her father and their family.
But when she finally gets word from her dad, it turns out he isn't missing at all. He's just gone to "think things over" and visit an old friend, whatever that means. Feeling confused and helpless, Claudia starts to assemble a scrapbook, gathering emails, receipts, phone transcripts and more, all in a desperate attempt to figure out what's happening with her dad. Claudia's investigation deepens at her grandfather's house, where she receives an envelope containing a puzzle piece and a cryptic message.
It's this curious first clue that sets Claudia on an unexpected treasure hunt that she hopes will bring her dad home and heal whatever's gone wrong with her family. Told through the pages of Claudia's scrapbook, The Jigsaw Jungle is a moving story of a family lost and then found, with a dash of mystery and loads of heart, from award-winning author and middle-grade master Kristin Levine.
Though he thinks of himself as a cowboy, Tommy is really a bully. He's always playing cruel jokes on classmates or stealing from the store. But Tommy has a reason: life at home is tough. His abusive mother isn't well; in fact, she may be mentally ill, and his sister, Mary Lou, is in the hospital badly burned from doing a chore it was really Tommy's turn to do. To make amends, Tommy takes over Mary Lou's paper route. But the paper route also becomes the perfect way for Tommy to investigate his neighbors after stumbling across a copy of The Daily Worker, a communist newspaper.
Tommy is shocked to learn that one of his neighbors could be a communist, and soon fear of a communist in this tight-knit community takes hold of everyone when Tommy uses the paper to frame a storeowner, Mr. McKenzie. As Mr. McKenzie's business slowly falls apart and Mary Lou doesn't seem to get any better, Tommy's mother's abuse gets worse causing Tommy's bullying to spiral out of control.
Poignantly written, Kristin Levine proves herself a master of gripping and affecting historical fiction.
Everything’s changing for twelve-year-old Marlee. Her brother’s gone off to college and her sister’s moved out of the room they’ve shared since Marlee was born. To Marlee, it feels like her whole world’s falling apart.
On top of all that, she’s starting middle school and has to break in new teachers—teachers who don’t yet know Marlee doesn’t talk. At least not until she meets Liz, the new girl at school. Liz is she’s brave, brash and always knows the right thing to say, especially to the resident mean girl, Sally. Liz even helps Marlee overcome her fear of speaking. But when Liz leaves school without even a good-bye, the rumor is that Liz was really a colored girl caught passing for white. Marlee decides that doesn’t matter. She just wants her friend back. And to stay friends, Marlee and Liz are even willing to take on segregation and the dangers their friendship could bring to both their families.
Harry "Dit" Sims and Emma Walker are the unlikeliest of friends. Emma, the educated twelve-year-old daughter of Moundville's new postmaster, is all wrong as far as Dit's concerned. Dit was told the new postmaster would have a boy his same age, not a girl. But the rest of the town is more surprised by the Walker family's color than whether Emma's a boy or a girl. But that makes no difference to Dit's mother. Her rule is to be nice to everyone, and before long, Dit's glad about Mama's rule. Emma's not like anyone he's ever known. Emma is the first person to ever listen to Dit.
Emma also makes Dit think, and about things he's never given much thought to before, like why the colored kids and the white kids can't go to school together. Soon Dit's thinking about a lot more when Doc, who is black and the town barber, is accused of a terrible crime. Dit and Emma know he doesn't deserve to be punished, and together they come up with a daring plan to save Doc from the unthinkable.
Set in 1917 in Moundville, Alabama, and inspired by the author's family history, this is the poignant story of a brave friendship and the perils of small-town justice.
