NOVEDADES

Home-schooled A great athlete The very first president of the brand-new United States In 1789, George Washington became the first president of the United States. He has been called the father of our country for leading America through its early years. Washington also served in two major wars during his lifetime: the French and Indian War and the American Revolution. With over 100 black-and-white illustrations, Washington’s fascinating story comes to life – revealing the real man, not just the face on the dollar bill!

Born a slave in Maryland, Harriet Tubman knew first-hand what it meant to be someone’s property; she was whipped by owners and almost killed by an overseer. It was from other field hands that she first heard about the Underground Railroad which she travelled by herself north to Philadelphia. Throughout her long life (she died at the age of ninety-two) and long after the Civil War brought an end to slavery, this amazing woman was proof of what just one person can do.

Walt Whitman was a printer, journalist, editor, and schoolteacher. But today, he’s recognized as one of America’s founding poets, a man who changed American literature forever. Throughout his life, Walt journeyed everywhere, from New York to New Orleans, Washington D.C. to Denver, taking in all that America had to offer. With the Civil War approaching, he saw a nation deeply divided, but he also understood the power of words to inspire unity. So in 1855, Walt published a short collection of poems, Leaves of Grass, a book about the America he saw and believed in. Though hated and misunderstood by many at the time, Walt’s writing introduced an entirely new writing style: one that broke forms, and celebrated the common man, human body, and the diversity of America. Generations later, readers can still find themselves in Whitman’s words, and recognize the America he depicts. Who Was Walt Whitman? follows his remarkable journey from a young New York printer to one of America’s most beloved literary figures.

A highly inventive mystery begins when sixteen unlikely people gather for the reading of the very strange will of the very rich Samuel W. Westing. They could become millionaires, depending on how they play a game. All they have to do is find the answer—but the answer to what? The Westing game is tricky and dangerous, but the heirs play on—through blizzards, burglaries, and bombings. Sam Westing may be dead … but that won’t stop him from playing one last game!

What shall we build, you and I? Let’s gather all our tools for a start. For putting together . . . and taking apart. A father and daughter set about laying the foundations for their life together. Using their own special tools, they get to work, building memories to cherish, a home to keep them safe, and love to keep them warm.

Written by a celebrated math educator, this innovative inquiry encourages critical thinking and sparks memorable mathematical conversations. Children and their parents answer the same question about each set of four shapes: “Which one doesn’t belong?” There’s no one right answer–the important thing is to have a reason why. Kids might describe the shapes as squished, smooshed, dented, or even goofy. But when they justify their thinking, they’re talking math! Winner of the Mathical Book Prize for books that inspire children to see math all around them.

All Jeremy wants is a pair of those shoes, the ones everyone at school seems to be wearing. Though Jeremy’s grandma says they don’t have room for “want,” just “need,” when his old shoes fall apart at school, he is more determined than ever to have those shoes, even a thrift-shop pair that are much too small. But sore feet aren’t much fun, and Jeremy soon sees that the things he has — warm boots, a loving grandma, and the chance to help a friend — are worth more than the things he wants.

Libby has always been inexplicably drawn to the old Victorian house on Mulberry Lane. So much so that when she sees a For Sale sign go up in the front yard, Libby uses all the money her grandmother left her to pay for college to buy the house instead, determined to fix it up herself—even though she knows her parents will be furious. Tish, a brash, broke fellow student, doesn’t need much to get by. She can fix almost anything, so she makes do by building sets for the theater department and working odd jobs at the nearby salvage yard. Tish passes by the house one day and is mysteriously compelled to knock on the door. Libby offers her a room in exchange for her help with repairing the old house, and as they begin to work together, the two young women quickly find themselves growing closer.

Based on supermodel Georgie Badiel’s childhood, a young girl dreams of bringing clean drinking water to her African village With its wide sky and warm earth, Princess Gie Gie’s kingdom is a beautiful land. But clean drinking water is scarce in her small African village. And try as she might, Gie Gie cannot bring the water closer; she cannot make it run clearer. Every morning, she rises before the sun to make the long journey to the well. Instead of a crown, she wears a heavy pot on her head to collect the water. After the voyage home, after boiling the water to drink and clean with, Gie Gie thinks of the trip that tomorrow will bring. And she dreams. She dreams of a day when her village will have cool, crystal-clear water of its own.