NNELS Upgrade

Readers learn about Mattel Toys and the background behind Barbie's concept and development, how it was a solution for girls who wanted to imagine adult roles rather than just play mother, and details about inventor Ruth Handler.

A search down a wooded path for a well-hit baseball turns into an encounter between Pamela and a veteran soldier standing in front of a monument. The statue commemorates the heroism of Sgt. Tommy Prince, the most decorated Aboriginal soldier in Canada. Pamela is curious, and the veteran is happy to regale her with the story of the expert marksman and tracker, renowned for his daring and bravery in World War II and the Korean War.

For Tyrese, history class is the lowest point of his school day. This is, until his friend Levi reveals a secret - a secret that brings history alive, in the form of one Gabriel Dumont. Through Dumont, a great Metis leader of the Northwest Resistance, the boys experience a bison hunt, a skirmish with the Blackfoot, and encounter with the great Louis Riel, and, ultimately, a great battle at Batoche, Saskatchewan.

Although Kathy loves poetry, she is far too shy to recite it in front of her class. But the story of Pauline Johnson, renowned as the Mohawk Princess, inspires Kathy to overcome her stage fright. Pauline, from the Grand River Reserve in Ontario, crisscrossed the country, reciting her poems to far-flung communities, making her among the most beloved literary figure of the Edwardian era. Tales from Big Spirit is a unique six-book graphic novel series that delves into the stories of six great Indigenous heroes from Canadian history -- some already well known and others who deserve to be.

When Cole's teacher catches him drawing rather than listening in class, he gives Cole a special assignment: an oral presentation on an important Aboriginal figure. Cole will do almost anything to avoid speaking in public -- even feigning illness. But when he hear the story of the remarkable woman known as Thanadelthur -- peacemaker between the Cree and the Dene and interpreter for the governor of Fort York -- he is so inspired by her bravery, he overcomes his own fears.

When Richard's class from Big Spirit School takes a canoe trip, he and his classmates chance upon an ederly woman. She tells them the story of her grandfather, John Ramsay, of the Sandy Bar community on Lake Winnipeg. Ramsay's land was taken by the government and given to the new settlers from Iceland who arrived there in 1875. Yet many owed their survial to Ramsay, who helped them through freezing winters, hunger, and a devastating smallpox epidemic.

When a mishap delays Jessie at the end of a school day, she takes a shortcut home. But the shortcut turns into an adventure, as Jessie is transported through time and space, to early 19th-century Newfoundland. There she meets Shawnadithit who, as the last surviving member of the Beothuk, has witnessed the end of a once-great people. Tales from Big Spirit is a unique six-book graphic novel series that delves into the stories of six great Indigenous heroes from Canadian history -- some already well known and others who deserve to be.

Society of School Librarians International Honor Book Deborah Ellis has been widely praised for her gripping books portraying the plight of children in war-torn countries. Now she turns her attention closer to home, to the children whose parents are soldiers fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. In frank and revealing interviews, they talk about how this experience has marked and shaped their lives.The children, who range in age from 7 to 17, come from all over North America. They were interviewed on military bases, in the streets, in their homes and over the phone.

In a rehabilitation center for disabled children, twelve-year-old Nora says she loves the color pink and chewing gum and explains that the wheels of her wheelchair are like her legs. Eleven-year-old Mohammad describes how his house was demolished by soldiers. And we meet twelve-year-old Salam, whose older sister walked into a store in Jerusalem and blew herself up, killing herself and two people, and injuring twenty others. All these children live both ordinary and extraordinary lives. They argue with their siblings. They dream about their wishes for the future.

Joint winner of the South Asia Book Award, longlisted for the Children's Literature Roundtables of Canada Information Book Award, selected for the IRA Notable Books for a Global Society List, the Bankstreet College of Education's Best Children’s Books of the Year 2013, the USBBY Outstanding International Book List, and the CCBC Choices List Since its publication in 2000, hundreds of thousands of children all over the world have read and loved The Breadwinner.