Into the Wind is a middle-grade novel about the unlikely friendship between a boy and an elderly woman. Both moving and joyful, this is a poignant story about loss and love, and the surprising and sustaining bonds that can grow between the old and young.
Thirteen-year-old Satoshi Matsumoto spent the last three years living in Atlanta where he was the star of his middle-school baseball team—a slugger with pro potential, according to his coach. Now that his father’s work in the US has come to an end, he’s moved back to his hometown in rural Japan. Living abroad has changed him, and now his old friends in Japan are suspicious of his new foreign ways. Even worse, his childhood foe Shintaro, whose dad has ties to gangsters, is in his homeroom. After he joins his new school’s baseball team, Satoshi has a chance to be a hero until he makes a major-league error.
Thirteen-year-old Hannah Higgins is convinced her summer is ruined when she is forced to travel to Africa and work in a remote village in Kenya with her mom and uncle. Never having been to a developing country, she finds the food challenging and the community filthy. She has to live without electricity or running water. Then she is told she must attend school. Just when she thinks nothing could make this trip any worse, she learns people there are dying of hunger and preventable disease. Hannah becomes frustrated and wants to help, but when poverty threatens the lives of people she loves, all she wants to do is go home.
History recognizes the leadership and voice Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. brought to the civil rights movement in 1960s America. A 30-foot tall statue of Dr. King gazes into the future full of hope for all humanity. His words of peace are carved in the walls of the monument as a reminder to all Americans of the power of peaceful protest. Learn all about the first national memorial to an African American.
She was a gift of friendship and peace between France and the United States. “Liberty Enlightening the World” stands now as a symbol of America’s embrace of freedom and democracy. Find out why 4 million visitors each year come to see this majestic statue in New York’s harbor.
For millions of people, leaving home and coming to America meant giving up family and all things familiar. For more than sixty years, one site was the first place in America all new immigrants saw. Find out why Ellis Island holds such an important place in America’s history.
The story of Harriet Tubman and her role in leading slaves to freedom along the Underground Railroad is well-known. But did you know that during the Civil War Harriet would often dress in disguise to gain important information to share with the Union Army?
It may be a parent's dream, but imagine life without the internet or world wide web. Would airlines be able to fly? Would our nation's security be at risk? What can be done to safeguard the internet?
It seems they're everywhere. But scientists believe bees are at risk of survival. What has put bees at risk and should we care? Imagine a world without these important pollinators and you'll see a world with fewer and fewer critical food sources.
Empires have been built from it, Wars have been fought for it. Imagine a world without oil. What alternatives do we have in a future with limited oil and other fossil fuels?
Look around. Plastic is everywhere. But some experts say today's plastic will be in our landfills for thousands of years to come. Imagine a world without plastic, in some communities, it's a new reality. Explore the good and the bad of plastic in our lives.
