Most Popular Books by Gloria Whelan

In 1850 the Detroit River was a major track along the Underground Railroad -- the last step to freedom. The journey across the river was dangerous, especially in winter and especially for a 12-year-old boy. When Louis''s father left him in charge of the farm he offered his son this advice, "If you don''t know what to do, just do what you think I would have done." Louis relies upon his father''s words of wisdom when a runaway slave and her two children come looking for safe passage. In the second title in our Tales of Young Americans series Gloria Whelan -- author of National Book Award winning Homeless Bird -- beautifully creates a suspenseful coming-of-age story while illuminating a difficult time in America''s past. Ms. Whelan''s narrative again shows the human spirit will forever shine brightly in dark times. Freedom River - part of our Young Americans series - will quickly become a favorite for its important message and look at history from a youngster''s eye. Artist Gijsbert van Frankenhuyzen - a Sleeping Bear Press favorite - treats the material as only he can. Each illustrated page demonstrates the same mastery and devotion to his craft as the young heroes he brings to life.

This is a wonderful book of stories. Gloria Whelan is adept in creating the small luminous details that bring a story to life. She is miraculously fair to all her characters, young and old, and her accounts are both funny and frightening.

Deep in the Alaskan wilds, 9-year-old Rachel dreams of owning and racing a sled dog one day. When her father, who breeds and races huskies, gives her the runt of the litter, Rachel names the puppy Silver and sets out to prove he''s a champion.

As a young boy in Gujarat, India, Kumar sometimes feels like he lives in two worlds. First there is the old world where people and their choices are determined by prejudice and bigotry. But then there is the second, modern world: in this world Kumar can be friends with whomever he chooses and his future looks bright. As part of the annual Diwali celebration, Kumar is invited to the house of his classmate Andal to watch fireworks. Andal is from a high-caste Brahmin family so Kumar is especially pleased to be included. But there in Andal''s house, Kumar''s two worlds collide in a very unpleasant way. Instead of being welcomed as a guest, Kumar is sent away, forbidden to join the festivities. Angry and hurt, Kumar is left questioning his place in Indian society. Where does he fit in? To which world does he really belong?

Sixteen-year-old Ali comes face to face with murder and kidnapping during what promised to be a pleasant summer on Lake Michigan.

The kids from Starvation Lake are all excited about their trip to the ecology center . . . all of them, that is, except Baylor. Just the thought of being outdoors makes Baylor sick. The cold and the germs are bad enough, but no one said anything about the bears!

Originally built in 1921 to race in the ocean, a sailboat named Bernida captures the attention and heart of a Michigan sailor. He buys the boat and brings her to the Bayview Yacht Club in Detroit. In 1925 the sailor enters Bernida in the very first Port Huron to Mackinac Island Race.

Libby Mitchell can’t believe her luck! In 1841, her pioneer family decides to move north—near her best friend, Fawn, who lives with the Ottawa tribe. But the girls’ happiness at reuniting is short-lived. Greedy men want to cheat Fawn’s people out of their land and put all of the forest in danger. Now Libby and Fawn must think of a way to stop them—before the woods that they call home are lost forever. History Stepping Stones now feature updated content that emphasizes Common Core and today’s renewed interest in nonfiction. Perfect for home, school, and library bookshelves!

A pioneer adventure perfect for fans of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House series! On Libby Mitchell’s tenth birthday, she and her parents climb into a covered wagon and set off on a journey that takes them two months and a thousand miles. Their trip from Virginia to the deep woods of Michigan is hard, but it is exciting, too. And at its end lies their new home—a place that is rugged, wild, and full of promise. History Stepping Stones now feature updated content that emphasizes Common Core and today’s renewed interest in nonfiction. Perfect for home, school, and library bookshelves!

Peter Liebig can''t wait for summer. He''s tired of classrooms, teachers, and the endless lectures about the horrible Nazis. The war has been over for ten years, and besides, his town of Rolfen, West Germany, has moved on nicely. Despite its bombed-out church, it looks just as calm and pretty as ever. There is money to be made at the beach, and there are whole days to spend with Father at his job. And, of course, there''s soccer. Plenty for a thirteen-year-old boy to look forward to. But when Peter stumbles across a letter he was never meant to see, he unravels a troubling secret. Soon he questions everything—the town''s peaceful nature, his parents'' stories about the war, and his own sense of belonging.

During a long, snowy winter, the fourth grade boys and girls at Starvation Lake Elementary School have a contest to see who can raise the most money to help pay for a class trip.

Raids on his corn, garbage can, and bird feeder lead Mr. Twerkle to trap five raccoons and take them out to the woods, but they refuse to stay where he puts them.

In 1818 Mary O''Shea must decide whether to remain on Michilmackinac Island and marry her dear Indian friend White Hawk or to accept the proposal of James, an English nobleman, and to go with him to London.

Silvia''s brother, Eduardo, has Disappeared, and she won''t stop fighting until she finds him. Norberto, the general''s son, is just foolish enough to help. He''ll fall in love with her, and then he''ll ask his father to set Eduardo free. At least that''s the premise on which Silvia bases her scheme. In chapters alternating between Silvia''s and Eduardo''s perspectives, acclaimed author Gloria Whelan gives voice to the families who struggled to survive in 1970s Argentina - and to the many who still, today, remain Disappeared.

We are all going to be made perfect . . . In 1843, with all their possessions loaded onto a single wagon, ten-year-old Louisa May Alcott and her family bravely set out into the wilderness to make a new home for themselves on a farm called Fruitlands. Louisa''s father has a dream of living a perfect, simple life. It won''t be easy, but the family has vowed to uphold his high ideals. In her diary -- one she shares with her parents -- Louisa records her efforts to become the girl her parents would like her to be. But in another, secret diary, she reveals the hardships of this new life, and pours out her real hopes and worries. Can Louisa live up to her father''s expectations? Or will trying to be perfect tear the family apart?

Voices for Freedom contains three stories focusing on the Underground Railroad and the 1963 Freedom March on Washington. Stories are Friend on Freedom River, Riding to Washington, and The Listeners.In Friend on Freedom River, written by Gloria Whelan, runaway slaves ask Louis to ferry them across the Detroit River to freedom in Canada. He’s not sure what to do. If they are caught, it means prison for Louis. Written by Gwenyth Swain, Riding to Washington tells of one girl’s journey to attend the 1963 “Great March on Washington.” Janie and her father ride a bus to Washington, D.C. to hear a man named Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speak. During the trip, Janie sees firsthand the injustices that many others endure. In The Listeners, another offering from Gloria Whelan, each night Ella May and her friends secretly listen outside the windows of their master’s house. They listen to learn their fates and those of the other slaves.

Judo, origami, sushi - with just a few words an immediate landscape is conjured: the country of Japan. In K is for Kabuki: A Japan Alphabet, young readers are invited to travel to faraway Japan and explore its rich history, traditions, and role in today''s world. Evocative artwork captures the spirit of each letter topic. O is for Origami A paper frog, a paper tree, a paper sunflower just for me, a paper fox, a paper shrew, a paper tiger just for you. From the comic relief of Kyogen theater to the meditative powers of a Zen garden, K is for Kabuki brings the past, present, and pageantry of Japan to life.To find recipes, games, interactives maps and much more for this title visit www.discovertheworldbooks.com! Gloria Whelan is the award-winning author of many children''s books including Homeless Bird, for which she received the National Book Award. She lives in Michigan. A librarian by profession, Jenny Nolan has worked for The New Yorker and Rolling Stone magazines and as a researcher for investigative reporters. She lives in Michigan. Oki S. Han''s book, Basho and the Fox, was a New York Times best-seller. Her books, Mr. Long Beard and My Hometown, both won the Korea Children''s Book Award. In 2005 Oki was selected as Illustrator of the Year at the Bologna Children''s Book Fair for My Hometown. She lives in Korea.

In the winter of 1840, the night of the full moon is approaching. Nothing will stop Libby Mitchell from visiting her best friend, Fawn, during a special ceremony at the nearby wigwam camp. But Libby’s adventure takes an unexpected turn when soldiers suddenly rush in. They order everyone at the camp, including Libby, to move off the land—immediately! With each passing day, the displaced people must move farther away from home. Will Libby ever see her family again? History Stepping Stones now feature updated content that emphasizes Common Core and today’s renewed interest in nonfiction. Perfect for home, school, and library bookshelves!

Dawn Zonder is finally starting to feel at home in Starvation Lake with all her new friends when she finds out she might have to move again. If only Dawn could convince her family to stay in Starvation Lake for good. But the only house the Zonders can afford is the old Grader place. It'' s more than just run down-- it'' s haunted!

When a tire fire causes a punk rock band to take a detour to Starvation Lake, the fourth-grade students talk them into playing at the school fund raiser.

A fictionalized account of Ernest Hemingway''s sixteenth summer, during which love for his family, need for independence, and responsibility for decisions vie with each other, moving him from boyhood to manhood.

A collection of prize-winning short story entries for the Tuscany Prize for Catholic fiction.

When another girl is born to Chu Ju''s mother, it is quickly determined that the baby must be sent away. Chinese law states that a family may have only two children, and tradition dictates that every family should have a boy. Fourteen-year-old Chu Ju knows she cannot allow her sister to be sent to an orphanage and so she sets out in the middle of the night, vowing never to return.

"In Depression-era northern Michigan, a young boy meets a teenager serving in the Civilian Conservation Corps, the work relief program established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to employ millions of young men during the Great Depression"--

Koly es un personaje pasivo y acobardado que se debate en la indefensión. Los seres humanos se compran y se venden como objetos y son arrojados al perder su utilidad. De igual forma, la suegra compra, mediante un donativo, el favor de los dioses para su hijo, o entrega una cantidad de dinero a su nuera al abandonarla para tranquilizar su conciencia. El libro plantea la necesidad de que dos personas sean compatibles para vivir juntos, asunto lo suficientemente importante para no dejarlo al azar de una negociación entre progenitores. Tema central: falta de libertad y cómo conseguir ésta o ayudar a otros a hacerlo.

Each letter of the alphabet is represented by a name or word derived from some aspect of the country of Canada, and each term is presented in a rhyme and then further explained in a note.

In 1841 thirteen-year-old Libby and her family begin a new life on the shores of Lake Michigan where her father works as a surveyor for the Ottawa Indians and Libby is reunited with her Indian friend Fawn.

Times are hard in northern Michigan, and without a warm coat, Holly may not be able to start school. Will her Mama figure out a solution? National Book Award winner Whelan''s lyrical prose is accompanied by detailed paintings from Michigan artist van Frankenhuyzen. Illustrations.

When thirteen-year-old Koly enters into an ill-fated arranged marriage, she must either suffer a destiny dictated by India''s tradition or find the courage to oppose it.

When thirteen-year-old Koly enters into an ill-fated arranged marriage, she must either suffer a destiny dictated by India''s tradition or find the courage to oppose it.

Hannah, a blind girl living in Michigan in the late nineteenth century, doesn''t go to school until a new teacher tells her about the Braille method of reading for the blind.