Ballerina Dreams

Perfect for newly independent readers—the amazing true story of Michaela DePrince, one of America’s top ballerinas.

by Michaela DePrince

At the age of three, Michaela DePrince found a photo of a ballerina that changed her life. She was living in an orphanage in Sierra Leone at the time, but was soon adopted by a family and brought to America. Michaela never forgot the photo of the dancer she once saw, and quickly decided to make her dream of becoming a ballerina come true. She has been dancing ever since and is now a principal dancer in New York City and has been featured in the ballet documentary First Position, as well as Dancing with the Stars, Good Morning America, and Oprah magazine.

Young readers will love learning about this inspiring ballerina in this uplifting and informative leveled reader. This Step 4 Step into Reading book is for newly independent readers who read simple sentences with confidence.

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Nobody Comes - True Adoption Story - Review Copy

Nobody Comes by Anthony Cleary

Attached are the first five chapters of Nobody Comes, the story of a British Judge who went to Romania in the early 1990s – at the time that all the terrible news arrived of the way Romanian orphans were being treated – and against all the odds managed to successfully adopt a child.

Read a synopsis (PDF)

Here is how he recently described the experience in his own words:

http://www.adoption.net/adoptive-parents/blog/nobody-comes-the-true-story-of-the-rescue-of-a-romanian-orphan

The book can be bought here:

Paperback and ebook:

Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk (29/30 Five Star reviews)

Ebook:

BN.com
Kobo.com
Apple iBookstore

ABC, Adoption & Me: A Multicultural Picture Book for Adoptive Families

ABC, Adoption & Me: A Multicultural Picture Book for Adoptive Families by Gayle H. Swift

Learn more about the book (PDF)

An award-winning  book about adoption that celebrates the blessing of family and addresses the difficult issues as well. With exuberant illustrations and a diverse representation of families, ABC, Adoption & Me deepens understanding of what it means to be an adoptive family. It provides talking points that bring families closer, and presents adoption as a safe topic. Kids report that ABC, Adoption & Me expresses their complicated feelings in a way that makes them feel normal and which makes it easy for them to discuss with their families. "Most adoption books only talk about the good part of adoption. ABC shows adoption from the kid's side." Includes a parent guide.

Named a Favorite Read of 2013 by Adoptive Families, the award-winning national adoption magazine and leading adoption information source for families before, during, and after adoption. 

Named a Notable Picture Book for 2013 by Shelf Unbound in their December/January 2014 issue.

Earned an Honorable Mention from the Gittle List of 2013

"Adoptive Families Magazine" named it a Favorite Read of 2013 and it has garnered several other awards as well. I hope all adoptive families will make this a part of their family library. Posted by: Robin E. Sizemore, Executive Director, Hopscotch Adoptions, Inc

How Smudge Came

by Nan Gregory

“You respond to the universal pet story before the illustrations show that Cindy is a young woman with Down’s syndrome. [This book] is remarkable in telling it as Cindy sees it. Lightburn’s realistic pictures in soft-tone colored pencil have the same beautiful sense of fragility, steadfastness, and connection.”—Booklist (starred review) 

This happens to be one of our very favorite books. Learn more.

Breaking Stalin's Nose

Sasha Zaichik has known the laws of the Soviet Young Pioneers since the age of six:

1. The Young Pioneer is devoted to Comrade Stalin, the Communist Party, and Communism.

2. A Young Pioneer is a reliable comrade and always acts according to conscience.

3. A Young Pioneer has a right to criticize shortcomings.

But now that it is finally time to join the Young Pioneers, the day Sasha has awaited for so long, everything seems to go awry. He breaks a classmate's glasses with a snowball. He accidentally damages a bust of Stalin in the school hallway.  And worst of all, his father, the best Communist he knows, was arrested just last night.

Learn more.

The Sandcastle Girls

"Chris Bohjalian is at his very finest in this searing story of love and war. I was mesmerized from page one. Bravo!"
-- Paula McLain, author of The Paris Wife

26 June, 2012

Dear Friends Who Read and Readers Who are Friends,

I hope your summers are off to a wondrous start. Certainly mine has been, enhanced by terrific new books from John Grisham (Calico Joe), John Irving (In One Person), and Maggie Shipstead (Seating Arrangements). And, of course, there are the new paperbacks of Maine (J. Courtney Sullivan) and The Night Circus (Erin Morgenstern).

And thanks to Fifty Shades of Grey (E.L. James), people are no longer just reading in bed, they’re. . .

Never mind.

In any case, roughly three weeks from today my new novel, The Sandcastle Girls, arrives. I know in my heart this is the most important book I will ever write – and the most personal. Truly. I knew this when I was in Armenia and Lebanon earlier this year, with photos of my late father and grandparents on my iPhone for company.

The book is a love story set in the midst of the Armenian Genocide in the First World War, and it has three of my favorite fictional heroines I’ve ever spent time with in my work: 22-year-old Elizabeth Endicott, Mount Holyoke Class of 1915; Nevart, a doctor’s wife who has endured the worst the Syrian desert can offer; and Hatoun, a quiet, watchful, and intense little girl.

The early reviews have thrilled me:

"Bohjalian powerfully narrates an intricately nuanced romance with a complicated historical event at the forefront. With the centennial of the Armenian genocide fast approaching, this is not to be missed. Simply astounding."
-- Julie Kane, Library Journal (starred review)

"Bohjalian's storytelling makes this a beautiful, frightening, and unforgettable read."
-- Publishers' Weekly

"An unforgettable exposition of the still too-little-known facts of the Armenian genocide and its multigenerational consequences."
-- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"A powerful and moving story based on real events seldom discussed. It will leave you reeling."
-- Elizabeth Dickie, Booklist

"The Sandcastle Girls will remain ingrained in your consciousness."
-- Wendy Plotkin, The Armenian Weekly

You can learn more about the novel – and watch a :30 video trailer or read an excerpt -- here

And, of course, you can preorder a copy at your local bookstore or from any of the online sources.

But I may also be coming to your city or town. Beginning in Los Angeles, California on July 16 and ending in Montpelier, Vermont on August 7, The Sandcastle Girls rock-and-roll book tour will be coming to 22 venues in 14 states. (Fear not: There will again be rock-and-roll t-shirts.)

Here is the link to a list of the book tour events.

I hope I see many of you at these appearances – and I hope with all my heart that you spend a part of your summer with The Sandcastle Girls.

All the best,
Chris B.

"The Sandcastle Girls is deft, layered, eye-opening, and riveting. I was deeply moved."
-- Wally Lamb, author of The Hour I First Believed