MAKING FRIENDS OF RIVALS

Ariana thinks that things can't get much worse when her cousin, Laila, moves in with her family from Afghanistan.  Laila is the perfect daughter and a perfect lady while Ariana is... well, not.  To make it worse, their family spends a lot of time pointing out what Ariana can do to act more like Laila and when school starts, it feels like Laila is trying to steal Ariana's best friend.  

Living in the same room and working in the family store, Laila and Ariana act as rivals until a competing Afghan market opens in the same mall as their own family's store, and bad things start happening.  Is the new store undermining Kabul Corner and stealing their workers and business?  Or is there something bigger going on?  Find out in N.H. Senzai's novel for middle schoolers, Saving Kabul Corner.

BULLIES & APACHE HELICOPTERS

The ninety-one letters Derek keeps in his dad's Knight Rider lunchbox are the only way he can communicate with his dad. Since Derek was five, his dad has spent most of his time flying Apache Helicopters for the Army.  Last year, Derek and his mom thought his dad was home for good, but the Army called him back and now he is in Afghanistan.  His dad's letters help him through all the problems life throws at him.   Like being bullied by the kid he thought was his best friend. Or showing up at the school bus stop in the pouring rain on a Saturday.  Or forgetting his mom's birthday.  Or just plain missing his dad.  

Join Derek in this funny and touching account of how military service affects children and families in David Fleming's novel, The Saturday Boy.  This book is appropriate for children in Grades 5 and above.

PENNY FOR A PENCIL IN PAKISTAN

This is an adapted version of the adult book for younger readers. While not as fluid as the original book of the same title, it still has the power to inspire readers with Greg Mortenson's determination to honor his promise to a village and bring schools to remote sections of Pakistan & Afghanistan.

This version of three Cups of Tea features more photgraphs & a Q&A with Mortenson's daughter, Amira, as she follows in her father's footsteps in promoting Pennies for Peace and the Central Asia Institute, which help raise funds to build and maintain these schools.

Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Journey to Change the World.. One Child at a Time by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin.

For readers 4th & up.

THE BLAH BLAH MAN WITH HIS BLEE BLEE BLEEs

This Afghani folktale about a man with bad manners with his annoying blah blahs and blee blees will keep you entertained from the beginning to the end. He is the only man in a courteous, civilized village that is causing trouble and annoying the neighbors day in and day out.
Until one day he takes off to visit his friends in a far village and when he comes back things have changed do to the very clever neighbors of his. They are on to something... to put a stop to his blah blahs and blee blees. But what can they possibly have come up with since nothing seems to change the man?
THE MAN WITH BAD MANNERS by IDRIES SHAH and the illustrations by ROSE MARY SANTIAGO is a quick, inventive and fun read.
For grades K-3rd