Girls survive

Twelve-year-old Ann understands there is only one thing to be grateful for as a slave: having her family together. But when the master falls into debt, he plans to sell both Ann and her younger brother to two different owners. Ann is convinced her family must run away on the Underground Railroad. Will Ann's family survive the dangerous trip to their freedom in the North? This Girls Survive story is supported by a glossary, discussion questions, and...

Although Emmi has lived in Chicago for two years, she finds it hard to love her adopted city. As a German immigrant in the early 1870s, she's often teased by her America-born peers. But when the Great Fire breaks out on October 8, 1871, Emmi and her enemies find themselves braving the smoke and flames together. Can Emmi and the others survive the danger to escape the burning city? Readers can learn the real story of the Great Chicago Fire from the...

Thirteen-year-old Noelle feels like the luckiest girl in the world to be cruising the Atlantic aboard the famed Titanic. The trip is made even better by her new friend, Pauline, a girl who is traveling with her father to live in America. The girls spend the first days of the journey exploring, but on the fifth night, Noelle awakes to a sinking ship. Women and children will be rescued first, and Noelle realizes motherless Pauline will be left all alone....

In 1918, fourteen-year-old Daisy's family has fallen on hard times. Her sister Elsie's fiance was recently deployed to fight in World War I, and her father's newspaper was forced to shut down for criticizing the U.S. entrance into the war. When the Spanish Flu arrives in her small town in Minnesota, Daisy tries to shield her loved ones from the devastating illness. As the influenza pandemic sweeps through the nation, can Daisy protect those closest...

Lily is a twelve-year-old Chinese American girl living in San Francisco's Chinatown when an earthquake destroys her home and sets her neighborhood on fire. Separated from her parents, Lily must help her younger brother and neighbor escape San Francisco. As the city burns, Lily struggles to keep her group close as they face peril and racism. Will Lily be reunited with her parents and make it across the bay to the safety of Oakland? Readers can learn...

Twelve-year-old Mary and her Cherokee family are forced out of their home in Georgia by U.S. soldiers in May 1838. From the beginning of the forced move, Mary and her family are separated from her father. Facing horrors such as internment, violence, disease, and harsh weather, Mary perseveres and helps keep her family and friends together until they can reach the new Cherokee nation in Indian Territory. Featuring nonfiction support material, a glossary,...

In the late summer and early fall of 1938, ten-year-old Ruth Block, along with her father, mother, and best friend, Miriam, must navigate the increasing pressure placed on the Jewish population in Frankfurt, Germany. Ruth grows more worried by the day. Her father's stationery store is shut down; she and Miriam are belittled on the street; their school is closed. Then one night in November, the family's apartment is broken into. Ruth's father is dragged...

When her mother announces a holiday vacation to Thailand, Tara isn't thrilled. She'd rather stay home with her friends, but Mom is determined they use the girls' trip to explore their Thai heritage. Tara is reluctant to travel so far from home, especially to a country she doesn't feel connected to. But then disaster strikes. The day after Christmas, a massive tsunami sweeps through Phuket, Thailand. Tara's resort vacation suddenly becomes a fight...

London schoolgirl Hettie hears the whispers and sees the worry creeping across her parents' faces. She watches as the windows in her home are blacked out. She helps her dad build a bomb shelter. She learns how to wear a gas mask. War, led by Adolf Hitler, is stomping its feet at Great Britain's doorstep, and Hettie knows only one thing for certain: When the bombs come, it will take all the courage she has to be brave and survive.

Life in lower Manhattan is normal for Molly, her dads, and younger sister. But on September 11, 2001, everything changes. Molly and her younger sister, Adeline, are at school when the first plane hits the World Trade Center. When the Twin Towers fall, the city is thrown into chaos. Papa, a pilot, is flying, Dad can't be reached, and Gran, an EMT with the New York Fire Department, is at Ground Zero. It's up to Molly to find her sister and navigate...

In the early 1920s, the Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is the wealthiest Black community in the United States. But Tulsa is still a segregated city. "Black Wall Street" and white Tulsa are very much divided. Twelve-year-old Lena knows this, but she feels safe and sheltered from the racism in her successful, flourishing neighborhood. That all changes when Dick Rowland, a young Black man from Greenwood, is accused of assaulting a white woman....

In 1935, dust storms are sweeping across the southern plains of United States, including Oklahoma. Twelve-year-old Millie Horn is worried about her family's survival. The Dust Bowl is getting worse, and her family is running out of food and money. Despite the hardships, Pa doesn't want to abandon the farm, which has been in the family for generations. But when the worst "black blizzard" yet hits, they have no choice. The family decides to make the...

12-year-old Fumiko is fascinated by the Moga girls, modern young women with short hair and casual dresses who are making their way in 1920s Tokyo. Her parents, however, expect a traditional life for her. But none of that matters when the Great Kanto Earthquake strikes the city on September 1, 1923. Can Fumiko withstand the fires and confusion that follow the shaking earth, and how will the tragedy change her future? Readers can learn the real story...

Thirteen-year-old Min knows a lot about protesting, as both her parents are activists. But Min has yet to attend a protest. That all changes in June of 1989 when Min follows her parents to Tiananmen Square, where thousands of peaceful protestors are asking for political and economic changes. When the prime minister calls in the military, the peaceful protests become dangerous. Min is separated from her parents, and the square is filled with violence....

Twelve-year-old Anya has a good life with her family in the town of Pripyat, not far from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. But then, one night, an explosion lights up the night sky, and something about the flames doesn't look right. Anya's father, a firefighter, is called to the plant, and soon the seriousness of the situation grows. What went wrong at the plant? What is the government not telling them? And will Anya and her family survive the fallout...

It is 1915, and twelve-year-old Penny and her brother Charles are embarking on a trip to England aboard the RMS Lusitania. But war is brewing overseas, and there are rumors that Germany will torpedo any ship that comes into the area, even a ship full of civilian passengers. Shy and nervous Penny is worried, but those worries fade when she makes her first real friend, a bold girl named Mary. With Mary, Penny begins to find her voice for the first time....