Books with author Deborah Hopkinson

From an award-winning author of historical fiction comes a story of survival, crime, adventure, and horses in the streets of 19th century New York City.Eleven-year-old Rocco is an Italian immigrant who finds himself alone in New York City after he's sold to a padrone by his poverty-stricken parents. While working as a street musician, he meets the boys of the infamous Bandits' Roost, who teach him the art of pickpocketing. Rocco embraces his new life of crime—he's good at it, and it's more lucrative than banging a triangle on the street corner. But when he meets Meddlin' Mary, a strong-hearted Irish girl who's determined to help the horses of New York City, things begin to change. Rocco begins to reexamine his life—and take his future into his own hands.

Sibert Honor author Deborah Hopkinson illuminates the true stories of Jewish children who fled Nazi Germany, risking everything to escape to safety on the Kindertransport.Ruth David was growing up in a small village in Germany when Adolf Hitler rose to power in the 1930s. Under the Nazi Party, Jewish families like Ruth's experienced rising anti-Semitic restrictions and attacks. Just going to school became dangerous. By November 1938, anti-Semitism erupted into Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass, and unleashed a wave of violence and forced arrests.Days later, desperate volunteers sprang into action to organize the Kindertransport, a rescue effort to bring Jewish children to England. Young people like Ruth David had to say good-bye to their families, unsure if they'd ever be reunited. Miles from home, the Kindertransport refugees entered unrecognizable lives, where food, clothes -- and, for many of them, language and religion-- were startlingly new. Meanwhile, the onset of war and the Holocaust visited unimaginable horrors on loved ones left behind. Somehow, these rescued children had to learn to look forward, to hope.Through the moving and often heart-wrenching personal accounts of Kindertransport survivors, critically acclaimed and award-winning author Deborah Hopkinson paints the timely and devastating story of how the rise of Hitler and the Nazis tore apart thelives of so many families and what they were forced to give up in order to save these children.

In this stunning nonfiction volume, award-winning author Deborah Hopkinson weaves the stories of slaves, sharecroppers, and mill workers into a tapestry illuminating the history of cotton in America.In UP BEFORE DAYBREAK, acclaimed author Deborah Hopkinson captures the voices of the forgotten men, women, and children who worked in the cotton industry in America over the centuries. The voices of the slaves who toiled in the fields in the South, the poor sharecroppers who barely got by, and the girls who gave their lives to the New England mills spring to life through oral histories, archival photos, and Hopkinson's engaging narrative prose style. These stories are amazing and often heartbreaking, and they are imbedded deep in our nation's history.

An inspiring tale of creativity and determination on the Underground Railroad from Coretta Scott King winner James Ransome and acclaimed author Deborah Hopkinson.Clara, a slave and seamstress on Home Plantation, dreams of freedom--not just for herself, but for her family and friends. When she overhears a conversation about the Underground Railroad, she has a flash of inspiration. Using scraps of cloth from her work in the Big House and scraps of information gathered from other slaves, she fashions a map that the master would never even recognize. . . .From the award-winning author-illustrator team of Deborah Hopkinson and James Ransome, this fictional tale of the Underground Railroad continues to inspire young readers 25 years after its original publication."Inspiring." —The New York Times"A triumph of the human spirit." —Publishers Weekly, starred review

Maria's wish burns as brightly as a star. Maria longs to be an astronomer and imagines all the strange worlds she can travel to by looking though her papa's telescope. One night Maria gets her chance to look through the telescope. For the first time, she sees the night sky stretching endlessly above her, and her dream of exploring constellations seems close enough to touch. In this story, inspired by the life of Maria Mitchell, America's first woman astronomer, "viewers will find the cobalt-blue nights, lit with constellations that make imaginary (and actual) pictures in the sky, every bit as attractive as Maria does."

A Band of Angels is fiction, but it is based on real events and people. The character of Ella was inspired by Ella Sheppard Moore, who was born February 4, 1851, in Nashville, Tennessee. Her father was able to free himself and young Ella from slavery, but before he could buy freedom for Ella's mother she was sold away. Ella was raised in Cincinnati, where she took music lessons. At fifteen, she was left penniless when her father died. She arrived at Fisk School in 1868 with only six dollars. Fisk was opened in 1866 as a school for former slaves and began offering college classes in 1871. That year, in a desperate attempt to save Fisk from closing, a music teacher named George White set out with a group of students on a singing tour to raise money. Although at first they only sang popular music of the day, they soon became famous for introducing spirituals to the world. Ella Sheppard was the pianist for the Jubilee Singers on their historic concert tours, which raised enough money to save the school and build Jubilee Hall, the first permanent structure in the South for the education of black students. Ella later married George Moore, had three children, and located her mother and a sister. She died in 1914. Today her great-granddaughter is a librarian at Fisk University who shares the history of the Jubilee Singers with visitors. Although none graduated from Fisk, the original Jubilee Singers were recognized with honorary degrees in 1978. Today, Jubilee Singers at Fisk University continue to keep alive a rich musical tradition that includes such songs as "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," "Many Thousand Gone," and "Go Down, Moses."

Butterflies Belong Here is a powerful story of everyday activism and hope.In this moving story of community conservation, a girl finds a home in a new place and a way to help other small travelers.This book is about the real change children can make in conservation and advocacy—in this case, focusing on beautiful monarch butterflies.• From Deborah Hopkinson and Meilo So, the acclaimed team behind Follow the Moon Home• An empowering, classroom-ready read• The protagonist is a girl whose family has recently immigrated to the United States.I know what to look for: large black-and-orange wings with a border of small white specks, flitting from flower to flower, sipping nectar. But though I looked hard, I couldn't find even one. I wondered if monarch butterflies belonged here. I wondered if I did, too.Butterflies Belong Here is proof that even the smallest of us are capable of amazing transformations.• Equal parts educational and heartwarming, this makes a great gift for parents and grandparents, as well as librarians, science teachers, and educators.• Those interested in beautiful butterflies and everyday activism will find this lovely book both motivating and inspiring.• Perfect for children ages 5 to 8 years old• Add it to the shelf with books like Thank You, Earth: A Love Letter to Our Planet by April Pulley Sayre, The Honeybee by Kirsten Hall, and Greta and the Giants: Inspired by Greta Thunberg's Stand to Save the World by Zoë Tucker

The story of Girl Power! Learn about the remarkable women who changed US history. From Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton to Gloria Steinem and Hillary Clinton, women throughout US history have fought for equality. Author Deborah Hopkinson chronicles the beginning of the movement in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when women were demanding the right to vote. She explores the 1960s, which pushed equal rights and opportunities for women--both at home and in the workplace--even further, and then moves toward present-day events, including the Women's March that took place all across the United States in 2017. Celebrate how far women have come with this inspiring read!

“I believe I can just see you on the streets of that bright city.”Gran’s gone now, but her words live on with Nicholas Dray, almost twelve, as he makes his way from the hot cotton fields to that Queen of Cities: San Francisco. Nick’s on his own for the first time, with nowhere to turn. Then he meets jaunty, talkative Pat Patterson, owner of the most beautiful store–and the friendliest golden dog–in all the city. And for the first time in months, Nick feels safe. Safe in San Francisco.But the year is 1906, the month is April, and early one morning the walls begin to shake. The floor begins to buckle. And the earth opens up. A devastating earthquake and then raging firestorms ravage the city, and Nick is right in the middle of it all. But for a young boy who’s got few ties and nothing to lose, what’s the right choice: escape to safety or stay–at deadly risk–to help others? From acclaimed author Deborah Hopkinson comes a suspenseful and carefully researched novel of the Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire and of one boy’s heroic fight to survive it.