Books in Living History series

Two cultures, two faiths, struggle against each other in this exciting story by Madeleine Polland. You can almost hear the clash of arms and taste the Great Hall feasts in this authentic recreation of 9th century Europe, when Viking raiders ravaged the coasts of Ireland. Amid the battles and shipwrecks and deeds of bravery and treachery, twelve-year-old Beorn learns Christian humility from his young captive, Ness, the daughter of an Irish chieftain.Illustrated by Joan Coppa Drennen.

In 1360 AD, King Magnus Eirikson rules over a united Sweden and Norway a Christian Scandinavia. Dark rumor has reached the king that the colonies in Greenland have fallen back into pagan ritual, along with an alarming report that the inhabitants of the Western Settlement have mysteriously disappeared, with farmsteads and churches left deserted. Magnus entrusts Paul Knutson with a ship and forty strong men to make contact with Greenland and to verify the truth of these stories. Among these men are Olav Sigurdsson a young man sailing to prove his bravery to the king and to reclaim his father s lost honor and Eirik the Laplander, deeply loyal to Olav s family, but a pagan viewed with suspicion by the other Christian Scandinavians. Upon confirming the disappearance of a whole settlement, Paul and his party follow a sparse trail of clues south across the seas toward Vinland convinced that some of the colonists may still be alive. As the valiant band perseveres in the pursuit of answers for its king, going ever deeper south and westward into an unknown continent, Olav s desire for justice for his father finally merges with the desire for success in their difficult quest. The Door to the North is another stirring example of Elizabeth Coatsworth s authentic and captivating historical storytelling.

Amidst great mystery, Hugh is left in the care of Glastonbury Abbey by his father who must flee England too swiftly to be burdened by a crippled son. Ashamed of his physical weakness, yet possessed of a stout heart, Hugh finds that life at the abbey is surprisingly full in this year 1171, in the turbulent days of King Henry II. Hugh, his friend Dickon and their strange friend, the mad Bleheris, uncover a treasure trove and with it a deeper mystery of the sort that could only occur in Glastonbury where Joseph of Arimithea was said to have lived out his last years. Before all is done, more is resolved than Hugh could ever have hoped. A Newbery Honor winner. Illustrated by Frederick Chapman.

Arguably one of the most prominent US Supreme Court Justices at the moment, Sonia Sotomayor has paved her own way to enact profound changes and reforms, despite the obstacles that stood in her way. And she certainly has had her share of adversity: she was diagnosed with diabetes when she was just eight years old, lived in housing projects in the Bronx in her youth, and fought (and still is fighting) against blatant discrimination throughout her career. Now in her early 60s, Justice Sotomayor has already made history in being appointed to the Court as the first Latina justice, the third woman justice, and one of the three youngest justices in this position.

"A tale that is not told dies." So say the old Irish storytellers. How much better when the story, like this one about the fighting prince of Donegal, is true! It is 1587 and Queen Elizabeth plans to bring Ireland under her iron rule. Only one thing is stopping her: Warrior queen Ineen Duive and her young son, Hugh Roe O'Donnell. Carefree and proud, young Hugh grows up quickly after he is betrayed to the English and taken to Birmingham Tower as a hostage. Can he escape? If so, can he escape in time to aid the Irish struggle against the English? Facts as exciting as fiction abound in this authentic portrayal of a glorious moment in Irish history.

British airman Dym Ingleford is convinced that the young German prisoner, Max Eckermann, is his brother Anthony who was kidnapped years before. Raised in the Nazi ideology, Tony has by chance tumbled into British hands. Dym has brought him back, at least temporarily, to the family he neither remembers nor will acknowledge as his own. As Tony keeps attempting to escape, his stubborn anger is whittled away by the patient kindness he finds at the White Priory. Then, just as he is resigning himself to stay with this English family, a new chance suddenly opens for him to return home-to Germany!

Twelve-year-old Chico Filippo, whose own donkeys were confiscated years before by the German army, can't stay away from the newly set up American Remount Depot. Here, in the last months of World War II in Italy, thousands of supply mules and donkeys are processed and sent on to the fierce mountain fighting in the Apennines. One of the handlers introduces Chico to a small courageous animal the boy names Sergeant Donkey. Drawn into friendship and then into unexpected danger, Chico must demonstrate his own simple courage.