Books

In this award-winning book, Oskar escapes the Kristallnacht pogrom, or “Night of Broken Glass,” in Nazi Germany and arrives in Manhattan on the seventh day of Hanukkah (and Christmas Eve) with only a photograph and the address of an aunt he doesn’t know. “The city was terribly big, Oskar was terribly small, and Broadway stretched before him like a river.” As he makes a solitary walk from downtown to uptown, he experiences the excitement of bustling New York City and small acts of kindness from strangers along the way, pointing toward a new life of hope.

It is said that in war heaven and earth change places not once, but many times. When Heaven and Earth Changed Places is the haunting memoir of a girl on the verge of womanhood in a world turned upside down. The youngest of six children in a close-knit Buddhist family, Le Ly Hayslip was twelve years old when U.S. helicopters landed in Ky La, her tiny village in central Vietnam. As the government and Viet Cong troops fought in and around Ky La, both sides recruited children as spies and saboteurs. Le Ly was one of those children.

Originally written as columns for a Croatian newspaper, Sarajevo vividly describes a life in which unspeakable horrors are daily occurrences. While witnessing the gradual destruction of his city, Dizdarevic emphasizes the heroism of Sarajevo’s citizens as they try to survive. Recipient of the International Prize from Reporters Without Borders.

Pipher connects us with the newest members of the American family–refugees. In cities all over the country, refugees arrive daily. Lost Boys from Sudan, survivors from Kosovo, families fleeing Afghanistan and Vietnam: they come with nothing but the desire to experience the American dream. Their endurance in the face of tragedy and their ability to hold on to the virtues of family, love, and joy are a lesson for Americans. Their stories will make you laugh and weep–and give you a deeper understanding of the wider world in which we live.