"The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

A pilot accidentally crashes his plane and lands in the Sahara Desert. While he is wondering how he will survive without food or water, he meets a wandering prince. The little prince has fallen to Earth from another planet, and has been exploring on his own. He has met a great deal of characters and learned valuable lessons on life and living. A great fox he meets instructs him that, "One sees clearly only with the heart. What is essential is invisible to the eye." Life on the prince's planet is very Zen and minimalist, and he has a hard time coming to terms with how plentiful Earth is, and how ungrateful and unhappy most of its inhabitants are. A classic tale of perspective, hope and kindness. How have I never read this before? Beautiful illustrations.

"No Passengers Beyond This Point" by Gennifer Choldenko

Life is turned upside down when three siblings are forced to move. Their house has gone into foreclosure, and the bank is taking the house away. India, Finn and Switzerland, a.k.a. Mouse, are all named after countries their mom wanted to travel to. But times are harder now, there's no money to travel, and she is forced to send them to live with Uncle Red. Life is so unfair.

Uncle Red lives in Colorado, and India is put in charge of Finn and Mouse on the plane ride. All is going well, until the plane hits some serious turbulence. When they land, a car is waiting for them, and takes them to a strange city called Falling Bird. But there is no sign of Uncle Red anywhere. Everything in Falling Bird seems to be a little too perfect. They have whatever they desire, and people are so excited they are there. Certain things seem out of place, and they soon realize there are many questions left to be answered. Getting home, or even leaving Falling Bird, may not be as easy as they think.

"Three Cups of Tea - One Man's Journey to Change the World...One Child at a Time - The Young Reader's Edition" by Greg Mortenson

Last year KCLS participated in King County Reads - where we encouraged everyone to read Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson. I was thrilled to discover this new version of the book adapted by Sarah Thomson. If you missed the original, here's the basic story. Greg Mortenson took off traveling to the middle east where he tried to climb K2, the 2nd highest mountain in the world, and some would argue the most challenging. He did not make the summit and upon his descent, he strayed from the trail and got lost. Eventually he stumbled into a remote village, where locals wholeheartedly welcomed him and nursed him back to health with food and kindness. He was shocked to see the village's school, its lack of teachers and supplies. Students were copying their lessons with sticks in the dirt. Greg was inspired by their desire to learn and vowed to return to their village and build them a proper school, and so he did. To date, as director of the Central Asian Institute, Greg has constructed over 50 schools and is dedicated to improving the quality of education for these children, especially young girls. This is a powerful, moving humanitarian story and I'm so excited to see it accessible for a younger audience. It's a great way to share Greg's story with your kids, your students or anyone who wants a simplified version of his story. The book has a great Q&A with Greg's daughter Amira, and information on Pennies for Peace, a fundraising opportunity for interested students. Whereas a penny in American is considered worthless, in Pakistan or Afghanistan a penny can purchase a pencil and help promote education and literacy. Color photographs make a stunning addition and I wish they had been included in the original. Highly recommended all around!

"Peak" by Roland Smith

14 year old Peak Marcello loves rock climbing. But after getting arrested for climbing a New York skyscraper, he finds himself facing a stint in juvenile detention. His long-lost father, famous mountaineer, Josh, shows up at court and saves him from doing time. The trade-off? Peak must leave the country and accompany his dad to the top of the world, Mount Everest. The conditions are treacherous and put Peak's climbing skills to the test. Is reaching the summit in Peak's future? Excellent adventure! Great for middle and high school.