Katherine Paterson

When thirteen-year-old Lora tells her parents that she wants to join Premier Castro's army of young literacy teachers, her mother screeches to high heaven, and her father roars like a lion. Nora has barely been outside of Havana --why would she throw away her life in a remote shack with no electricity, sleeping on a hammock in somebody's kitchen? But Nora is stubborn: didn't her parents teach her to share what she has with someone in need? Surprisingly,...

Impoverished Vermont farm girl Lyddie Worthen is determined to gain her independence by becoming a factory worker in Lowell, Massachusetts, in the 1840s.

When Angel's self-absorbed mother leaves her and her younger brother with their poor great-grandmother, the eleven-year-old girl worries not only about her mother and brother, her imprisoned father, the frail old woman, but also about a mysterious man who begins sharing with her the wonder of the stars.

Reimagines Francis of Assisi's 1224 prayer of praise in celebration of God's gifts throughout the universe.

Having felt deprived all her life of schooling, friends, mother, and even her name by her twin sister, Louise finally begins to find her identity.

Marvin wants to make a great Christmas present for his parents that will last forever. Marvin was worried about Christmas. What are you giving mom and dad? he asked his big sister, May. I'm making a book of all my stories, said May. I am going to draw pictures to go with each story. It will be a beautiful book. They'll keep it forever. Marvin sighed. Everything May made was nice. Mom and dad would love her book. Marvin could write stories,...

A teen-ager comes to know himself through contacts with social ills and political unrest while searching for his father in Japan's capital, centuries ago.

Explores some of the images which biblical writers use to teach about God; images include light, rock, and wind as well as a gardener, father, and architect.