In Children of the River by Linda Crew, Sundara fled Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge army and relocated to Oregon with her aunt and her family, leaving behind her parents and siblings. Sundara struggles to fit into her new world, but America has its own culture which clashes with her Cambodian upbringing. When Sundara meets Jonathan, an all-American boy, she soon longs to be with him, but her family says a Cambodian girl doesn’t date—she waits for her family to arrange her marriage. Will Sundara be able to make peace with her family and live life as an American or will she be forced to uphold her Cambodian traditions? You can find this poignant ebook on the Overdrive app today.
Photo credit: Simon & Schuster
Laurie Halse Anderson’s Chains is the first book in the Seeds of America Trilogy. In the book, sisters Isabel and Ruth are slaves who end up in America at the beginning of the Revolutionary War. Isabel struggles to keep her sister safe as the war rages on and tension rises. When their owner dies, they are sold to a vicious Loyalist couple. When Ruth is sold off, Isabel is distraught. Miserable and alone, she is determined to be free at any cost. Then, Isabel meets Curzon, a slave who has ties with the Patriots, and he encourages her to spy on her owners. Read Chains to find out what happens to Isabel. Her harrowing journey continues in Forge and Ashes, which can also be found in the Young Adult section in the Will Rogers Library.
