Lila Perl

Over the course of human history, torture has been used as an instrument of war, a means of extracting information, and a mode of punishment. Many argue that it is a necessary weapon in times of war. Others insist that it constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, violates human rights laws, and fails to extract trustworthy information. This book dives into the debate over torture from all sides, using examples from recent history as well as sidebars, full-color photographs, and a glossary designed to improve young adults' understanding of this controversial topic.

Genocide is the deliberate murder of a racial, ethnic, tribal, national, or religious group. It is one of the world's most horrifying crimes, yet the role that the international community should play when a genocide is underway remains unclear. Are other nations obligated to step in when a genocide is taking place? If so, what signals that it's time to step in? This book looks back at some of the most reprehensible acts of genocide in human history to gain a better understanding of what interventions have taken place in the past, and to what extent they have helped. Sidebars, full-color photographs, and a glossary help readers gain a deeper understanding of the many sides of this complex issue.

Genocide is the deliberate murder of a racial, ethnic, tribal, national, or religious group. It is one of the world's most horrifying crimes, yet the role that the international community should play when a genocide is underway remains unclear. Are other nations obligated to step in when a genocide is taking place? If so, what signals that it's time to step in? This book looks back at some of the most reprehensible acts of genocide in human history to gain a better understanding of what interventions have taken place in the past, and to what extent they have helped. Sidebars, full-color photographs, and a glossary help readers gain a deeper understanding of the many sides of this complex issue.

Whether immigration helps or hurts the United States economically, socially, and culturally is a complex question that has both troubled and defined North America since the first colonists arrived. At various stages in American history, the country has both welcomed immigrants as the backbone upon which the nation was founded and rejected them because of their religious, cultural, or linguistic background or because of their economic status. This book outlines the legal and social history of immigration to the United States and frames the immigration debate today. Through full-color photographs and insightful sidebars, readers will gain a nuanced understanding of the many factors that continue to define immigration policy.

The twentieth-anniversary edition of Marion Blumenthal Lazan's acclaimed Holocaust memoir features new material by the author, a reading group guide, a map, and additional photographs. "The writing is direct, devastating, with no rhetoric or exploitation. The truth is in what's said and in what is left out."--ALA Booklist (starred review) Marion Blumenthal Lazan's unforgettable and acclaimed memoir recalls the devastating years that shaped her childhood. Following Hitler's rise to power, the Blumenthal family--father, mother, Marion, and her brother, Albert--were trapped in Nazi Germany. They managed eventually to get to Holland, but soon thereafter it was occupied by the Nazis. For the next six and a half years the Blumenthals were forced to live in refugee, transit, and prison camps, including Westerbork in Holland and Bergen-Belsen in Germany, before finally making it to the United States. Their story is one of horror and hardship, but it is also a story of courage, hope, and the will to survive.Four Perfect Pebbles features forty archival photographs, including several new to this edition, an epilogue, a bibliography, a map, a reading group guide, an index, and a new afterword by the author. First published in 1996, the book was an ALA Notable Book, an ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers, and IRA Young Adults' Choice, and a Notable Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies, and the recipient of many other honors. "A harrowing and often moving account."--School Library Journal

Germany on the cusp of World War II. Hitler has risen to power, and the Jews are being taken away from their homes in the middle of the night, forced to wear yellow stars, their businesses smashed, their lives in ruins. In the middle of all this is Lilli Frankfurter, a half-Jewish girl on the cusp of adolescence, her life and family thrust into the midst of a danger she has only begun to understand. In the stunning sequel to Isabel's War, Lila Perl, who completed this book just months before her death, brings wartime Germany, England, and America to life through Lilli's eyes. From Kristallnacht to hiding in her grandparents' attic to the Kindertransports that take her to an isolated farm in the English countryside, separated from her family, Lilli must repeatedly hide her identity in order to stay alive. In her final novel, Perl brilliantly evokes Lilli's desperate journey to America--as well as her brave quest back to Europe to find out if anything is left of her family. Lila Perl published over sixty volumes of fiction and nonfiction for young readers during her long and distinguished career. In addition to the beloved Fat Glenda series, Perl twice received American Library Association Notable awards for nonfiction and was a recipient of the Sidney Taylor Award for Four Perfect Pebbles: A Holocaust Story. Her penultimate novel, Isabel's War, was named a 2015 Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Teen Readers Category, and was well reviewed in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal, and Kirkus, among other places. She died in 2013 at the age of ninety-two.

Includes details on how to create your own direct-ancestry chart.

Discusses, in English and Spanish, the holidays celebrated by both cultures and those that are unique to Hispanic Americans