Nine poignant and empowering short stories from the author of The Breadwinner.The seated child. With a single powerful image, Deborah Ellis draws our attention to nine children and the situations they find themselves in, often through no fault of their own. In each story, a child makes a decision and takes action, be that a tiny gesture or a life-altering choice.Jafar is a child laborer in a chair factory and longs to go to school. Sue sits on a swing as she and her brother wait to have a supervised visit with their father at the children’s aid society. Gretchen considers the lives of concentration camp victims during a school tour of Auschwitz. Mike survives seventy-two days of solitary as a young offender. Barry squirms on a food court chair as his parents tell him that they are separating. Macie sits on a too-small time-out chair while her mother receives visitors for tea. Noosala crouches in a fetid, crowded apartment in Uzbekistan, waiting for an unscrupulous refugee smuggler to decide her fate.These children find the courage to face their situations in ways large and small, in this eloquent collection from a master storyteller.Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.3Describe how a particular story's or drama's plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.6Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.9Compare and contrast texts in different forms or genres (e.g., stories and poems; historical novels and fantasy stories) in terms of their approaches to similar themes and topics.

From Deborah Ellis, the bestselling author of Sit and Step, comes a new short story collection about the moments when the adult world disappoints, and it’s time to pick up … and Go.Brodie’s parents and brother expect him to step up for Team Family, even when Team Family has no intention of returning the favor. Joanie is left to take a city bus for the first time with her impossibly cranky grandmother and learns to stand up for what she wants. Alone in a foreign country, without money, shelter or papers, Liberi steals an expensive purse from a tourist and then figures out what to do with his feelings of guilt. Bastien, the foster kid no one wants, discovers his own inner strength when a wildfire ravages the town. And Kelsey and his brother find themselves robbing graves in the middle of the night, but for the best possible reason.When the grownups turn their backs, the kids in these stories find a way to go forward. Sometimes it takes a little magical thinking. Sometimes a small act of bravery. Sometimes extending a hand to someone else. But always a realization that there is somewhere to go, if you pay attention, take action and refuse to give in to the dark.Key Text Featuresbiographical informationepigraphshort storiesCorrelates to the Common Core States Standards in English Language Arts:CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.5Explain how a series of chapters, scenes, or stanzas fits together to provide the overall structure of a particular story, drama, or poem.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.6Describe how a narrator's or speaker's point of view influences how events are described.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.2Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments.

From Deborah Ellis, the bestselling author of Sit and Step, comes a new short story collection about the moments when the adult world disappoints, and it’s time to pick up … and Go.Brodie’s parents and brother expect him to step up for Team Family, even when Team Family has no intention of returning the favor. Joanie is left to take a city bus for the first time with her impossibly cranky grandmother and learns to stand up for what she wants. Alone in a foreign country, without money, shelter or papers, Liberi steals an expensive purse from a tourist and then figures out what to do with his feelings of guilt. Bastien, the foster kid no one wants, discovers his own inner strength when a wildfire ravages the town. And Kelsey and his brother find themselves robbing graves in the middle of the night, but for the best possible reason.When the grownups turn their backs, the kids in these stories find a way to go forward. Sometimes it takes a little magical thinking. Sometimes a small act of bravery. Sometimes extending a hand to someone else. But always a realization that there is somewhere to go, if you pay attention, take action and refuse to give in to the dark.Key Text Featuresbiographical informationepigraphshort storiesCorrelates to the Common Core States Standards in English Language Arts:CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.5Explain how a series of chapters, scenes, or stanzas fits together to provide the overall structure of a particular story, drama, or poem.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.6Describe how a narrator's or speaker's point of view influences how events are described.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.2Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments.

Nine poignant and empowering short stories from the author of The Breadwinner.The seated child. With a single powerful image, Deborah Ellis draws our attention to nine children and the situations they find themselves in, often through no fault of their own. In each story, a child makes a decision and takes action, be that a tiny gesture or a life-altering choice.Jafar is a child laborer in a chair factory and longs to go to school. Sue sits on a swing as she and her brother wait to have a supervised visit with their father at the children’s aid society. Gretchen considers the lives of concentration camp victims during a school tour of Auschwitz. Mike survives seventy-two days of solitary as a young offender. Barry squirms on a food court chair as his parents tell him that they are separating. Macie sits on a too-small time-out chair while her mother receives visitors for tea. Noosala crouches in a fetid, crowded apartment in Uzbekistan, waiting for an unscrupulous refugee smuggler to decide her fate.These children find the courage to face their situations in ways large and small, in this eloquent collection from a master storyteller.Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.3Describe how a particular story's or drama's plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.6Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.9Compare and contrast texts in different forms or genres (e.g., stories and poems; historical novels and fantasy stories) in terms of their approaches to similar themes and topics.

In this powerful collection of short stories, children around the world turn eleven and take a step into their futures. Each one is changed in ways both big and small.Annoyed at having to walk his sister’s dog on his birthday, Connor heads into an undeveloped subdivision, where he comes across chilling evidence of a stranger’s unhappiness. A girl sneaks away from her class camping trip to a local conservation area and experiences the terror and joy of fending for herself for the first time. Dom’s brother gives him a special crystal to boost his confidence, and the gift conjures up a child laborer from the impoverished area of Madagascar where the stones were mined. Mysterious voices at the local county fair prompt Aislynn to think twice after her older sister dumps her for her high-school buddies. While volunteering at his local soup kitchen, Len discovers that there are bigger shames than having the class bully seeing you in a hairnet. And on an historic bridge in Budapest, Lazlo’s dream of the perfect father-son birthday outing becomes a nightmare when his father introduces him to his Neo-Nazi friends.A companion to the critically acclaimed Sit.Key Text Featuresshort storiestable of contentsdialogue

Nine poignant and empowering short stories from the author of The Breadwinner.The seated child. With a single powerful image, Deborah Ellis draws our attention to nine children and the situations they find themselves in, often through no fault of their own. In each story, a child makes a decision and takes action, be that a tiny gesture or a life-altering choice.Jafar is a child laborer in a chair factory and longs to go to school. Sue sits on a swing as she and her brother wait to have a supervised visit with their father at the children’s aid society. Gretchen considers the lives of concentration camp victims during a school tour of Auschwitz. Mike survives seventy-two days of solitary as a young offender. Barry squirms on a food court chair as his parents tell him that they are separating. Macie sits on a too-small time-out chair while her mother receives visitors for tea. Noosala crouches in a fetid, crowded apartment in Uzbekistan, waiting for an unscrupulous refugee smuggler to decide her fate.These children find the courage to face their situations in ways large and small, in this eloquent collection from a master storyteller.Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.3Describe how a particular story's or drama's plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.6Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.9Compare and contrast texts in different forms or genres (e.g., stories and poems; historical novels and fantasy stories) in terms of their approaches to similar themes and topics.

From Deborah Ellis, the bestselling author of Sit and Step, comes a new short story collection about the moments when the adult world disappoints, and it’s time to pick up … and Go.Brodie’s parents and brother expect him to step up for Team Family, even when Team Family has no intention of returning the favor. Joanie is left to take a city bus for the first time with her impossibly cranky grandmother and learns to stand up for what she wants. Alone in a foreign country, without money, shelter or papers, Liberi steals an expensive purse from a tourist and then figures out what to do with his feelings of guilt. Bastien, the foster kid no one wants, discovers his own inner strength when a wildfire ravages the town. And Kelsey and his brother find themselves robbing graves in the middle of the night, but for the best possible reason.When the grownups turn their backs, the kids in these stories find a way to go forward. Sometimes it takes a little magical thinking. Sometimes a small act of bravery. Sometimes extending a hand to someone else. But always a realization that there is somewhere to go, if you pay attention, take action and refuse to give in to the dark.Key Text Featuresbiographical informationepigraphshort storiesCorrelates to the Common Core States Standards in English Language Arts:CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.5Explain how a series of chapters, scenes, or stanzas fits together to provide the overall structure of a particular story, drama, or poem.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.6Describe how a narrator's or speaker's point of view influences how events are described.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.2Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments.

From Deborah Ellis, the bestselling author of Sit and Step, comes a new short story collection about the moments when the adult world disappoints, and it’s time to pick up … and Go.Brodie’s parents and brother expect him to step up for Team Family, even when Team Family has no intention of returning the favor. Joanie is left to take a city bus for the first time with her impossibly cranky grandmother and learns to stand up for what she wants. Alone in a foreign country, without money, shelter or papers, Liberi steals an expensive purse from a tourist and then figures out what to do with his feelings of guilt. Bastien, the foster kid no one wants, discovers his own inner strength when a wildfire ravages the town. And Kelsey and his brother find themselves robbing graves in the middle of the night, but for the best possible reason.When the grownups turn their backs, the kids in these stories find a way to go forward. Sometimes it takes a little magical thinking. Sometimes a small act of bravery. Sometimes extending a hand to someone else. But always a realization that there is somewhere to go, if you pay attention, take action and refuse to give in to the dark.Key Text Featuresbiographical informationepigraphshort storiesCorrelates to the Common Core States Standards in English Language Arts:CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.5Explain how a series of chapters, scenes, or stanzas fits together to provide the overall structure of a particular story, drama, or poem.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.6Describe how a narrator's or speaker's point of view influences how events are described.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.2Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments.

Nine poignant and empowering short stories from the author of The Breadwinner.The seated child. With a single powerful image, Deborah Ellis draws our attention to nine children and the situations they find themselves in, often through no fault of their own. In each story, a child makes a decision and takes action, be that a tiny gesture or a life-altering choice.Jafar is a child laborer in a chair factory and longs to go to school. Sue sits on a swing as she and her brother wait to have a supervised visit with their father at the children’s aid society. Gretchen considers the lives of concentration camp victims during a school tour of Auschwitz. Mike survives seventy-two days of solitary as a young offender. Barry squirms on a food court chair as his parents tell him that they are separating. Macie sits on a too-small time-out chair while her mother receives visitors for tea. Noosala crouches in a fetid, crowded apartment in Uzbekistan, waiting for an unscrupulous refugee smuggler to decide her fate.These children find the courage to face their situations in ways large and small, in this eloquent collection from a master storyteller.Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.3Describe how a particular story's or drama's plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.6Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.9Compare and contrast texts in different forms or genres (e.g., stories and poems; historical novels and fantasy stories) in terms of their approaches to similar themes and topics.

In this powerful collection of short stories, children around the world turn eleven and take a step into their futures. Each one is changed in ways both big and small.Annoyed at having to walk his sister’s dog on his birthday, Connor heads into an undeveloped subdivision, where he comes across chilling evidence of a stranger’s unhappiness. A girl sneaks away from her class camping trip to a local conservation area and experiences the terror and joy of fending for herself for the first time. Dom’s brother gives him a special crystal to boost his confidence, and the gift conjures up a child laborer from the impoverished area of Madagascar where the stones were mined. Mysterious voices at the local county fair prompt Aislynn to think twice after her older sister dumps her for her high-school buddies. While volunteering at his local soup kitchen, Len discovers that there are bigger shames than having the class bully seeing you in a hairnet. And on an historic bridge in Budapest, Lazlo’s dream of the perfect father-son birthday outing becomes a nightmare when his father introduces him to his Neo-Nazi friends.A companion to the critically acclaimed Sit.Key Text Featuresshort storiestable of contentsdialogue