Showing results by author "Uma Krishnaswami" in All Categories

Nine-year-old Maria Singh longs to play softball in the first-ever girls' team forming in Yuba City, California. It's the spring of 1945, and World War II is dragging on. Miss Newman, Maria's teacher, is inspired by Babe Ruth and the All-American Girls' League to start a girls' softball team at their school.

Reeni is wild about birds! So when she and her best friend, Yasmin, have to pick a survey topic for a school project, asking their neighbors what they know about birds is an obvious choice. They are shocked to learn that no one—not one single person—has heard about Bird Count India and the major event it is about to launch all over the country. Thousands of birdwatchers will be out counting birds as part of a global movement. Global means world, and isn’t this city part of the world? How come people don’t seem to care about the threats to city birds?

Anil loves karate, his friends, and the solar power project he has been championing in his community. He doesn’t love having to speak up—as his karate sensei says, best fight, no fight. Still, Anil wishes his classmate Mohan would stop picking on him. Then Anil learns where the city is planning to build a new solar panel factory. More sustainable energy is good news—but this factory will threaten plant and animal species and force the village people who live on the land to move. Maybe staying quiet isn’t an option anymore....

King Ashoka was a fearsome conqueror in ancient India. After seeing the destruction and death from his battles, he decided to forgo war and institute peace and Buddhism in his kingdom. Learn about his peaceful reign and the lasting changes he created in India.