Alice Mead Books
Real Kids Resolving Conflicts
   
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The USA wants us all to be global diplomats! Kids, too! Check out this site Discover Diplomacy to learn how you can help shape foreign relations one handshake at a time.

Each of my books about kids in other countries--Iran, the Balkans, Sudan--was created when I got to know kids from other cultures who finally had been resettled in my town of Portland, Maine. They are now American kids, my neighbors and yours, who came from poverty and war.

Read about other parts of the world and take a journey there through the eyes of other kids your age. Travel by stories!

Dawn and Dusk—tells of the Kurds of Iran, Syria, Turkey and Iraq—in the news TODAY! Year of No Rain— even after forming a separate country, South Sudan is chaos because of armed militias..and OIL. Swimming to America- read about a girl who is an illegal immigrant and her families dark secrets- President Obama passed a law to help the children of illegal immigrants get an education this summer- August, 2012!

Soldier Mom—the story of a middle school girl whose mom, in the Maine National Guard, is abruptly sent to Saudi Arabia. Girl of Kosovo—a close-up of ethnic war shows how kids and their families have minutes to flee tanks and bombs.

Dawn and Dusk

For as long as thirteen-year-old Azad can remember, the Islamic Republic of Iran, where he lives in the predominantly Kurdish town of Sardasht, has been at war with Saddam Hussein's Iraq, and his country has been a harsh society full of spies, secrets, and "disappearances." Still, most of the time Azad manages to live a normal life, hanging out at the bakery next door, going to school with his friend Hiwa, playing sports, and taking care of his parrot.

Then Azad learns that his town may soon become a target for Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction. Now more than ever, Azad feels torn between his divorced parents and his conflicting desires to remain in his home or escape.

His father is somehow connected to the police and is rooted in the town. His mother may be part of the insurgency, yet is ready to flee. How can Azad make the choice? The story of how one boy’s world was turned upside down in 1987 Iran is a timely and memorable introduction to the conflicts in the Middle East.

Given the current political climate in Iran, now may be an especially good time to read Dawn and Dusk. Dawn and Dusk provides valuable insight into the lives of children in Iran, a country we know little about, and the life of its large Kurdish minority. Today, the US is caught up in a complex, dangerous involvement in regional conflict, which began years ago. Without the back-story, the brief news-bites we see on the nightly news make little sense— Alice

"It’s an important story, and any reader, young or old, wishing to know more about Iran, Iraq, Kosovo, Sudan and other troubled spots of the modern world would do well to start with Mead’s many informative works." -kirkusreviews.com

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Yours is a time of great heroism, dashed hopes, leaps of joy, lasting friendships, explosive frustration, utter hilarity, the shame of betrayal.

This is what I write about — for you!

Peace,
Alice


New For Fall

Grades 4 through adult: Reprinted after being sold out for many years: Giants of the Dawnland.

 

 

 

What's New?

What's your Bookprint?
Check out Scholatic's You Are What You Read website.

Crossing the Starlight Bridge, after being out of print, will be re-issued by Aladdin paperbacks (Simon and Schuster) very soon!

Amazon Rank 5 out of 5 stars
"This is a perfect resource to help teach about the Penobscot Nation located in Maine. Due to a new law, LD291, Wabanaki studies need to be taught in every grade in the state of Maine. This is a great book to introduce Wabanakis in grades 2-4. It does not include typical Native American stereotyping. The author obviously did a lot of research before writing this book. " - By Melissa S. Arbour "Happy Reader"

Look for Alice's books on Kindle, iPad and Nook!
Dawn & Dusk, Girl of Kosovo, Isabella's Above-Ground Pool, Junebug, Junebug and the Reverend, Junebug in Trouble, Madame Squidley and Beanie, Soldier Mom, Year of No Rain.

The Haven Foundation for Disabled Artists (founded by Stephen King) has given me a grant to have an assistant help me continue with my work for 2009!

My adult memoir- Nowish: A Life Out of Time - is now available on Amazon, Alibris, Barnes and Noble, etc. This is the story of my struggle with cancer and a rare neurological illness. (Not for kids). It is my second memoir. My first is Journey to Kosova, which I wrote at the beginning of my illness. More...

IN THE WORKS: I am working on a book about hip hop and welcome comments from kids wherever you are. Let me know what you think about this important dance culture and what you think adult's opinions are! I'd love to hear from you.

Also, I just finished a novel about an orphan Tutsi girl set in eastern Congo, struggling to get home to Rwanda.

And, I'm researching a story about a 12 year old Somali, forced to become a pirate off the coast of east Africa and their links to Al-Qaeda —AM

     
© 2008 Alice Mead Books, all rights reserved.