If there’s something beautiful to be found in the struggle against COVID-19, it is the way in which it has fostered a sense of world-wide solidarity.  No community on the planet has been left unaffected by this disease.  It reminds us that we are all part of, not just local communities, but national and international communities as well.

While some have allowed, or even intentionally used, COVID-19 to excuse xenophobic and hateful attitudes, most people I see have responded with compassion and greater awareness that suffering on the other side of the planet is no less painful or real than suffering next door.

For older kids whose curiosity has been sparked by the news of COVID’s effects on people all over the world, here are several chapter books which take place outside the United States (and are available in the NYPL e-collection!). These great reads could help readers develop even more of a sense of connection with their fellow inhabitants of planet Earth…

 

Sub-Saharan Africa:

• One Shadow on the Wall by Leah Henderson
• Auma’s Long Run by Eucabeth Odhiambo
• The Red Pencil by Andrea Davis Pinkney
• A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park
• Out of Bounds: Seven Stories of Conflict and Hope by Beverly Naidoo
• The Last Leopard by Lauren St. John

 

Middle East:

• Escape from Aleppo by N. H. Senzai
• A Hand Full of Stars by Rafik Schami
• The Breadwinner series by Deborah Ellis
• A Little Piece of Ground by Elizabeth Laird
• The Princess and the Foal by Stacy Gregg
• The Turtle of Oman by Naomi Shihab Nye

 

Asia:

• The Night Diary by Veera Hirandani
• Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed
• Listen, Slowly by Thanhha Lai
• Archer’s Quest by Linda Sue Park
• Dumpling Days by Grace Lin
• When the Sea Turned to Silver by Grace Lin

 

South and Central America:

• Charlie Hernandez and the Castle Bones by Ryan Calejo
• Tree of Dreams by Laura Resau
• I Lived on Butterfly Hill by Marjorie Agosin
• The Lightning Queen by Laura Resau
• The Only Road by Alexandra Diaz
• Becoming Naomi Leon by Pam Munoz Ryan

 

Europe:

• The Undrowned Child by Michelle Lovric
• The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier
• A Night Divided by Jennifer A. Neilson
• The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
• Mira’s Diary: Lost in Paris by Marissa Moss
• Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster by Jonathan Auxier