Margi Preus

In nineteenth-century Norway, fourteen-year-old Astri, whose aunt has sold her to a mean goatherder, dreams of joining her father in America.

West of the Moon

In 1841, rescued by an American whaler after a terrible shipwreck leaves him and his four companions castaways on a remote island, fourteen-year-old Manjiro, who dreams of becoming a samurai, learns new laws and customs as he becomes the first Japanese person to set foot in the United States.

Heart of a Samurai

based on the true story of Nakahama Manjiro

Heart of a samurai

In the 1940s, remote Les Lauzes, France, houses Jews, unregistered foreigners, forgers, and others who take great risks to shelter refugees and smuggle them to safety in Switzerland.

A Novel Based on a True Story of Courage During WWII

Village of Scoundrels

Francie, seventeen, leaves summer school and auditions in New York City for Enchantment Lake in the woods of northern Minnesota when her great-aunts call and ask for her help investigating a mystery that centers on a road no one wants built, and on the legendary treasure said to be under enchantment.

A Northwoods Mystery

Enchantment Lake

In Nazi-occupied Norway, fourteen-year-old Espen joins the resistance movement, graduating from deliverer of illegal newspapers to courier and spy. Includes historical note, code-breaking activity, and instructions for making invisible ink.

Shadow on the Mountain

Francie plunges into her senior year of high school near Minnesota's Enchantment Lake, but when her long-lost brother, Theo, turns up, so does a dead body, and Francie is drawn into another mystery.

An Enchantment Lake Mystery

The Clue in the Trees

In the final Enchantment Lake mystery, Francie's search for the truth about her mother--and herself--plunges her into danger during a North Woods winter When she wakes in her aunts' cold cabin on the shore of Enchantment Lake, Francie remembers: everything about her life has changed. Or is about to. Or just might. Everything depends on the small, engraved silver box that she now possesses--if only she can follow its cryptic clues to the whereabouts of her missing mother and understand, finally, just maybe, the truth about who she really is. Francie, it turns out, has a lot to learn, and this time the lessons could be deadly. Her search for answers takes her and her best friends Raven and Jay as far afield as an abandoned ranch in Arizona and as close to home as a sketchy plant collector's conservatory and a musty old museum where shadows lurk around every display case. At the heart of it all is a crime that touches her own adopted North Woods: thieves dig up fragile lady's slippers, peel bark from birches, strip moss off trees, cut down entire forests of saplings to sell for home décor. But Francie is up against no ordinary plant theft. One ominous clue after another reveal that she possesses something so rare and so valuable that some people are willing to do anything to get it. When Francie's investigation leads her into the treacherously cold and snowy North Woods, she finds out that she too is being pursued.

The Silver Box

Armando Veve

Windswept

Yoko's grandmother tells about how the bell in their town that would ring on New Year's Eve is given up during the war for scrap metal, finds its way back to their village, and becomes known as the Peace Bell.

The Peace Bell

Master writer Margi Preus treats readers to an amazing adventure in 1853 Japan. This lyric novel follows Yoshi, a Japanese boy who dreams of becoming a samurai. Unfortunately, as part of the serving class, Yoshi can never become a warrior. He is taken up by Manjiro, the protagonist of Preus’s Heart of a Samurai, and becomes his servant and secret watchdog. Meanwhile, Commodore Matthew Perry and his USS Susquehanna squadron of steamships arrive in Edo Bay demanding that Japan open its ports to foreign trade. Aboard the commodore’s flagship is Jack, a cabin boy who becomes separated from his American companions. He and Yoshi set out on a grand adventure to return Jack to his ship before he is discovered by the shogun’s samurai.

The Bamboo Sword

A little sailboat has a big burst of determination when a fleet of tall ships needs assistance. Lily the sailboat is small but sturdy, in a harbor full of enormous cargo ships, speedy fishing vessels, and bossy tugboats that all have somewhere to go. And something to say--mostly, "Out of my way, Lily!" But Lily has somewhere to go, too. Out on the lake, the tall ships are coming! To pass from the harbor to the lake, Lily must blow her horn and ask the lift bridge to rise--"Meee-me?"--but the big vessels' blasts are so much louder as they crowd her out and rock her with waves. Finally, Lily slips under just before the bridge goes down, her sails fluttering with excitement as she spies the majestic barquentine, schooner, and other grand old ships heading toward the now-lowered bridge. Silently! How will the bridge know to rise? Can Lily save the day? This tale of plucky persistence, illustrated with the splash and sparkle of a summer day on the water, is sure to empower any child to take charge when the time is right. A note from the author, a Newbery Honoree, offers more facts about bridges and boats for curious readers.

Lily Leads the Way

From Newbery Honor–winner Margi Preus, a gripping middle-grade fantasy about a girl who must save the children of her world from being “windswept" In Tag’s world, children are disappearing. “Youngers” who venture Outside are windswept—vanishing in the swirling snow—Tag’s sisters among them. Many have tried to find the lost children; all have failed. And since the Other Times, the Powers That Be seem intent on keeping it that way. Little remains from those times: snippets of songs, heaps of plastic trash, and a few banned texts—including a book of fairytales. An unlikely crew of Youngers join forces—Boots, who can climb anything, Ant, who will eat anything, Ren, who will say anything, and Tag, who doesn’t appear to have any talent whatsoever. With their dubious skills, the fairytales, a possibly magic ribbon, and an unwillingness to accept “that’s impossible,” they set off to rescue their windswept siblings in this spellbinding fantasy from Newbery Honor winner Margi Preus.

A red squirrel, Jean Pierre Petit Le Rouge, stows away on a canoe to fulfill his dream of joining a group of voyageurs--men who paddle canoes filled with goods to a trading post thousands of miles away. It is 1792 and unbeknownst to a group of voyageurs traveling from Montreal to Grand Portage, an intrepid squirrel, Jean Pierre Petit Le Rouge, sneaks onto their canoe. Le Rouge is soon discovered because he can't contain his excitement--mon dieu he is so enthusiastic. The smells! The vistas! The comradery! The voyageurs are not particularly happy to have him, especially because Le Rouge rides, but he does not paddle. He eats, but he does not cook. He doesn't even carry anything on portages--sometimes it is he who has to be carried. He also has a terrible singing voice. What kind of voyageur is that? When they finally arrive at the trading post Le Rouge is in for a terrible shock--the voyageurs have traveled all those miles to collect beaver pelts. With the help of Monique, a smart and sweet flying squirrel, Le Rouge organizes his fur-bearing friends of the forest to ambush the men and try and convince them to quit being voyageurs. Written by a Newbery honor author, the book has over 20 black-and-white illustrations. A Junior Library Guild Selection

The Littlest Voyageur

In Nazi-occupied Norway, fourteen-year-old Espen joins the resistance movement, graduating from deliverer of illegal newspapers to courier and spy.

«Espen era euforico. Si fermò e spense il fanale della bicicletta, dietro la cresta frastagliata della montagna era spuntata la luna, luminosa e onniveggente come l'occhio di Odino. E proprio Odino era il nome in codice che gli avevamo appena assegnato. Presto gli sarebbe stato comunicato il suo primo incarico: adesso era uno di loro, si era unito alla resistenza»Basato su una storia vera, questo libro narra le avventure di Erling Storrusten, spia norvegese durante la Seconda guerra mondiale.

Il segreto di Espen

Did you know that flowers, insects, and birds can help predict the weather? Near her lighthouse home, Sophie reads the signs and sounds a warning: "Storm's coming!"

Storm's Coming!

Shadow on the Mountain recounts the adventures of a 14-year-old Norwegian boy named Espen during World War II. After Nazi Germany invades and occupies Norway, Espen and his friends are swept up in the Norwegian resistance movement. Espen gets his start by delivering illegal newspapers, then graduates to the role of courier and finally becomes a spy, dodging the Gestapo along the way. During five years under the Nazi regime, he gains—and loses—friends, falls in love, and makes one small mistake that threatens to catch up with him as he sets out to escape on skis over the mountains to Sweden. Preus incorporates archival photographs, maps, and other images to tell this story based on the real-life adventures of Norwegian Erling Storrusten, whom Preus interviewed in Norway. Praise for Shadow on the Mountain STARRED REVIEWS "Newbery Honor winner Preus infuses the story with the good-natured humor of a largely unified, peace-loving people trying to keep their sanity in a world gone awry. Based on a true story, the narrative is woven with lively enough daily historical detail to inspire older middle-grade readers to want to learn more about the Resistance movement and imitate Espen’s adventures." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review "This engrossing offering sheds light on the Norwegians’ courage during World War II. Preus masterfully weds a story of friendship with the complications faced by 14-year-old Espen and his friends as Nazi restrictions and atrocities become part of their everyday lives...This is at once a spy thriller, a coming-of-age story, and a chronicle of escalating bravery. Multidimensional characters fill this gripping tale that keeps readers riveted to the end." —School Library Journal, starred review "A closely researched historical novel... relates this wartime tale with intelligence and humor...Ms. Preus deftly uses together historical fact (Espen is based on a real-life spy) and elements of Norwegian culture to conjure a time and place not so terribly long ago." —The Wall Street Journal "Margi Preus, who won a Newbery honor for Heart of a Samurai, returns with another riveting work of historical fiction... This fine novel, which includes an author’s note, a timeline, a bibliography and even a recipe for invisible ink, is based on extensive research... The result is an authentic coming-of-age story, perfect for readers fascinated by the diary of Anne Frank or Lois Lowry’s classic, Number the Stars." —BookPage "The final chapters, which chronicle Espen’s dramatic escape to Sweden—days and nights of mountain skiing, Nazis in hot pursuit—take the book into adventure-thriller territory without losing the humanity that characterizes Preus’s account." —The Horn Book Magazine "Preus makes crystal clear the life imperiling risks that Espen undertakes and the danger to his family." —The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books "As readers understand the risks that Espen took, they will want to learn more about this period. That Espen escaped to Sweden by traveling at night on skis with five different guides should intrigue them.” —Library Media Connection Awards VOYA Top Shelf for Middle School Readers 2012 list 2013 Notable Books for a Global Society Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award

Margi Preus

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