“My second life began when I was kidnapped by two complete strangers. My mother, who assisted in the kidnapping, said I was exaggerating.”
Dinnie is used to moving around the USA with her parents since her dad is always chasing after new “opportunities.” But this time she’s been taken out of the country by her aunt and uncle and she had no say in her future. Dinnie ends up in an international school in Lugano, Switzerland where everything is new and different and people speak Italian! Will she adapt to a new home and new friends with totally different beliefs and cultures or close herself off to protect herself and just survive?
Reading level: age 8-12 years
Eleven year old Nick and his family move to England for two years because of his father’s business. Nick finds everything unfamiliar and wants to return home to Ohio, but he makes an agreement with his father to give it four months. While his older brother attends an International school, Nick and his younger brother attend typical British schools. There Nick struggles with all the new things he encounters, but he also makes friends, gets involved in new activities, and gets a new pet to keep in his closet.
Reading level: age 8-13 years
Dean, and his friends, Matt, Dave and Jon, live on the same mission station. Together the four boys, who call themselves the Rugendo Rhinos, spend their afternoons and weekends exploring in the bush. When they stumble across two Kenyan boys, one dead and one very sick, they find themselves involved in a dangerous dispute. The father of the dead boy, certain his son died from a witch doctor’s curse, seeks a similar revenge. The boys, their families, and the African believers face the reality of spiritual forces, yet seek to distinguish what events are naturally v.s. supernaturally caused. The boys’ normal (but fun) activities at school balance the intensity of the spiritual warfare in the story. Still, this book might be too intense for younger kids.
The “Rugendo Rhino Tales” feature fourth-sixth grade boys, and are written for late elementary/ middle school boys. The original books are out of print (though still available on Amazon), but they were re-issued as Kindle books (with a few new additions to the series). In the Kindle series, Matt (a western MK in the original books) is replaced by Mato, a Kenyan boy, who also plays a more central role.
Maria Isabel’s family moves, and she starts attending a new school two months after the school year began. Maria Isabel loves her name because she was named after her beloved grandparents, so when the teacher insists on calling her Mary (because there are already two Marias in the class), she has trouble adjusting. Although she quickly makes friends, she cannot figure out how to explain to her teacher that she does not like being called Mary. Finally, a writing assignment at the end of two very long months give her a chance to change things for the better.
Reading level: age 7-10 years
Timothy looks forward to starting school, only to find that he never seems to measure up to his classmate, Claude. Claude wears the right clothes, is popular with other kids and the teacher and always knows what to say. And he sits next to Timothy. In the end, he finds friendship in an unlikely place, another student who feels the same way Timothy does.
Reading level: age 3-6 years
Ira’s best friend Reggie is moving away. Ira feels hurt when Reggie idealizes the new location and loses interest in spending time with Ira, and this leads to a fight. The story also illustrates by negative example how not to tell a child about a move. On a more positive note, Ira and Reggie reconcile before the move, and Ira realizes that Reggie felt sad, too. The story also talks about maintaining the friendship through visits and phone calls, which is not realistic for most TCKs, but might start a discussion of other ways of keeping in touch.
Reading level: age 4-7 years
