Alma

Seventeen-year-old Alex Jackson comes home from school to find that his father, a CBC news cameraman, wants to take him to China's capital, Beijing. Once there, Alex finds himself on his own in Tian An Men Square as desperate students fight the Chinese army for their freedom. Separated from his father and carrying illegal videotapes, Alex must trust the students to help him escape.Closely based on eyewitness accounts of the massacre in Beijing, Forbidden City is a powerful and frightening story. "But I don't look like a Jewish Negro or a black Jew. I look like a black. I am of average height, of average build, with wavy hair that I wear very short, and very dark skin. Talk about an identity crisis."

Ten years after Crabbe, Bell returns to the theme of a young man wrestling with his identity. Zack Lane is uncomfortable with his mixed racial origins. He knows much about his father's side, the descendants of Romanian Jews, but his mother broke all ties with her family before Zack was born. Why she did so is the "family mystery."

Zack has recently been uprooted when his parents moved from the largest city in Canada to the outskirts of a small town. Friendless, unsuccessful at school and at the lowest point in his life, he undertakes a research project into the life of Richard Pierpoint, former African slave, soldier in the War of 1812, and the pioneer farmer who cleared the land on which Zack's house now stands. Pierpoint's story inspires Zack to go to Mississippi to look for his maternal grandfather. What he discovers shakes the foundations of all he has believed in.

The son of a Jewish father and black mother, high school senior Zack has never been allowed to meet his mother's family, but after doing a research project on a former slave, he travels from his home in Canada to Natchez, Mississippi to find his grandfather.

Award-winning Ya Author William Bell’s Alma Is The Captivating Story Of A Quiet Girl Who Builds A Friendship With A Reclusive Stranger. Times Have Been Tough Since Alma’s Father Died And She And Her Mother Had To Give Up Their Farm And Move Into Town. Luckily, Alma Can Always Retreat Into The Books Of Her Favourite Author, R.r. Hawkins. When Alma’s Teacher Notices Her Lovely Handwriting, She Recommends Alma For A Job Transcribing Letters For “miss Lily,” A Reclusive Old Woman Who Has Just Arrived From Boston. Eventually, Their Mutual Love Of Reading Creates A Strong Friendship. Miss Lily Lends Alma Some Of Her Favourite Books, Introduces Her To Calligraphy, And Encourages Her Passion To Write Stories. But Who Is This Difficult And Solitary Old Woman Who Reminds Alma Of Dickens’ Miss Havisham? And Why Is She So Secretive About The Part Of Her Life She Refuses To Share? Could She Be, As Alma Begins To Suspect, R.r. Hawkins Herself? Alma Is Determined To Find Out. This Touching Story Explores The Relationship Between A Blossoming Writer And Her Mentor, And Delves Into The Complicated Dynamics Of Friendship And Trust. From The Trade Paperback Edition. Seventeen-year-old Alex Jackson is thrilled when his father, a camerman for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, asks Alex to join him on assignment in China. Not only will he get some time off from school, but Alex, who's a Chinese history buff, knows this trip is the chance of a lifetime. But Alex and his dad cannot know that they will become part of the great historical events that sweep China in the spring of 1989. As students and civilians demonstrate in Tian An Men Square for changes in the government. Alex feels the thrill of being a reporter. But his excitement turns to horror and dismay as the movement turns violent and he witnesses the death of his Chinese friend. Alex and his father know they must communicate the story to the rest of the world, but at what cost to their own lives? Garnet Havelock knows what it's like to be on the outside, not one of the crowd. Then a mysterious girl transfers to his school and Garnet thinks he might have found the woman of his dreams-- if only he could get her to talk to him. At the same time, he becomes caught up in a mystery centered in his community. As he and Raphaella draw closer to the truth, they uncover a horrifying chapter in his town's history, and learn how deep-seated prejudices and persecution from the past can still reverberate in the present. As Garnet struggles to win over one girl, another girl is trying to get his attention? unfortunately she lived over 150 years ago. Garnet becomes fascinated by her history and that of the black community she belonged to. As he draws closer to the truth, he uncovers a horrifying chapter in his town's history, and discovers the ways in which deep-seated prejudices and persecution from the past can still reverberate in the present Zack knows the Jewish relatives from his father's side of the family better than his mother's African-American kin, but a history project stirs up his curiosity. He secretly travels to Mississippi to find his maternal grandfather.