Stergi is about to finish 6th grade. She is quiet, dressed in baggy trousers and always carries her favorite organ on her back, a greek baglamadaki. She has her secret place in the woods, at the bank of the lake, on the other side where no one goes. She spends a lot of time there reading and painting or playing with her favorite animals. A cat named Julio follows her everywhere day and night. And there, at the bank, are always expecting her, a turtle named Louis and a swan named Nouli. It’s like they communicate with her in an unbelievable way.
The only other person that Stergi has allowed to go with her in her secret place, is her classmate Nino. He is fond of his bicycle and he avoids other kids because they make fun of him since his two front teeth were broken when he had fallen with his bike and he speaks falsely after that.
Everybody thinks that both kids are weird and these two are fine with that. They do not seek the company of the other children. They are afraid to move to the 7th grade and they think growing up is a trap.
But the new music teacher, Miss Glauke, believes just the opposite. Believing that they are two talented kids, she approaches them kindly, under the excuse that she needs their help for a music recital on the school closure for summer holidays, and finally becomes their friend. She suspects that there must be something that bothers those kids, maybe at home.
She involves the librarian -an older lady that has spent her whole life in the library and knows everybody in the town-, and the mayor -a gentle man who cares much for the people of his town-, in order to find the issue and assist those two kids.
Care, good will, and collaboration, bring the solutions. New friendships rise. Life seems more beautiful when you have people around you that care.
Category: Young Adult
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A weird girl named Stergi
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The Emerald and the Sea
A stolen emerald, a forbidden love, and the woman who would change an empire
In the 6th century A.D., a time when Europe lay in the shadows of the Middle Ages, a young man named Dimitrios flees his home in Syracuse, hunted by the gods and betrayed by Ekevoulos, the ruthless governor of Tyre. Captured by pirates, hardened by life on the high seas, and forever changed by the encounter with Theodora — a daring actress of the Hippodrome destined to become one of history’s most powerful empresses — Dimitrios embarks on a journey of survival, revenge, and love. As empires rise and fall, he risks everything to reclaim the emerald stolen from him — and the heart of Ariadne, the woman he loves. Based on real historical figures such as Theodora, Emperor Justinian, Belisarius, and Ekevoulos, this sweeping tale blends fact and fiction into an unforgettable coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of Byzantium’s glittering yet perilous world.