A Bit of Earth

“Karuna Riazi has a way with words. This story will find its way into your heart.”—Tae Keller, Newbery Medalist for When You Trap a Tiger 
“As timeless as it is timely, A Bit of Earth is a rare gift.”—Laurel Snyder, author of National Book Award nominee Orphan Island 
“Extraordinary, poetic, and inventive. A Bit of Earth is such a special book. Prickles and all, Maria Latif captured my whole heart.”—Jasmine Warga, author of Newbery Honor book Other Words for Home 
“An ambitious re-envisioning of a long beloved classic, this book is sure to be a big hit.”—Padma Venkatraman, award-winning author of The Bridge Home 
“Beautiful! Simply beautiful! My heart needed this!”—Ellen Oh, author of Finding Junie Kim 
“A sweet and warm-hearted tale with unforgettable characters.”—Aisha Saeed, bestselling author of Amal Unbound 
Maria Latif is used to not having a space of her own. But what happens when she feels the sudden urge to put down roots in the most unexpected of places? Karuna Riazi crafts a tender coming-of-age story about friendship, family, and new beginnings. A Bit of Earth is a reimagining of the classic The Secret Garden, perfect for fans of Other Words for Home and The Bridge Home. 
Growing up in Pakistan, Maria Latif has been bounced between reluctant relatives for as long as she can remember—first because of her parents’ constant travel, and then because of their deaths. Maria has always been a difficult child, and it never takes long for her guardians to tire of her. So when old friends of her parents offer to “give her a better life” in the United States, Maria is shipped to a host family across the world. 
When Maria arrives on Long Island, things are not quite what she was expecting. Mr. Clayborne has left on an extended business trip, Mrs. Clayborne seems emotionally fraught, and inexplicable things keep happening in the Claybornes’ sprawling house. And then Maria finds a locked gate to an off-limits garden. Since she’s never been good at following rules, Maria decides to investigate and discovers something she never thought she’d find: a place where she feels at home. 
With a prickly main character, a sullen boy, two friendly allies, and a locked garden, A Bit of Earth has everything a reader could want from a retelling of The Secret Garden. Karuna Riazi’s evocative prose is interspersed with poetic verses, illuminating each character’s search for a place they can truly call home. This tender yet incisive reimagining of a classic work will captivate fans of the original—and widen the appeal for a modern audience.

A Bit of Earth: A Retelling of The Secret Garden with a Fresh Twist and Unforgettable Characters--An Exciting Summer Reading Book for Children

Children's Books

Riazi, Karuna

Literature & Fiction

Greenwillow Books

"Karuna Riazi has a way with words. This story will find its way into your heart."--Tae Keller, Newbery Medalist for When You Trap a Tiger "As timeless as it is timely, A Bit of Earth is a rare gift."--Laurel Snyder, author of National Book Award nominee Orphan Island "Extraordinary, poetic, and inventive. A Bit of Earth is such a special book. Prickles and all,&nbsp;Maria Latif&nbsp;captured my whole heart."--Jasmine Warga, author of Newbery Honor book Other Words for Home "An ambitious re-envisioning of a long beloved classic, this book is sure to be a big hit."--Padma Venkatraman, award-winning author of The Bridge Home "Beautiful! Simply beautiful! My heart needed this!"--Ellen Oh, author of Finding Junie Kim "A sweet and warm-hearted tale with unforgettable characters."--Aisha Saeed, bestselling author of Amal Unbound Maria Latif is used to not having a space of her own. But what happens when she feels the sudden urge to put down roots in the most unexpected of places? Karuna Riazi crafts a tender coming-of-age story about friendship, family, and new beginnings. A Bit of Earth is a reimagining of the classic&nbsp;The Secret Garden,&nbsp;perfect for fans of&nbsp;Other Words for Home&nbsp;and&nbsp;The Bridge Home.&nbsp; Growing up in Pakistan, Maria Latif has been bounced between reluctant relatives for as long as she can remember--first because of her parents' constant travel, and then because of their deaths. Maria has always been a difficult child, and it never takes long for her guardians to tire of her. So when old friends of her parents offer to "give her a better life" in the United States, Maria is shipped to a host family across the world. When Maria arrives on Long Island, things are not quite what she was expecting. Mr. Clayborne has left on an extended business trip, Mrs. Clayborne seems emotionally fraught, and inexplicable things keep happening in the Claybornes' sprawling house. And then Maria finds a locked gate to an off-limits garden. Since she's never been good at following rules, Maria decides to investigate and discovers something she never thought she'd find: a place where she feels at home. With a prickly main character, a sullen boy, two friendly allies, and a locked garden,&nbsp;A Bit of Earth&nbsp;has everything a reader could want from a retelling of&nbsp;The Secret Garden. Karuna Riazi's evocative prose is interspersed with poetic verses, illuminating each character's search for a place they can truly call home. This tender yet incisive reimagining of a classic work will captivate fans of the original--and widen the appeal for a modern audience.

Sabrena Swept Away

A trio of friends from New York City find themselves trapped inside a mechanical board game that they must dismantle in order to save themselves and generations of other children in this action-packed debut that's a steampunk Jumanji with a Middle Ea

The Gauntlet

Action & Adventure

Turtleback Books

A trio of friends from New York City find themselves trapped inside a mechanical board game that they must dismantle in order to save themselves and generations of other children in this action-packed debut that’s a steampunk Jumanji with a Middle Eastern flair. Nothing can prepare you for The Gauntlet… It didn’t look dangerous, exactly. When twelve-year-old Farah first laid eyes on the old-fashioned board game, she thought it looked…elegant. It is made of wood, etched with exquisite images—a palace with domes and turrets, lattice-work windows that cast eerie shadows, a large spider—and at the very center of its cover, in broad letters, is written: The Gauntlet of Blood and Sand. The Gauntlet is more than a game, though. It is the most ancient, the most dangerous kind of magic. It holds worlds inside worlds. And it takes players as prisoners.

Salaam Reads / Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

“A briliant multicultual collection that reminds readers that stories about food are rarely just about the food alone.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) A stunning collection of short stories about the intersection of family, culture, and food in the lives in teens, from bestselling and critically acclaimed authors, including Sandhya Menon, Anna-Marie McLemore, and Rin Chupeco. A shy teenager attempts to express how she really feels through the pastries she makes at her family’s pasteleria. A tourist from Montenegro desperately seeks a magic soup dumpling that can cure his fear of death. An aspiring chef realizes that butter and soul are the key ingredients to win a cooking competition that could win him the money to save his mother’s life. Welcome to Hungry Hearts Row, where the answers to most of life’s hard questions are kneaded, rolled, baked. Where a typical greeting is, “Have you had anything to eat?” Where magic and food and love are sometimes one in the same. Told in interconnected short stories, Hungry Hearts explores the many meanings food can take on beyond mere nourishment. It can symbolize love and despair, family and culture, belonging and home.

Hungry Hearts: 13 Tales of Food & Love

Alsaid, Adi

Menon, Sandhya

Chapman, Elsie

Farizan, Sara

Ali, S. K.

Roanhorse, Rebecca

McLemore, Anna-Marie

Richmond, Caroline Tung

Chupeco, Rin

Coles, Jay

Mandanna, Sangu

North, Phoebe

Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers

“A briliant multicultual collection that reminds readers that stories about food are rarely just about the food alone.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)\nA stunning collection of short stories about the intersection of family, culture, and food in the lives in teens, from bestselling and critically acclaimed authors, including Sandhya Menon, Anna-Marie McLemore, and Rin Chupeco.\nA shy teenager attempts to express how she really feels through the pastries she makes at her family’s pasteleria. A tourist from Montenegro desperately seeks a magic soup dumpling that can cure his fear of death. An aspiring chef realizes that butter and soul are the key ingredients to win a cooking competition that could win him the money to save his mother’s life.\nWelcome to Hungry Hearts Row, where the answers to most of life’s hard questions are kneaded, rolled, baked. Where a typical greeting is, “Have you had anything to eat?” Where magic and food and love are sometimes one in the same.\nTold in interconnected short stories, Hungry Hearts explores the many meanings food can take on beyond mere nourishment. It can symbolize love and despair, family and culture, belonging and home.

The Battle

The game begins again in this gripping follow-up to The Gauntlet that’s a futuristic middle eastern Zathura meets Ready Player One! Four years after the events of The Gauntlet, the evil game Architect is back with a new partner-in-crime—The MasterMind—and the pair aim to get revenge on the Mirza clan. Together, they’ve rebuilt Paheli into a slick, mind-bending world with floating skyscrapers, flying rickshaws run by robots, and a digital funicular rail that doesn’t always take you exactly where you want to go. Twelve-year-old Ahmad Mirza struggles to make friends at his new middle school, but when he’s paired with his classmate Winnie for a project, he is determined to impress her and make his very first friend. At home while they’re hard at work, a gift from big sister Farah—who is away at her first year in college—arrives. It’s a high-tech game called The Battle of Blood and Iron, a cross between a video game and board game, complete with virtual reality goggles. He thinks his sister has solved his friend problem—all kids love games. He convinces Winnie to play, but as soon as they unbox the game, time freezes all over New York City. With time standing still and people frozen, all of humankind is at stake as Ahmad and Winnie face off with the MasterMind and the Architect, hoping to beat them at their own game before the evil plotters expand Paheli and take over the entire world.

The game begins again in this gripping follow-up to “exciting, clever” (Booklist) The Gauntlet that’s a futuristic Middle Eastern Zathura meets Ready Player One!\nFour years after the events of The Gauntlet, the evil game Architect is back with a new partner-in-crime—The MasterMind—and the pair aim to get revenge on the Mirza clan. Together, they’ve rebuilt Paheli into a slick, mind-bending world with floating skyscrapers, flying rickshaws run by robots, and a digital funicular rail that doesn’t always take you exactly where you want to go.\nTwelve-year-old Ahmad Mirza struggles to make friends at his new middle school, but when he’s paired with his classmate Winnie for a project, he is determined to impress her and make his very first friend. At home while they’re hard at work, a gift from big sister Farah—who is away at her first year in college—arrives. It’s a high-tech game called The Battle of Blood and Iron, a cross between a video game and board game, complete with virtual reality goggles. He thinks his sister has solved his friend problem—all kids love games. He convinces Winnie to play, but as soon as they unbox the game, time freezes all over New York City.\nWith time standing still and people frozen, all of humankind is at stake as Ahmad and Winnie face off with the MasterMind and the Architect, hoping to beat them at their own game before the evil plotters expand Paheli and take over the entire world.

Computers & Technology

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Riazi, Karuna. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Riazi, Karuna

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Riazi, Karuna. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

A Bit of Earth: A Retelling of The Secret Garden with a Fresh Twist and Unforgettable Characters--An Exciting Summer Reading Book for Children

A Bit of Earth

Sabrena Swept Away

The Gauntlet

The Gauntlet

The Gauntlet

Hungry Hearts: 13 Tales of Food & Love

Hungry Hearts: 13 Tales of Food & Love

The Battle

The Battle