Small Sacrifices is a book about how anyone, including children and teenagers, can make a small sacrifice that turns into a big difference for children in developing nations. In this book, the author has written and drawn examples of what giving up something in our lives can do for someone in need through a charitable organization such as Room to Read* Here is an example: One page explains and illustrates that "Giving up 2 movie night tickets can buy a bicycle for a girl in a developing country to ride safely to school." The book covers different world currencies and illustrations are multi-cultural. Illustrations are hand-drawn and hand-coloured with a slight Manga feel. The language is bilingual English and French. (The Amazon information below about the book only allows one language to be specified.)This book will appeal to children, teens, and adults. It is a good resource to promote International-Mindedness and empathy. The message is compelling as readers cannot close the book without realizing that they can make a huge difference by making a small sacrifice of a luxury or fun item and donating the proceeds to charity. There is a page at the end of the book for readers to jot down their ideas of what they will do and turn it into a commitment. This is Jocelyn's Year 11 Personal Project at school that celebrates the culmination of her International Baccalaureate (IB) MYP studies. *Room to Read was founded by John Wood who was a rising executive at Microsoft in 1998. He took a trekking holiday in Nepal and decided he wanted to leave his career in order to "change the world one book and one child at a time". The organization is now, "one of the fastest growing, most effective, and award-winning non-profits of the last decade. John has been recognized in the worldwide media as a "21st century Andrew Carnegie," building a public library infrastructure to help the developing world break the cycle of poverty through the lifelong gift of education." (www.leavingmicrosoftbook.com) He has written a book about his experience called "Leaving Microsoft to Change the World". Every 20 copies of Small Sacrifices sold helps to educate a child for one year through Room to Read.
About the Author: Jocelyn Kwan is a Chinese-Canadian. She was born in Hong Kong but has also lived in Canada and Indonesia. She currently resides in Switzerland. She attends the International School of Lausanne in Year 11 and hopes to become an architect one day. She enjoys rhythmic gymnastics, artistic gymnastics, piano, and the violin. Her first book was "Figure Skating for Gold" (2008) which raised 25 one year school scholarships for children in developing countries. Press Mention: http: //jocelynkwan.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/jocelyn-iceskating-for-gold-newspaper-scmp.pdf "Small Sacrifices" is her second book and her Y11 Personal Project that celebrates the culmination of her International Baccalaureate (IB) MYP studies. jocelynkwan.wordpress.com Tweet her @JocelynKwan4RtR