Of Nightingales That Weep Award from the Children's Literature Association as the best English-language children's book that did not win a major award when it was originally published twenty years earlier. The award is named after the mythical bird phoenix, which is reborn from its ashes, to suggest the book's rise from obscurity. Set during the Genpei War, the two rival Japanese clans, the Genji and Heike, are constantly battling for the support of the Senior Cloistered Emperor and the power to rule Japan. Takiko is a beautiful girl who can talentedly play the koto, a thirteen-stringed instrument. She is only eleven years old
Rising from Ashes Ashes was produced by two partnering non-profit organizations, Gratis 7 Media Group and Project Rwanda, over the course of six years. Forest Whitaker narrated the film, which was produced with $800,000 that came exclusively from donors. Since its release in 2012, the film has won awards at more than a dozen film festivals worldwide. Rising from Ashes Rising From Ashes is an independent film about the development of a national cycling team in Rwanda, a country still affected by 1994 Rwandan Genocide where an estimated 500,000–1,000,000 Rwandans were killed. Professional cyclist Jacques “Jock” Boyer moves to Rwanda in 2006 to