BCPL Book Lists - One World, Many Children.
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One World, Many Children

A Children's Booklist of Cultural Diversity


WORLD OF DIFFERENCE: Children Living in the United States

My Name is Maria Isabel
Alma Flor Ada
(JA)
A Puerto Rican girl is renamed Mary by an insensitive teacher, but finds a way to convince her teacher that her name is important. (Gr. 3-4)

Rabbit Mooncakes
Hoong Krakauer
(E)
An Asian American girl tries to avoid giving a family piano recital during the Chinese Harvest Moon Festival celebration. (PreK-2)

America Street
(JA)
Fourteen short stories about young people from diverse cultures, including Latino, Chinese, Arab and African, and their experiences living in the United States. (Gr. 4-6)

Don't Forget
Patricia Lakin
(E)
Sarah, a Jewish American girl, learns to bake her first cake with the help of a neighborhood shopkeeper who survived the Holocaust. (Gr. 1-3)

I Have a New Friend
Kathleen Allan-Meyer
(E)
Saki, an Asian American girl, and Lisa share each others native customs, foods and clothes. (PreK-2)

In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson
Betty Bao Lord
(JL)
A young girl who has recently immigrated from China is caught between Chinese customs and American ways. (Gr. 4-6)

Cleversticks
Bernard Ashley
(E)
Ling Sung, a Chinese American, in an attempt to find something clever to impress his classmates demonstrates how to use chopsticks. (PreK-2)

Rio Grande Stories
Carolyn Meyer
(JR)
Seventh grade students discover interesting facts about the Southwest while preparing an assignment about the diverse cultures in their community. (Gr. 5-7)

Peppe the Lamplighter
Elisa Bartone
(E)
A young Italian immigrant accepts the job of lamplighter in his community. (Gr. 2-5)

Baseball Saved Us
Ken Mochizuki
(JM)
A group of Japanese boys in a Japanese internment camp start a baseball team. (Gr. 2-3)

American Eyes
Lori Carlson
(YS)
Ten short stories explore the nature of home as experienced by young Americans whose ancestral roots lie in several different Asian countries. (Gr. 6-9)

Shizuko's Daughter
Kyoko Mori
(YM)
After her mother's death, Yuki must live with her strict, distant father. (Gr. 6-9)

Born in the Gravy
Denys Cazet
(E)
A young Mexican American girl tells her father all the things she did on her first day of kindergarten. (PreK-1)

In America
Marissa Moss
(JM)
A grandfather describes to his grandson his journey from Lithuania to America, and what he left behind. (Gr. 2-3)

Halmoni and the Picnic
Sook Nyul Choi
(E)
A Korean American girl's very traditional grandmother chaperones her school picnic. (PreK-1)

Yang the Third and Her Impossible Family
Lensey Namioka
(JN)
Yingmei Yang, a Chinese American, is having a difficult time being accepted in school because of the mannerisms of her traditional family. (Gr. 4-6)

Island Like You
Judith Cofer
(YC)
Twelve short stories set in a New Jersey barrio, featuring the lives of a group of Puerto Rican teenagers. (Gr. 6-9)

Last Dragon
Susan Nunes
(E)
A young boy helps restore a Chinese dragon while visiting his great aunt in Chinatown. (Gr. 1-2)

Make a Wish Molly
Barbara Cohen
(JC)
Molly, a Russian immigrant to America cannot decide if she should eat birthday cake during passover. (Gr. 2-3)

Talent Night
Jean Davis Okimoto
(YO)
Rodney is of half Japanese descent and must prove to his uncle that he is interested in his Asian heritage. (Gr. 7-10)

Children of the River
Linda Crew
(YC)
Sundara has fled Cambodia to the U. S. and is trying to find a way to retain her heritage and also learn to become an American. (Gr. 7-9)

Music from a Place Called Half Moon
Jerrie Oughton
(JO)
In 1956, 13 year old Edie Joe mourns the loss of her friend, Cherokee Fish, and comes to terms with her own prejudice. (Gr. 5-6)

Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963
Christopher Curtis
(YC)
The Watsons, an African American family from Flint, Michigan, travels to Birmingham in 1963 and experiences the racial discord in the South. (Gr. 4-6)

Under the Blood Red Sun
Graham Salisbury
(JS)
For Tomi, a Japanese American boy living in Hawaii, life changes drastically after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. (Gr. 5-9)

Abuela
Arthur Dorros
(E)
Riding a bus with her grandmother, a young Hispanic American girl imagines she is flying over the sights of New York City. (PreK-2)

Grandfather's Journey
Allen Say
(E)
A Japanese grandfather describes his journey to America and the life he misses in Japan. (PreK-2)

Like Sisters on the Homefront
Rita Garcia-Williams
(YG)
Gayle, a street smart African American girl, is sent to the South to live with her relatives and learns the family history of slavery and protest. (Gr. 7-9)

Down the Road
Alice Schertle
(E)
Hetty, a young African American girl, is sent to the store to buy eggs, but has a difficult time arriving home with them unbroken. (Gr. 1-2)

Lotus Seed
Sherry Garland
(JG)
A Vietnamese family flees to America to avoid the civil war in their country, but still tries to preserve unique elements of their culture. (Gr. 2-5)

Beware of Kissing Lizard Lips
Phyllis Shalant
(JS)
Nikki Less, a Korean American girl, agrees to teach tae kwon do to the smallest classmate in her school. (Gr. 7-10)

Julie
Jean Craighead George
(JG)
Julie, an Inuit, must reconcile her Eskimo life with the modern world intruding on the Alaskan tundra. (Gr. 4-6)

Local News
Gary Soto
(YS)
A collection of short stories about Mexican American youth in California. (Gr. 7-9)

Her Stories
Virginia Hamilton
(J398H)
Nineteen stories and legends about the lives of African American women. (Gr. 4-6)

Well, David's Story
Mildred Taylor
(JT)
In Mississippi, ten year old David's African American family shares their well water with both black and white neighbors in the early 1900s. (Gr. 4-6)

Bebop-a-do-walk
Sheila Hamanaka
(E)
Two little girls take a lively walking tour of New York from Chinatown to Central Park. (Gr. 1-2)

Lights on the River
Jane Thomas
(E)
A family of Mexican migrant workers living in California observes their holiday tradition of setting lights afloat on the river. (K-2)

Father's Rubber Shoes
Yumi Heo
(E)
A Korean boy experiences the loneliness of moving to a new land, and remembers the joy of home (Gr. 1-2)

World of Daughter McGuire
Sharon Wyeth
(JW)
An 11 year old African-Italian-Irish-Jewish-Russian-American girl searches for her identity while working on a school heritage project. (Gr. 4-6)

Kokopelli's Flute
Will Hobbs
(JH)
Tepary, a Native American boy, camps in an ancient Anasazi cliff dwelling and discovers an ancient flute. (Gr. 4-6)

Thief of Hearts
Lawrence Yep
(JY)
Stacy, an Asian American girl, travels to Chinatown with her mother and grandmother to learn about their immigrant past. (Gr. 4-6)

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ENCHANTMENT OF THE WORLD: Children Living in Other Countries

Broken Bridge
Lynne Reid Banks
(Y)
Two 14 year old girls experience terrorism in Jerusalem. (gr. 7-10)


Pulling the Lion's Tail

Jane Kurtz
(E)
A grandfather finds a clever way to help an impatient Ethiopian girl get to know her new stepmother. (Gr. 1-2)

Over the Water
Maude Casey
(JC)
An Irish girl coming of age must come to terms with the old ways of her strict Irish family. (Gr. 7-9)

Kiss the Dust
Elizabeth Laird
(JL)
To escape Iraqi forces, 13 year old Tara must flee with her family over the border to Iran. (Gr. 4-6)

Year of Impossible Goodbyes
Sook Nyul Choi
(YC)
Sookan and her family struggle to survive the Japanese occupation of their homes in Korea. (Gr. 4-6)

Amazon Boy
Ted Lewin
(E)
Paulo, a young Brazilian boy, and his father take a special trip down the Amazon River through the rainforest. (Gr. 1-2)

Mieko and the Fifth Treasure
Eleanor Coerr
(JC)
Meiko, a young Japanese girl, has dreams of becoming an artist but her hopes are shattered after an injury received during the bombing of Nagasaki. (Gr. 3-4)

Nanta's Lion
Suse MacDonald
(E)
A Masai child is curious to see the lion that her father and other villagers are hunting. (PreK-1)

It Takes a Village
Jean Cowen-Fletcher
(E)
Yemi, a young West African firl, searches the village marketplace for her little lost brother. (Gr. 1-2)

Lydia, Queen of Palestine
Uri Orlev
(JO)
Lydia escapes from Romania during World War II and becomes a citizen of a kibbutz in Israel. (Gr. 6-8)

Angel's Gate
Gary Crew
(Y)
Two orphaned children in Australia build a friendship and enter into an exciting mystery adventure. (Gr. 7-9)

Tortilla Factory
Gary Paulsen
(E)
Set in Mexico, the process of growing corn from harvest to grinding and making tortillas is described. (Gr. 1-2)

Lions Whiskers
Nancy Raines Day
(J398D)
An Ethiopian woman uses her experience with a wild lion to win the love of her new stepson. (Gr. 1-3)

African Mask
Janet Rupert
(JR)
Laya, a Yoruba girl, dreams of making pottery, but must instead marry and learn to live in her hisband's household. (Gr. 4-6)

Welcome Back, Sun
Michael Emberley
(E)
During the dark months between September and March, a Norwegian girl and her family try to hasten the arrival of Spring.

Circlemaker
Maxine Rose Schur
(JS)
During the 1800's in Russia, Mendel, a tewlve year old Jewish boy, tries to escape to America to resist being captured by the Czar's army. (Gr. 4-6)

Waiting for the Rain
Sheila Gordon
(YG)
Two young men, one black and one white, struggle to remain friends amidst the racial tension in South Africa. (Gr. 7-9)

Where Are You Going, Manyoni
Catherine Stock
(E)
A young African girl travels through the veldt of Zimbabwe to her village school. (PreK-2)

Luka's Quilt
Georgia Guback
(E)
Luka's grandmother makes her a quilt in the Hawaiian tradition, but it is not as colorful as the young girl had expected. (PreK-2)

Shabanu
Suzanne Staples
(YS)
Shabanu, a young Pakistani girl, struggles with her father's decision to give her in marriage to an older man. (Gr. 7-9)

Tangerine Tree
Regina Hansen
(E)
A story set in Jamaica about a young girl who promises to learn to read before her father returns from the United States. (Gr. 1-2)

Bomb
Theodore Taylor
(Y)
Sorry risks his life to try and prevent atomic testing on the island of Bikini Atoll. (Gr. 7-9)

Gift for Mama
Esther Hautzig
(JH)
A young Polish girl is determined to earn enough money to buy her mother the most beautiful slippers in the town. (Gr. 3-4)

Timothy of the Cay
Theodore Taylor
(JS)
A story about poverty and racism in the Caribbean. (Gr. 5-7)

Sami and the Time of Trouble
Florence Heide
(JH)
Ten year old Sami and his family must live in the basement of his uncle's home to avoid the bombing of Lebanon. (Gr. 3-4)

Grab Hands and Run
Frances Temple
(JT)
Twelve year old Felipe and his family set out on a difficult journey to flee their home in El Salvador and reach Canada. (Gr. 4-6)

Letters from Rifka
Karen Hesse
(JH)
Rifka and her Jewish family endure persecution in Russia, but are eventually able to flee to a better life in the United States. (Gr. 4-6)

Ghost Fox
Laurence Yep
(JY)
In an adaptation of a Chinese ghost story, Lee must protect his mother and his home when the Ghost Fox tries to sneak in. (Gr. 4-6)

For the Life of Laetitia
Merle Hodge
(YH)
Laetitia, a West Indian native, leaves her small, close knit, rural village to attend school in the city. (Gr. 6-8)

And Twelve Chinese Acrobats
Jane Yolen
(JY)
A story of a Jewish family living in the Ukraine. (Gr. 4-6)

Jasmine's Parlour Day
Lynn Jospeh
(E)
Jasmine accompanies her mother to sell fish and cakes at their market stand on the island of Trinidad. (PreK-2)


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This page is provided by the Baltimore County Public Library, Towson, Maryland USA.
The text version of this page was last revised on 26 August 2008.
The graphics version of this page was last revised on 26 August 2008.
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