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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)
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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) |
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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) |
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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) |
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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) |
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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) |
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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) |
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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)
|
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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)
|
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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)
|
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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) |
|
Back to Top
|
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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)
|
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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.
You are welcome to provide feedback.