Special Collections
Multicultural Books for Children and Teens
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The Patchwork Quilt
by Valerie FlournoyTanya loved listening to her grand-mother talk about the patchwork quilt as she cut and stitched together the pieces of colorful fabric. A scrap of blue from brother Jim's favorite old pants, a piece of gold left over from Mama's Christmas dress, a bright square from Tanya's Halloween costume-all fit together to make a quilt of memories.
But one day Tanya's grandmother becomes ill, and Tanya doesn't know how to help her. It's then she decides to finish Grandma's masterpiece herself, and with the help of Mama and the whole family, she sets to work.
All the trust and sharing between a young girl and her treasured grand-mother is captured in Valerie Flournoy's story, lovingly illustrated in Jerry Pinkney's evocative paintings.
Winner of the Coretta Scott King Medal
Ray Charles
by Sharon Bell Mathis and George FordIn a beautiful new edition of this 1973 multiple award-winning biography, young readers learn the rags-to-riches story of legendary musician Ray Charles's life - from age 7, when he loses his sight completely, to age 40, when he performs to dazzled audiences world-wide and participates in the fight for racial justice. A new introduction by the author sets the context for Charles's journey to stardom, and an afterword updates his life to the present.
Winner of the Coretta Scott King Medal
Family Pictures / Cuadros de Familia
by Carmen Lomas GarzaFamily Pictures is the story of Carmen Lomas Garza's girlhood: celebrating birthdays, making tamales, finding a hammerhead shark on the beach, picking cactus, going to a fair in Mexico, and confiding to her sister her dreams of becoming an artist.
These day-to-day experiences are told through fourteen vignettes of art and a descriptive narrative, each focusing on a different aspect of traditional Mexican American culture. The English-Spanish text and vivid illustrations reflect the author's strong sense of family and community. For Mexican Americans, Carmen Lomas Garza offers a book that reflects their lives and traditions. For others, this work offers insights into a beautifully rich community.
[This text is listed as an example that meets Common Core Standards in English language arts for K-1 at http://www.corestandards.org.]
The Friendship
by Mildred D. Taylor and Max GinsbergCassie witnesses a black man address a white storekeeper by his first name. "A powerful story . . .Readers will be haunted by its drama and emotion long after they have closed the book." --Booklist
Drummer Boy of John John
by Mark Greenwood and Frané Lessac"A story inspired by events in the boyhood of Winston "Spree" Simon, a pioneer in the development of the steel drum, in which he discovers he can create tunes by banging on discarded cans. Includes author's note, glossary, and sources"--Provided by publisher.
Bronx Masquerade
by Nikki GrimesWhen Wesley Boone writes a poem for his high school English class and reads it aloud, poetry-slam-style, he kicks off a revolution. Soon his classmates are clamoring to have weekly poetry sessions. One by one, eighteen students take on the risky challenge of self-revelation.
Award-winning author Nikki Grimes captures the voices of eighteen teenagers through the poetry they share and the stories they tell, and exposes what lies beneath the skin, behind the eyes, beyond the masquerade.
Winner of the Coretta Scott King Medal
Talkin' about Bessie
by Nikki GrimesElizabeth "Bessie" Coleman was always being told what she could & couldn't do. In an era when Jim Crow laws and segregation were a way of life, it was not easy to survive. Bessie didn't let that stop her. Although she was only 11 when the Wright brothers took their historic flight, she vowed to become the first African-American female pilot. Her sturdy faith and determination helped her overcome obstacles of poverty, racism, and gender discrimination. Innovatively told through a series of monologues.
Winner of the Coretta Scott King Medal
The People Could Fly
by Virginia Hamilton24 folktales briefly and dramatically told lend themselves to be read aloud or acted out around campfires, on stormy nights, or to be discussed for readers of all ages. Their heroes prevail through cleverness, perseverance, quick thinking and, often, magic. The stories come from far and wide where enslavement of Africans was practiced from Portugal, to the United States, to the Cape Verde Islands. After each story, Virginia Hamilton, the Newberry Award winning author, provides concise information about its source, history, symbols, storytelling elements and interpretation. Find out how the lion who goes about scaring the other animals by roaring, "Me and myself!" is silenced, how Little Daughter evades a stalking wolf with her goodest, sweetest, song, and how a man whose horse and grandmother is killed by a bully, avoids being killed himself, becomes wealthy, and brings the brute to justice. In one story a young man uses his three obedient rabbits to outwit a princess, queen, and king, catching them in a sackful of lies. Another story warns that should you ever cut off a creature's big , long tail and eat it, it will come for you in the night calling for you to give it's, "tailypo," back. It will creep up your wall, through your window, across your floor, on to your bed and you'll be too scared to move, too scared to scream...
Winner of the Coretta Scott King Medal
Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush
by Virginia HamiltonA beautiful ghost appears to a troubled teen and shows her the heartbreaking secrets of her family&’s past Fifteen-year-old Teresa has fallen in love—with a ghost. The handsome man that she&’s passed on the street a few times captures her attention, and she thinks he notices her too. But when the man suddenly appears inside her home, hovering in the air and passing through solid furniture, Teresa realizes this isn&’t going to be a typical crush. The ghost is Brother Rush, a man tied to Teresa&’s past, who has come to show her the ways her life has special meaning, and that her problems at school and at home are not what they seem.
Good Luck Cat
by Joy HarjoSome cats are good luck. You pet them and good things happen. Woogie is one of those cats. But as Woogie gets into one mishap after another, everyone starts to worry. Can a good luck cat's good luck run out?
The Story of Stevie Wonder
by James HaskinsA biography of the blind composer, pianist, and singer who was a child prodigy and went on to win nine Grammy awards.
Winner of the Coretta Scott King Medal
Celebrating Families
by Rosmarie HausherrMeet fourteen lively children who invite you into their lives and introduce you to their own unique and diverse families. Whether they come from one- or two-parent families, stepfamilies, extended families, homeless families, or any other kind of family - all of these children have reason to celebrate the people who love and care for them each day.
Dave the Potter
by Laban Carrick HillTo us it is just dirt, the ground we walk on... But to Dave it was clay, the plain and basic stuff upon which he formed a life as a slave nearly 200 years ago. Dave was an extraordinary artist, poet, and potter living in South Carolina in the 1800s. He combined his superb artistry with deeply observant poetry, carved onto his pots, transcending the limitations he faced as a slave. In this inspiring and lyrical portrayal, National Book Award nominee Laban Carrick Hill's elegantly simple text and award-winning artist Bryan Collier's resplendent, earth-toned illustrations tell Dave's story, a story rich in history, hope, and long-lasting beauty.
Winner of the Coretta Scott King Medal
My People
by Langston HughesLangston Hughes's spare yet eloquent tribute to his people has been cherished for generations. Langston Hughes (1902-1967) is one of America's most beloved and cherished chroniclers of the black experience. Best known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance, Hughes's work was consistently groundbreaking throughout his forty-six year career.
La Línea
by Ann JaramilloMiguel has dreamed of joining his parents in California since the day they left him behind in Mexico six years, eleven months, and twelve days ago. On the morning of his fifteenth birthday, Miguel's wait is over. Or so he thinks.
The trip north to the border - la línea- is fraught with dangers. Thieves. Border guards. And a grueling, two-day trek across the desert. It would be hard enough to survive alone. But it's almost impossible with his tagalong sister in tow. Their money gone and their hopes nearly dashed, Miguel and his sister have no choice but to hop the infamous mata genteas it races toward the border. As they cling to the roof of the speeding train, they hold onto each other, and to their dreams. But they quickly learn that you can't always count on dreams - even the ones that come true.
This is the story of many undocumented immigranted to the USA, especially teenagers in search of their parents.
Red Scarf Girl
by Ji-Li JiangIt's 1966, and twelve-year-old Ji-li Jiang has everything a girl could want: brains, tons of friends, and a bright future in Communist China. But it's also the year that China's leader, Mao Ze-dong, launches the Cultural Revolution-and Ji-li's world begins to fall apart. Over the next few years, people who were once her friends and neighbors turn on her and her family, forcing them to live in constant terror of arrest. When Ji-li's father is finally imprisoned, she faces the most difficult dilemma of her life. This is the true story of one girl's determination to hold her family together during one of the most terrifying eras of the twentieth century.
The Circuit
by Francisco Jiménez"'La frontera'...I heard it for the first time back in the late 1940s when Papa and Mama told me and Roberto, my older brother, that someday we would take a long trip north, cross la frontera, enter California, and leave our poverty behind." So begins this honest and powerful account of a family's journey to the fields of California -- to a life of constant moving, from strawberry fields to cotton fields, from tent cities to one-room shacks, from picking grapes to topping carrots and thinning lettuce. Seen through the eyes of a boy who longs for an education and the right to call one place home, this is a story of survival, faith, and hope. It is a journey that will open readers' hearts and minds.
The First Part Last
by Angela JohnsonBobby's a classic urban teenager. He's restless. He's impulsive. But the thing that makes him different is this: He's going to be a father. His girlfriend, Nia, is pregnant, and their lives are about to change forever. Instead of spending time with friends, they'll be spending time with doctors, and next, diapers. They have options: keeping the baby, adoption. They want to do the right thing. If only it was clear what the right thing was.
Winner of the Coretta Scott King Medal
Heaven
by Angela JohnsonMarley has lived in heaven since she was two years old, when her mother found a postcard postmarked HEAVEN, OH, on a park bench and decided that was where she wanted to raise a family. And for twelve years, Marley's hometown has lived up to its name. She lives in a house by the river, has loving parents, a funny younger brother, good friends, and receives frequent letters from her mysterious uncle, Jack. Then one day a letter arrives from Alabama, and Marley's life is turned upsidedown. Marley doesn't even know who she is anymore--but where can she go for answers, when she's been deceived by the very people she should be able to trust the most?
Winner of the Coretta Scott King Medal
Toning The Sweep
by Angela JohnsonSpanning three generations of African-American women, each holding on to a separate truth, this novel details the struggle these women face in finding a common ground upon which to share their love, friendship, and hardships.
Winner of the Coretta Scott King Medal
The Great Greene Heist
by Varian JohnsonSaving the school -- one con at a time."A political heist page-turner set in middle school? Is that even possible? Varian Johnson shows us how it's done." - Gordon Korman, author of SWINDLE "Do yourself a favor and start reading immediately." - Rebecca Stead, author of WHEN YOU REACH ME Jackson Greene swears he's given up scheming. Then school bully Keith Sinclair announces he's running for Student Council president, against Jackson's former friend Gaby de la Cruz. Gaby wants Jackson to stay out of it -- but he knows Keith has "connections" to the principal, which could win him the presidency no matter the vote count. So Jackson assembles a crack team: Hashemi Larijani, tech genius. Victor Cho, bankroll. Megan Feldman, science goddess. Charlie de la Cruz, reporter. Together they devise a plan that will take down Keith, win Gaby's respect, and make sure the election is done right. If they can pull it off, it will be remembered as the school's greatest con ever -- one worthy of the name THE GREAT GREENE HEIST.
Kira-Kira
by Cynthia Kadohatakira-kira (kee' ra kee' ra): glittering; shining Glittering. That's how Katie Takeshima's sister, Lynn, makes everything seem. The sky is kira-kira because its color is deep but see-through at the same time. The sea is kira-kira for the same reason. And so are people's eyes. When Katie and her family move from a Japanese community in Iowa to the Deep South of Georgia, it's Lynn who explains to her why people stop them on the street to stare. And it's Lynn who, with her special way of viewing the world, teaches Katie to look beyond tomorrow. But when Lynn becomes desperately ill, and the whole family begins to fall apart, it is up to Katie to find a way to remind them all that there is always something glittering -- kira-kira -- in the future. Luminous in its persistence of love and hope, Kira-Kira is Cynthia Kadohata's stunning debut in middle-grade fiction.
Inside Out and Back Again
by Thanhha LaiNo one would believe me but at times I would choose wartime in Saigon over peacetime in Alabama.
For all the ten years of her life, HÀ has only known Saigon: the thrills of its markets, the joy of its traditions, the warmth of her friends close by...and the beauty of her very own papaya tree.
But now the Vietnam War has reached her home. HÀ and her family are forced to flee as Saigon falls, and they board a ship headed toward hope. In America, HÀ discovers the foreign world of Alabama: the coldness of its strangers, the dullness of its food, the strange shape of its landscape...and the strength of her very own family.
This is the moving story of one girl's year of change, dreams, grief, and healing as she journeys from one country to another, one life to the next.
Newbery Honor Book
Winner of the National Book Award
Day of Tears
by Julius LesterOn March 2 and 3, 1859, the largest auction of slaves in American history took place in Savannah, Georgia. More than 400 slaves were sold. On the first day of the auction, the skies darkened and torrential rain began falling. The rain continued throughout the two days, stopping only when the auction had ended. The simultaneity of the rain storm with the auction led to these two days being called "the weeping time." Master storyteller Julius Lester has taken this footnote of history and created the crowning achievement of his literary career. Julius Lester tells the story of several characters including Emma, a slave owned by Pierce Butler and caretaker of his two daughters, and Pierce, a man with a mounting gambling debt and household to protect. Emma wants to teach his daughters--one who opposes slavery and one who supports it--to have kind hearts. Meanwhile, in a desperate bid to survive, Pierce decides to cash in his "assets" and host the largest slave auction in American history. And on that day, the skies open up and weep endlessly on the proceedings below. Using the multiple voices of enslaved Africans and their owners, Julius Lester has taken a little-known, all-true event in American history and transformed it into a heartbreaking and powerfully dramatic epic on slavery, and the struggle to affirm humanity in the midst of it.
Winner of the Coretta Scott King Medal