As a child growing up in Malaysia, Shing Yin Khor had two very different ideas of what "America" meant. The first looked a lot like Hollywood, full of beautiful people and sunlight and freeways. The second looked more like The Grapes of Wrath - a nightmare landscape filled with impoverished people, broken-down cars, barren landscapes, and broken dreams. Those contrasting ideas have stuck with Shing ever since, even now that she lives and works in LA. The American Dream? A Journey on Route 66 is...
The Harlem Renaissance (1919-1934) is one of the most fascinating periods of American cultural history. When it was first released in 2004, Harlem Stomp! was the first trade book to bring this important period alive for young adults. Lavishly illustrated with a cover by Caldecott Honor winner Christopher Myers, with sepia tone photographs, reproductions of historical documents, and full-color paintings, this book features a powerful foreword written by award-winning poet Nikki Giovanni, as well...
Amy Chan Zhou’s searing memoir about growing up in rural Communist China features descriptions of pastoral beauty and tales of the simple joys of raising farm animals or catching fish in a local river. However, her childhood is scarred by the primitive conditions, her family’s everyday struggle to obtain food, and the horror of witnessing relatives being tortured on a stage during “public denouncing” meetings. As the Communists take control of China in 1949, we follow the harrowing experienc...
Author Deborah Ellis travels across the continent, interviewing more than forty Native American kids and letting them tell their own stories. They come from all over the continent — from Iqaluit to Texas, Haida Gwaii to North Carolina. Their stories are sometimes heartbreaking; more often full of pride and hope. You’ll meet Tingo, who has spent most of his young life living in foster homes and motels, and is now thriving after becoming involved with a Native Friendship Center; Myleka and Tulane,...
For fans of dungeon crawls and dice rolls—and anyone wanting to know more about them—Side Quest is a stand-alone graphic novel history of roleplaying games (RPGs), from ancient games to those played today, with personal stories from creators throughout! With a meld of history, fantasy, and memoir, Side Quest: A Visual History of Roleplaying Games gives existing fans of tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) insight into the history of the medium—and provides a gateway for anyone new to the phenome...
Every Falling Star
by Sungju Lee and Susan Elizabeth McClelland
Every Falling Star, the first book to portray contemporary North Korea to a young audience, is the intense memoir of a North Korean boy named Sungju who was forced at age twelve to live on the streets and fend for himself. To survive, Sungju creates a gang and lives by thieving, fighting, begging, and stealing rides on cargo trains. Sungju richly recreates his scabrous story, depicting what it was like for a boy alone to create a new family with his gang, “his brothers,” to daily be hungry and t...
Immigration Stories from Madison and Milwaukee High Schools (Green Card Youth Voices)
Covering historic and current figures from the worlds of the arts, sport, business, politics and social activism, Black and Irish will also find space to celebrate everyday heroes-lesser known figures making a difference in Irish communities today.
A Bowl Full of Ideas for Inventive Minds
by Joseph Rael and David Kopacz
Becoming Who You Are
by Joseph Rael (Beautiful Painted Arrow) and David Kopacz
Facing the Lion: Growing Up Maasai on the African Savanna
by Joseph Lekuton
Joseph Lemasolai Lekuton gives American kids a firsthand look at growing up in Kenya as a member of a tribe of nomads whose livelihood centers around the raising of cattle. Here's a fascinating introduction to a vibrant culture few outsiders ever see!
Immigration Stories from a Minneapolis High School (Green Card Youth Voices)
by Leap High School Students
Jay-Z (USA Today Lifeline Biographies (Twenty-First Century Books)) (USA Today Lifeline Biographies)
by Stephen G Gordon