Communities
At Gleason's Gym
The story of Gleason's Gym in Brooklyn NY, and the many people who use it. It includes a brief story of Sugar Boy Younan, National Silver Gloves Champion 2006. The words and pictures tap into the senses. The illustrations demonstrate the rhythm to the mus
| Author: Lewin, Ted |
HSE Descriptors:
literature and arts | social studies
|
Birds on a Wire
Renga poem (meaning linked verse in which one poet writes a verse and the other poet adds another verse, and so on) built around the day to day happenings of a small town. The authors trade stanza and bounce around the town as though they were observing
| Author: Lewis, J. Patrick & Paul Janeczko |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading | social studies
|
Bull Run
This is a fictional and personal account of the first great battle of the Civil War, as told from the points of view of 16 participants, Northern and Southern, male and female, black and white.
| Author: Fleischman, Paul |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Carolina Shout
A young girl wanders the streets of Charleston from sun up to sun set capturing the vendors' calls and the sounds of the street. The book begs to be read aloud.
Clan Apis
This is a graphic novel (a.k.a.comic book) about bees. Students will learn about bee anatomy and behavior. End notes contain science information about bees.
| Author: Hosler, Jay |
HSE Descriptors:
science
|
Francie
This engaging novel shows a slice of life in small-town Alabama in the 1940s, as told from the perspective of 13-year-old Francie. Francie, her mother, and her brother anxiously await a chance to join her father in Chicago. In the meantime, Francie comes
Freedom's Fruit
Mama Marina, a conjure woman in the Low Country of the Carolinas in the time of slavery, uses a magic spell to free her daughter and the man she loves. The book includes an Author's Note that compares the American folktale with the Greek myth of Persepho
Heavenly Village, The
This is subtitled "A Novel," but it's really more a loosely connected set of short stories, all of which take place in the "Heavenly Village," a place for those who have died but are not quite yet ready to leave earth behind. (Note: religious overtones, i
| Author: Rylant, Cynthia |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading
|
I Saw Your Face
Sketches from Tom Feelings's sketch book are used to frame a simple yet powerful poem about the "face game" played by the author with his mother that celebrates African-American heritage.
| Author: Dawes, Kwame |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies | language arts - writing
|
If America Were a Village
Smith uses the a village of 100 people to represent the 306 millions living in the US today. Facts and illustrations create a snapshot of who we are and what we do. This book helps to define America's diversity by shrinking it to a village of 100 people
| Author: Smith, Davei J |
HSE Descriptors:
math | social studies | language arts - writing
|
If the World Were a Village
The author takes the phrase "global village" literally, describing a hypothetical village of 100 people using world-wide statistics on nationality, languages, ages, religions, wealth, environmental conditions and so forth. End pages promote "world minded
| Author: Smith, David J. |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Islander, The
An orphaned boy, who grows up with his grandfather on an island off the coast of British Columbia, finds a key-literally--that helps him overcome his loneliness and loss.
Man Who Made Parks, The
This is a biography of Frederick Law Olmsted, the first landscape architect and developer of Central Park in NYC (as well as other famous parks).
| Author: Wishinsky, Frieda |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Painting the Wind
This "is a beautiful story about holding on to perfect moments that only a summer in a place that you love can offer" (dust jacket).
| Author: MacLachlan, Patricia & MacLachlan, Emily |
|
Shin-chi's Canoe
Shin-chi's toy canoe, given to him by his father, sustains him during his first year at an Indian residential school. This story occurs when Native Americans were forced to attend Indian residential schools where they were made to learn the white man's w
| Author: Campbell, Nicola I. |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Symphony of Whales, A
This book is based on the true story of a "whale rescue" by a group of Siberian villagers in the mid-1980s.
| Author: Schuch, Steve |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies | science
|
Tree Is Older Than You Are, The
In the introduction to this bilingual anthology of Mexican poems, stories, and paintings, the author relates her personal ties to Mexico, "a country of spirit where miracles feel close and possible." The author also includes an excellent index and a Note
| Author: Nye, Naomi (comp.) |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading
|
What Jamie Saw
The power and lyricism of this remarkable book is evident in the opening sentence. "When Jamie saw him throw the baby, saw Van throw the little baby, saw Van throw his little sister Nin, when Jamie saw Van throw his baby sister Nin, then they moved." Jam
Communities > belonging
Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, The
When Junior (Arnold) Spirit chooses to go to school off his North Dakota reservation to attend an all white farm school, he encounters a few new friends and loses an old one as he navigates the worlds of whites and Native Americans.
| Author: Alexie, Sherman |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading | social studies
|
Alia's Mission
This graphic storybook/graphic novel is based on the true story of the chief librarian at the Central Library in Basra, Iraq. It tells the story of how she tried to save the books from destruction during the Iraq War.
| Author: Stamaty, Mark Alan |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies | language arts - reading
|
Baboon King, The
Set in Africa, this powerful book explores the themes of the importance of community through the exile of Morengaru from his tribe and survival, not against but with nature, in his life with a group of baboons.
Baby
A family finds a baby on its doorstep with a note asking them to care for the baby indefinitely. They begin to love the baby, even though they know they will have to say goodbye, and through the process of becoming attached to the child they are able to
| Author: MacLachlan, Patricia |
|
Big Mouth and Ugly Girl
In this engrossing 266-page book, Matt, age 17, is falsely accused of trying to blow up his high school. His friends desert him, but a girl who calls herself "Ugly Girl" befriends him, and together they weather public opinion, the police, parents, teache
| Author: Oates, Joyce Carol |
|
Cat with the Yellow Star, The: Coming of Age in Terezin
Ela Weissberger's life before, during, and after she and her family were forced to live in the Jewish ghetto of Terezin during WWII. Photographs reinforce Ela's memories of survival and hope.
| Author: Rubin, Susan Goldman |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Charlie Chaplin
This interesting biography of Charlie Chaplin discusses his life and work from his impoverished boyhood in London through his Hollywood film career to exile in Europe, ending with knighthood in England. The author expands the use of the book with a bibli
| Author: Turk, Ruth |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading
|
Children of Topaz, The
The authors provide an introduction to the history of the Japanese internment camps in the United States during World War II as well as a Reference and Reading List. The book is a journal kept by a third-grade class taught by Anne Yamauchi in such a camp
| Author: Tunnell, Michael & Chilcoat, George |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Circuit, The
The author tells the heartbreaking story of a young boy growing up as an undocumented migrant whose family traveled the crop circuit in California in the 1930's. The narrative is told as linked stories. At least two of the chapters have been published a
| Author: Jimenez, Francisco |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Dear Willie Rudd
Miss Elizabeth, thinking 50 years back, remembers Willie Rudd, the African American housekeeper who raised her, her mother, and her grandmother. She writes a letter to the long-dead Willie Rudd in which she explains the past and expresses her feelings.
| Author: Gray, Libba Moore |
|
Do I Dare Disturb the Universe:
Charlise Lyles grew up in Cleveland in the 1960s and 1970s. This memoir focuses on life in the projects, her family's struggle to survive, her mother's relentless work to provide opportunities for children. Mostly, though, it's about Charlise-- her though
Ellen Foster
11-year-old Ellen tells her own story in this "Oprah Book about a foster childhood." She is an amazingly resilient child and an amazingly perceptive observer of others.
Eyes of the Dragon
A Chinese magistrate commissions a famous painter of dragons to paint one on the protective walls of the village. This tale relates what happens when the magistrate fails to keep his agreement.
Giver, The
This Newbery Award-winning novel is set in a utopian community in which all conflict and social problems are unheard of. After a coming-of-age ceremony, Jonas begins to interact with The Giver and learns about the secrets that underlie his perfect world.
Hitler Youth
By following a dozen German youth, the author examines the attraction and occasionally the resistance of the role of the Hitler youth movement in Nazi Germany. The author includes additional material for further exploration.
| Author: Bartoletti, Susan Campbell |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies | language arts - reading | science
|
Home of the Brave
An African refuge lives with his aunt and cousin in Minneapolis. He has problems adjusting and misses his mother (no one knows where she is). He finds comfort in an older lady and her cow whose name means family in his native language.
| Author: Applegate, Katherine |
HSE Descriptors:
literature and arts | social studies
|
How I Discovered Poetry
Marilyn Nelson describes her childhood in America in the 1950s, as the daughter of an African American Army officer. The poems span from her fourth to fourteenth year and touch aspects of civil rights, "Red Scare," atom bomb and the stirrings of the femin
| Author: Nelson, Marilyn |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading | social studies | language arts - writing
|
I Have an Olive Tree
Colorful, stylized illustrations depict a girl and her mother as they travel back to Greece to see the olive tree her granfather left her when he died, a gift that grows in value as the story progresses.
| Author: Bunting, Eve |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
In Our Mothers' House
Marmee and Meema, two wonderfully innovative, creative mothers, provide a loving home for adopted children and are the glue for a community-oriented neighborhood, except for one family who snubs them for being different.
| Author: Polacco, Patricia |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
In Our Mothers' House
Marmee and Meema, two wonderfully innovative, creative mothers, provide a loving home for adopted children and are the glue for a community-oriented neighborhood, except for one family who snubs them for being different.
| Author: Polacco, Patricia |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Memories of Sun
This is a collection of modern day short stories and poems about Africa. It has three divisions: 1) Africa 2) Americans in Africa 3) Africans in America. Although most of the 12 stories are engaging, teachers will want to read beforehand since some may
| Author: Kurtz, Jane (Ed.) |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading | social studies
|
Music of Dolphins, The
Mila, a feral child raised by dolphins after her parents' death, is rescued, studied and taught human behavior and language at a research center. Different type face and size convey Mila's language development.
My Life in Dog Years
Each chapter describes one of the amazing and unforgettable dogs Gary Paulsen has owned. As we read his dogs' stories, we also learn a great deal about the author.
Old African, The
a beautifully told and illustrated story that, according to the dust jacket, is "based on legend." The Old African has magical powers. This is the story of his capture and enslavement as a young man and ultimately, his plan to free his fellow slaves.
| Author: Lester, Julius |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place, The
Margaret Rose Kane, 12 years old, escapes oppressive summer camp with the help of her great-uncles and then helps them rescue from urban renewal the sculptural "towers" that they have been creating for 45 years.
| Author: Konigsburg, E. L. |
|
Persepolis 2
This graphic novel sequel to Persepolis, depicts the author's rebellious adolescence and early adulthood among dissident outsider friends in Vienna and her voluntary return to her family in fundamentalist Tehran. Readers should be cautioned about referen
| Author: Satrapi, Marjane |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Pick and Shovel Poet
This moving biography recounts the life of Italian immigrant poet Pascal D'Angelo. The author includes some of D'Angelo's poems as well as archival photos of immigrant life, an extensive bibliography and an index.
| Author: Murphy, Jim |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Relatively Speaking
Centered around a family reunion, a boy speaks about his older brother, his parents, grandparents, and extended family in short, easily accessible free verse.
Sarah, Plain and Tall
A mail-order bride comes from Maine to the midwest; the children (who have lost their mother) desperately hope she'll stay.
| Author: MacLachlan, Patricia |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Sioux, The
This book is part of the "Lifeway Series," which also includes titles called The Cherokee, The Iroquois, and The Navajo. This title examines the origins, history, culture, beliefs, and language of the Native American tribe the S
| Author: Bial, Raymond |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
True Believer
This is not exactly a sequel to Make Lemonade, but the style is similar and many of the characters are the same-- LaVaughn, her mother, Jolly and her children [they have a minor role in this book]. LaVaughn is 15, lives in the inner city, and str
| Author: Wolff, Virginia Euwer |
|
Whale Journey
This book describes the migration journey of grey whales. Birthing and care of whale babies are also described. The illustrations are breathtaking.
| Author: French, Vivian |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies | science
|
Wolves
The author/illustrator presents fascinating, positive information about grey and red wolves at an easy reading level. A map and endnotes, More Ways of the Wolves and Wolf Legends and Myths, provide excellent extensions for teaching. The illustrations ha
| Author: Gibbons, Gail |
HSE Descriptors:
science
|
Communities > change
Christmas Menorahs, The
This picture book recreates the true story of how families and a community decided to stand together to combat bigotry and acts of hatred.
City of Angels: In and Around Los Angeles
20 places or events in Los Angeles are briefly described. Each is accompanied by cartoon-like illustrations. A chronology of interesting tidbits of LA history concludes the book.
| Author: Jaskol, Julie & Lewis, Brian |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Facing the Lion
Enhanced by a few, vivid color photos, this memoir recounts the Maasi childhood and first encounters with European and American culture of an American teacher who spends part of each year working in Kenya. An afterword brings the reader up to date with L
| Author: Lekuton, Joseph |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Garden of Happiness, The
A young girl cares for a seed that she plants near a community garden in New York City.
Getting Away with Murder: The True Story of the Emmett Till Case
This somewhat repetitive account of the brutal death of Emmett Till, the Chicago 14-year-old boy visiting Mississippi, argues that the media coverage of the trial and the subsequent outrage of the public provided the catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement
| Author: Crowe, Chris |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Grandmama's Pride
This is a most beautiful book focusing on the segregation practiced in the south during the 1950's leading to the civil rights laws passed in the 60's. The illustrations make the book come alive with details showing the inequalities practiced in every day
| Author: Birtha, Becky |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Grandmama's Pride
This is a most beautiful book focusing on the segregation practiced in the south during the 1950's leading to the civil rights laws passed in the 60's. The illustrations make the book come alive with details showing the inequalities practiced in every day
| Author: Birtha, Becky |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly
Patsy, a 12-year-old slave girl, keeps a diary during 1865, describing the changes in the plantation that come with the Emancipation Proclamation. The author appends historical notes, archival photographs, the wording of Constitutional Amendments 13,14,
| Author: Hansen, Joyce |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Joan of Arc
This beautifully illustrated and researched biography of the French peasant girl who became known as Joan of Arc describes how she led the French against the English in the 100 Year's War. The book includes an historical background of the 100 Year's War,
| Author: Stanley, Diane |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Kamishibai Man
The award-winning author/illustrator introduces the reader to the street storytelling tradition of the "paper-theater man" from his Japanese childhood.
Letting Swift River Go
This book tells the story of a community's act of selling up the houses and land to the government so that a water reservoir can be built. It is told from the view point of a woman who felt as though she lost her childhood because all her landmarks had
Librarian of Basra, The
A true story of the librarian of Basra, Iraq, who saved the books in the town library during the current war. In an end note, the author brings the reader up-to-date on the librarian.
Linda Brown, You Are Not Alone
Well-known children's author Joyce Carol Thomas has collected pieces by 12 writers to commemorate the Supreme Court ruling Brown vs. Board of Education. The reading level varies significantly from piece to piece.
| Author: Thomas, Joyce Carol |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy
This coming-of-age novel is a Newbery Honor Book. It tells the story of people in Maine in the early 1900s, a friendship between a minister's son and an island girl, and the ways greed and prejudice change all their lives.
Mr. Lincoln's Whiskers
Grace, an 11 year-old girl writes a letter to Abraham Lincoln suggesting that he grow whiskers to help him win the election.
| Author: Winnick, Karen |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
My Place
This award-winning Australian picture book shows life in one specific spot in Australia, while moving backward in time (two pages for each depiction). It begins in 1988 with a child describing her community and her pet, and each subsequent set of pages m
| Author: Wheatley, Nadia & Rawlins, Donna |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Other Side, The
Spurred by a letter from her grandmother saying that "they're pulling Shorter down," the poet returns to the people and places of her childhood in Shorter, Alabama. The poems are accessible and concise but filled with powerful feeling. Photographs from
Our House
Based on her research and interviews, the author tells fictional stories of families in Levittown-one chapter for each decade since the 1940's when the community was developed. The stories are told from a child's point of view but involve the family unit
| Author: Conrad, Pam |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading
|
Princess Ka'iulani: Hope of a Nation, Heart of a People
This is a fascinating biography of Ka'iulani, Crown Princess of Hawaii. The history of Hawaii is also chronicled, as is a bit about life in the US and Europe in the late 19th century. Authentic photographs and political cartoons, a bibliography, and index
| Author: Linnea, Sharon |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Seedfolks
Thirteen people of different ethnic backgrounds who are strangers to each other tell their stories of a vacant lot in Cleveland that becomes a neighborhood garden. The book jacket refers to the "harvest of hidden lives" and a "hymn to the power of plants
She Would Not Be Moved
Kohl tells the historically correct version of the Montgomery Bus Boycott and Rosa Park's role in it. This revised biography of Rosa Parks stresses her activist background and the violent environment of racism to counter the prevailing picture of her as a
| Author: Kohl, Herbert |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Stand for Children
Marian Wright Edelman delivered this speech at the Stand for Children demonstration in 1996 in Washington, D.C. Pictures of photo-transfer quilts with multicultural themes illustrate the book. An Author's Note gives background on the demonstration.
| Author: Edelman, Marian Wright |
|
Steam, Steel, and Stars
In 1955, the photographer O.W. Link captured the last steam railroad on its last runs in Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio.
| Author: Link, O. W. and Hensley, F. |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Step Toward Heaven, A
When Young Ju emigrates with her immediate family to America from Korea, she misses her grandparents. As she grows older, she finds a refuge from her father's physical abuse in school achievement. The author mimics the style of narration with the age of
Streets of Gold
This story of a Russian family's life in Russia and then in the U.S. is based on an actual immigrant's journals.
| Author: Wells, Rosemary |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Tale of Paradise Lost, The
An exquisitly illustrated prose retelling of John Milton's famous poem Paradise Lost.
| Author: Willard, Nancy |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading
|
Tin Forest, The
An old man living in a wasteland of scrap metal dreams of a green forest full of birds and animals. This charming, beautifully illustrated modern legend extolls the benefits of dreaming and ideas in accomplishing change.
To Kill A Mockingbird
In this classic American novel set in the 30s, Lee tells the story of two children growing up in the South with their lawyer father who represents an African-American man accused of raping a white woman. The novel is rich and complex in plot and theme.
| Author: Lee, Harper |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading
|
Veil of Snows, The
In the absence of her husband who has not returned from battle, the queen prepares her city for assault. Aided by a small force of loyal soldiers and the Singer of Tales who narrates the story, the queen escapes the besieged city and heads for the safety
| Author: Helprin, Mark |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading | social studies
|
Wangari's Trees of Peace: A True Story From Africa
The true story of how Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan educated in the USA, started a movement to replant trees in Kenya, one seedling at a time. Wangari won the Nobel Peace Prize for replenishing of the forests in her country.
| Author: Winter, Jeanette |
HSE Descriptors:
science | social studies
|
Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom
This is an enlightening text illustrating the importance of the bicycle as a way to change the world by cultivating independence. The photographs, newspaper articles, advertisements, etc., beautifully depict the history, ending with a timeline comparing w
| Author: Macy, Sue |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies | language arts - reading
|
Where Once There Was a Wood
With beautiful paper pulp illustrations and rich, alliterative text, the author raises the question of whether development is good ecology for the community.
Wonderful Towers of Watts, The
Throughout his life, Old Sam collects bits and pieces of glass, tiles, and discarded objects that he uses to build structures in his backyard in Watts.
Communities > farms
Big Jabe
This tall tale relates how Jabe helped slaves.
Buffalo Gals: Women of the Old West
Primary documents (e.g., journal entries, letters, song lyrics) are woven into a description of the women on the old west and their lives.
| Author: Miller, Brandon Marie |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez
This is a picture biography of Cesar Chavez. It focuses on his childhood and initial efforts at organizing farm workers in the mid-60s, creating The National Form Workers Association.
| Author: Krull, Kathleen |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Communities > historical
Abraham's Battle
An ex-slave named Abraham, a young Confederate soldier, and a girl from Gettysburg meet in the cataclysmic days of the Civil War battle. Abraham meets Lincoln after the President gives his famous address.
| Author: Banks, Sara Harrell |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
African Princess
Illustrated with paintings, photographs, and artifacts, six biographies tell us about royal African women from Ancient Eygpt to the present: Hatshepsut of Egypt; Njinga of Matamba; Taytu Tetal of Ethiopia; Amina of Zaria; Tata Ajache of Dahomey; and Eliz
| Author: Hansen, Joyce |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
All Around Town
Columbia, South Carolina of the 1920's and 1930's is chronicled by photographs by Richard Roberts and text by the author. One reader thought the text was too childish.
Angel Island
An historical account of the discrimination against the Asian immigrants in the late 1800s-early 1900s. Angel Island, located near Alcatraz Island, was the Ellis Island of the west coast of the U.S. but was more of a prison than a welcoming center. Drawi
| Author: Russell Freedman |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies | language arts - reading
|
Anno's Medieval World
In Anno's beautifully illustrated medieval world, superstitions rather than science explain natural phenomena, especially the shape and movement of the earth. Anno uses medieval styled illustrations to share these beliefs of the Middle Ages up to the Age
| Author: Anno, Mitsumasa |
HSE Descriptors:
science | social studies
|
Blizzard!
This book tells the story of an amazing blizzard that struck the Eastern U.S. in March, 1888. The author tells how the storm affected individuals, workers, communication, transportation, and more. The book is illustrated with vintage photographs and maps
| Author: Murphy, Jim |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies | science
|
Bobbin Girl, The
Rebecca, a 10-year-old "bobbin girl" working in the textile factories in Lowell, Massachuesetts in the 1830's must decide if she will participate in the first workers' strike.
| Author: McCully, Emily Arnold |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Bodies from the Ash:Life and Death in Ancient Pompeii
With the help of detailed photographs, the author describes how historical fact is established by excavating and reconstructing the volcanic site of Pompeii.
| Author: Deem, James M. |
HSE Descriptors:
science | social studies
|
Breaking Ground, Breaking Silence
In 1991, New York's long-ignored African Burial Ground was rediscovered. The description of what scientists found there and how they pieced together information about life serves as a backdrop for stories of life for African Americans in Colonial New York
| Author: Hansen, Joyce, & McGowan, Gary |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies | science
|
Building a New Land
Each of the short chapters in this well written picture book addresses the lives, rights, changing roles, and contributions of African Americans in a different area of Colonial America. The author includes a timeline and a bibliography.
| Author: Haskins, James & Benson, Kathleen |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Castle Diary: The Journal of Tobias Burgess, Page
Tobias, an 11-year-old boy, goes to serve as a page for a year in his uncle's castle in 13th Century England. Notes for the Reader contains additional historical information.
| Author: Platt, Richard |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies | language arts - writing
|
Cathedral
This fascinating nonfiction book describes the construction of an imaginary castle in medieval France. The illustrations are black and white and very detailed. The book ends with a glossary.
| Author: Macaulay, David |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Cats in Krasinski Square, The
With a simple text and marvelous watercolors, Hesse tells a true story of the bravery of the Jewish Resistance who helped the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II. End matter provides more historical background.
| Author: Hesse, Karen |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Coal Miner's Bride, A: The Diary of Anetka Kaminska
In journal format, the life of a thirteen year old girl in 1896 comes to life. Anetra Kaminska is sold to an older widower of three children in a mining town, for the price of her and her brother's tickets from Poland to America. Her life is extremely ha
| Author: Bartoletti, Susan Campbell |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading | language arts - writing | social studies
|
Colonial Voices: Hear Them Speak
Ethan, a printer's errand boy, is carrying a message from business to business in Boston It is to gather the Patriots at the Old South Meeting House on December 16, 1773. As he goes to each business,we find out about tha various occupations and the histo
| Author: Winters, Kay |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Colonial Voices: Hear Them Speak
Ethan, a printer's errand boy, is carrying a message from business to business in Boston It is to gather the Patriots at the Old South Meeting House on December 16, 1773. As he goes to each business,we find out about tha various occupations and the histo
| Author: Winters, Kay |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Fever 1793
This is a very compelling fictionalization of life for one teenaged girl, her family, and her friends during the yellow fever outbreak in Philadelphia in 1793.
| Author: Anderson, Laurie Halse |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!
This Newberry Award winner gives voice to residents of a medieval English village circa 1255. Poems in monologue form interspersed with explanatory passages bring the village to life. The book includes a map locating the characters in the village and an
| Author: Schlitz, Laura Amy |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Harlem Stomp!
Subtitled "A cultural history of the Harlem Renaissance," this book has 10 chapters that address how Harlem came to be a cultural "magnet" in the 1920s. The book interweaves history, poetry, and archival photos that brings the cultural history of Harlem t
| Author: Hill, Laban Carrick |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies | language arts - reading
|
In the Days of the Vaqueros
Russell Freedman has created another interesting non-fiction book, this time on the vaqueros, who were the forerunners of cowboys. As usual, the author illustrates his essays with paintings, archival photographs and includes useful resources in a bibliog
| Author: Freedman, Russell |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Indian School
Subtitled "Teaching the White Man's Way," this book chronicles efforts to "civilize" Native American children and youth in the late 19th and early 20th century. Archival photographs, an index, a reading list, a bibliography, and a list of web sites comple
| Author: Cooper, Michael L. |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
It Is a Good Day to Die
A brief introduction explains why the account of Custer's battle at Little Bighorn is told through individual recollections long after the encounter. In addition to the personal accounts, the book includes a helpful chronology of events, short biographie
| Author: Viola, Herman |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Kinderdike
In this dramatically illustrated book, a Dutch town is flooded and mostly destroyed, although one child in a cradle and a cat are found after the flood waters recede. Together people work to rebuild and name the town Kinderdike (kinder=child in Dutch).
| Author: Fisher, Leonard Everett |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Legend of Sleepy Hollow, The
This book is a wonderfully retold version of the classic story by Washington Irving. The illustrations contribute to the mysterious mood.
| Author: Irving, Washington |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading | social studies
|
Library Book, The
Although the title is a clever pun, this book recounts the history of storing language from tablets to information systems, highlighting famous libraries in the process. Side bars include additional facts and many web sites are included in the resources.
| Author: Sawa, Maureen |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy
This coming-of-age novel is a Newbery Honor Book. It tells the story of people in Maine in the early 1900s, a friendship between a minister's son and an island girl, and the ways greed and prejudice change all their lives.
Long Way From Chicago, A
Subtitled "A Novel in Stories," this is a book about Joey and Mary Alice, who leave their home in Chicago each summer during the Depression to spend a week with Grandma Dowdel, who lives in a very small downstate town and who is, to say the least, an unfo
Lugalbanda
This retelling of the oldest recorded story ever found from Sumer (now Iraq) recounts the journey of a young prince as he crosses the mountains to join a war and find his brothers, overcoming obstacles on his way. The book includes interesting historical
| Author: Henderson, Kathy |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading
|
Maritcha: A Nineteenth Century American GIrl
Based on an unpublished memoir, this picture book tells the story of daily life for a middle-class African American girl in New York in the 19th century. Maps and photographs illustrate the story.
| Author: Bolden, Tonya |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Mary Smith
Before the advent of alarm clocks, Mary Smith's job was to wake the workers of her village with her trusty peashooter.
Matilda Bone
Sometime in medieval Europe, a sombre-minded priest leaves a 14-year-old orphaned girl to be a bonesetter's apprentice. She reads and writes Latin but knows very little about the world and the people in it.
| Author: Cushman, Karen |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Metropolis
This book provides a detailed look at 10 cities, from 11th century Jerusalem to 20th century New York City. Readers will learn about culture, architecture, and everyday life over the centuries as well as historical information about the cities themselves.
| Author: Lorenz, Albert |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
My Great Aunt Arizona
Based on the author's great aunt, Arizona was born in a log cabin. All her life she dreamed of visiting far-away places. She became a teacher and never left the area, but taught several generations of children to share her dreams.
| Author: Houston, Gloria |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Native Americans
Rather than focus on individual tribes, the editors chose to organize the text and illustrations by cultural topics such as dress, transportation, rituals, and livelihood. Information boxes augment the brief text, giving the appearance of an intermediate
| Author: Thomas, David & Pendleton, Lorann (Eds.) |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
New Year Be Coming!
Through beautiful colored woodcuts and rhythmic gullah dialect, this book describes happenings for each month of the year in the South Carolina low country. A recipe, a glossary, and an introduction to the Gullah dialect are included. Some students migh
| Author: Boling, Katharine |
|
Nickommoh! A Thanksgiving Celebration
The Native American harvest celebration, Nickommah, is described in simple text accompanied by interesting illustrations. Other information about Native American culture is also shared; a glossary of Native American terms concludes the book.
| Author: Koller, Jackie French |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
One More River to Cross
This is a photographic chronicle of African American life. The text is very simple. The photos are very powerful. The author includes an index of the photos.
| Author: Myers, Walter Dean |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Perilous Journey of The Donner Party, The
The Donner Party, consisting of 81 people who set out for a new life in California in the mid 1850's, got trapped in the mountain snows with diminishing supplies. Harrowing tales of survival followed the few who made it out alive. The book includes archi
| Author: Calabro, Marian |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Rabbits, The
A myth/allegory about rabbits who take over a country and destroy the environment. The illustrations are simultaneously thought-provoking, beautiful, and ominous. The type face may confuse new readers although it is large and easy to read.
Religion in 19th Century America
This book, part of a larger series on religion in America, focuses on U.S. religious history in the 19th century. Illustrations complement the text. A chronology, sources for further reading, and index are included.
| Author: Wacker, Grant |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Roanoke
Based on extensive research, this book explores the political intrigue surrounding the disappearance of the first American colony at Roanoke, in what is now North Carolina. The suspenseful text is supplemented with archival photographs and paintings, a t
| Author: Miller, Lee |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Romeo and Juliet, (The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedy of)
This lively, clear, prose retelling of
Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet follows the original story very closely.
| Author: Shakespeare, William |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading
|
Run Far, Run Fast
When a mother tells a young girl in 14th C Europe to "run far, run fast" to escape the pestilence, the girl discovers that she cannot outrun the plague but is helped by a friendly man. The exquisite pen and ink drawings are integral to the story. The on
| Author: Decker, Timothy |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Run Far, Run Fast
When a mother tells a young girl in 14th C Europe to "run far, run fast" to escape the pestilence, the girl discovers that she cannot outrun the plague but is helped by a friendly man. The exquisite pen and ink drawings are integral to the story. The on
| Author: Decker, Timothy |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Salt: A Story of Friendship in Time of War
Set in the Indiana Territory, this story of two friends - Anikwa, a Miami Indian and James, the son of a white trader become friends despite the conflict of their heritage. This book is uniquely crafted in two style of poetic verse. Salt plays a symbolic
| Author: Frost, Helen |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies | language arts - reading
|
Second Mrs. Gioconda
In this fictionalized story of real people, Salai, servant of Leonardo da Vinci, tells how the painting of Mrs. Gioconda known as the Mona Lisa came to be painted.
| Author: Konigsburg, E. L. |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading
|
shadow spinner
1
| Author: fletcher, susan |
HSE Descriptors:
literature and arts | literature and arts | literature and arts | literature and arts | literature and arts
|
Shakespeare, His World and His Work
This book explores the world of William Shakespeare through beautiful illustrations and diagrams, quotations from plays, a detailed timeline, a bibliography, and a closer look at five plays--A Midsummer Night's Dream, Macbeth, King L
| Author: Rosen, Michael |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading
|
Stone Lamp, The
This book of poems and accounts gives a personal and historical perspective of the meaning of lighting the Menorah lamps representing the eight nights of Hanukkah. The author tells in prose and poetry of real events from 1190 to 1995. Brian Pinkney's vi
| Author: Hesse, Karen |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Stranded at Plimoth Plantation 1626
This is the fictitious journal of a 13-year-old orphan stranded at Plimoth (sic) Plantation. Bowen constructed the 80-page journal from historical records and illustrated the words with marvelous woodcuts. The end pages too feature fascinating maps. Te
| Author: Bowen, Gary |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Street Through Time, A
From the Stone Age to the Modern Age, the same location is depicted on double-page layouts filled with cultural details and daily activities. Endmatter includes a time-traveling quiz and a glossary. The illustrations are visually very busy.
| Author: Millard, Anne |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Sundiata
With roots in the 13th Century history of Mali in West Central Africa, the legend of Sundiata and how he gains the kingship prophesied at his birth is illustrated with exquisite cut paper artwork. Historical facts are included in the endmatter and a beau
| Author: Wisniewski, David |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading
|
Till Year's End
Following the format of a medieval book of hours, the book describes the labors of peasants month by month. The illustrations were inspired by those in early printed books. An Author's Note explains the calendar of medieval feast and holy days which was
| Author: Nilola, Lisa W. |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
To Every Thing There Is a Season
The extraordinarily beautiful art from different cultural and historic periods illustrates a Bible passage from Ecclesiastes. An end section describes the historical/geographical information about the art work.
| Author: Dillon, Leo and Dianne |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading
|
Travels of Benjamin of Tudela, The
In 1159, Benjamin Tudela, a Jew, left Tudela, Spain, set off to see Jerusalem and as many places mentioned in the Bible as possible. Fourteen years later he returned to tell of his travels. The author extensively researched the period to fill in details
| Author: Shulevitz, Uri |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Trouble Don't Last
This is the story of 11-year-old Samuel and "cranky old Harrison," who leave the Kentucky farm where they are slaves and head north to freedom, encountering non-stereotypical members of trhe Underground Railroad. The author is the historian at Hale Farm a
| Author: Pearsall, Shelley |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Virgie Goes to School with Us Boys
This is a recounting of a true family story about Virgie, who wants to go to school with her big brothers, despite her young age, the fact that girls were thought not to need an education, and the distance she must travel (7 miles).
| Author: Howard, Elizabeth |
|
Way Things Never Were, The
The eight chapters of this interesting book, subtitled "The Truth About the 'Good Old Days,'" contrast life in the 50s and 60s with today. Topics addressed include communication, health, transportation, education, world events, etc. The print insets for p
| Author: Finkelstein, Norman |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
We The People
American history from Colonial times to the present is presented through 65 poems about individuals--some real and some imaginary. A timeline of historic events runs across the lower part of the page and a note about writing the book appears at the end.
| Author: Katz, Bobbi |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading | social studies
|
When Thunder Comes: Poems for Civil Rights Leaders
This book features 17 figures who fought against injustice and oppression all over the world. Against overwhelming odds and heartbreaking loss, they stood, they hoped, they spoke! These well and lesser known leaders are portrayed in poetry as heroes who h
| Author: Lewis, J. Patrick |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading | social studies | language arts - writing
|
Winter People, The
Historical Fiction: As the French and Indian War rages in October of 1759, Saxso, a 14 year old boy, pursues the English rangers who have attacked his village and taken his mother and sisters hostage.
| Author: Bruchac, Joseph |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Words West: Voices of Young Pioneers
Diary and journal excerpts and archival photographs enliven a well-written text about the Westward Movement as seen from the perspective of children. The book includes short biographies of the children who are quoted often as well as a chronology, furthe
| Author: Wadsworth, Ginger |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Written in Bones
This thoroughly researched book explores human history through the study of bones. Maps, photographs, and archival materials illustrate the text. The text is complex and the print small.
| Author: Bahn, Paul |
HSE Descriptors:
science | social studies
|
Young Teddy Roosevelt
A biography of the life of Theodore Roosevelt up to the time of his presidency has illustrations that are as interesting as the well-written text.
| Author: Harness, Cheryl |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Communities > multicultural
Boy Called Slow, A
This is the story of Sitting Bull and his amazing story of leadership and bravery. Told in a compelling style this celebration of one of America's heroes should be read by readers of all ages.
| Author: Bruchac, Joseph |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies | language arts - reading
|
Chicken Sunday
Two African-American boys and their white friend, a girl, try to earn enough money to buy Miss Eula Mae the Easter bonnet she's been longing for. The children befriend a Jewish shopkeeper who helps them succeed.
| Author: Polacco, Patricia |
|
Coal Miner's Bride, A: The Diary of Anetka Kaminska
In journal format, the life of a thirteen year old girl in 1896 comes to life. Anetra Kaminska is sold to an older widower of three children in a mining town, for the price of her and her brother's tickets from Poland to America. Her life is extremely ha
| Author: Bartoletti, Susan Campbell |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading | language arts - writing | social studies
|
Garden of Happiness, The
A young girl cares for a seed that she plants near a community garden in New York City.
How I Discovered Poetry
Marilyn Nelson describes her childhood in America in the 1950s, as the daughter of an African American Army officer. The poems span from her fourth to fourteenth year and touch aspects of civil rights, "Red Scare," atom bomb and the stirrings of the femin
| Author: Nelson, Marilyn |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading | social studies | language arts - writing
|
January's Sparrow
After a fellow slave is beaten to death, Sadie and her family flee the plantation for freedom through the Underground Railroad. As they make a new life in Michigan, they must remain alert for the slave catchers.
| Author: Polacco, Patricia |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
January's Sparrow
After a fellow slave is beaten to death, Sadie and her family flee the plantation for freedom through the Underground Railroad. As they make a new life in Michigan, they must remain alert for the slave catchers.
| Author: Polacco, Patricia |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Jimi: Sounds Like a Rainbow
Told in vivid language and stunningly illustrated, this is a story of a talented child who discovers his love of music and learns to see, hear, and interpret the world around him in his own unique way.
| Author: Golio, Gary |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading | language arts - writing
|
Lotus Seed, The
A young girl tells her grandmother's story of carrying a lotus seed with her from Vietnam, losing it, and then regaining it. The author wants to share "how a family's heritage is passed from one generation to the next and how hope, like the lotus seed, ca
| Author: Garland, Sherry |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Mama Provi and the Pot of Rice
Mama Provi lives on the first floor of an apartment building and her granddaughter, Lucy, lives on the eighth floor. When Mama Provi heads up with a pot of arroz con pollo to comfort Lucy (who has chicken pox), a simple pot of chicken and rice is transfo
| Author: Rosa-Casanova, Sylvia |
|
Memories of Sun
This is a collection of modern day short stories and poems about Africa. It has three divisions: 1) Africa 2) Americans in Africa 3) Africans in America. Although most of the 12 stories are engaging, teachers will want to read beforehand since some may
| Author: Kurtz, Jane (Ed.) |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading | social studies
|
Pearl Moscowitz's Last Stand
Pearl M., a long-time resident of her city street, refuses to let the city chop down the last gingko tree on the block. The book depicts the different ethnic groups that have moved on the street, but shows a real community of people interacting and livin
| Author: Levine, Arthur A. |
|
Seedfolks
Thirteen people of different ethnic backgrounds who are strangers to each other tell their stories of a vacant lot in Cleveland that becomes a neighborhood garden. The book jacket refers to the "harvest of hidden lives" and a "hymn to the power of plants
Communities > new
Aurora Means Dawn
This picture book tells the story of the first family to settle in Aurora, Ohio and offers a glimpse of the hardships they willingly endured and of the support of their neighbors.
| Author: Sanders, Scott |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Children of the Dust Bowl
The book recounts the migration of the "Okies" during the Great Depression to the camps in California. School Superintendent Leo Hart began the Weedpatch School where children of the migrants escaped the ostracism of the locals in a model learn-by-doing
| Author: Stanley, Jerry |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Children of Topaz, The
The authors provide an introduction to the history of the Japanese internment camps in the United States during World War II as well as a Reference and Reading List. The book is a journal kept by a third-grade class taught by Anne Yamauchi in such a camp
| Author: Tunnell, Michael & Chilcoat, George |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
I Have Heard of a Land
A hardworking African American woman stakes a homestead claim in the Oklahoma Territory in the period after the Civil War. Told in rich, lyrical language, the beautifully illustrated story reminds us that African Americans were a part of the settlement o
| Author: Thomas, Joyce Carol |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Place Called Freedom, A
Freed slave James Starman takes his family from Tennessee to Indiana where they are joined by other African Americans over many years, establishing a very unique community.
| Author: Sanders, S. |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading | social studies
|
Sound the Jubilee
During the Civil War, Maddie, an eleven-year-old house slave, journeys with her mistress to Nags Head near Roanoke Island which has become a Yankee-protected community for run-away slaves. Maddie grows up there with her family and finds a place for herse
| Author: Forrester, Saundra |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
They Sought A New World
Through Kurelek's art and Margaret Englehart's additional text, this book tells the story of European immigrants to North America. In addition to describing issues like finding work and shelter, aspects of culture -- religion, maintaining cultural tradit
| Author: Kurelek, William |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
This Our Dark Country: The American Settlers of Liberia
This is a history of Liberia which was established on the west coast of Africa in 1822 as a haven for free African Americans. Some U.S. history is also included as background context. End matter includes photos, maps, endnotes, bibliography, and index. Th
| Author: Reef, Catherine |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Washington at Valley Forge
In Freedman's inimitable style, he captures the grit and triumphs over the lack of provisions for General Washington's winter encampment at Valley Forge during the Revolutionary War. Excellent and unfamiliar paintings of Washington accompany the text. Th
| Author: Freedman, Russell |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Communities > rural
All the Places to Love
A young boy talks about all his favorite places, those of his family and his grandparents, the farm, and the adjacent countryside. The book is a celebration of those natural settings where we are most alive and feel we belong.
| Author: MacLachlan, Patricia |
|
Artist in Overalls
Born into a poor farming family in Iowa, Grant Wood struggled to study art and earn a living. He chose to paint simple people and scenes with a classical feel, a style that became known as Regionalism.
| Author: Duggleby, John |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading
|
Birches
On each page Ed Young illustrates trees and forests and the countryside, in browns and sepia tones, and presents them along with several lines of Robert Frost's well-known poem, "Birches." The poem is printed in its entirety again on the last two pages.
| Author: Frost, Robert |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading
|
Black Potatoes
The causes and consequences of the Irish potato famine are examined, using individual portraits and anecdotes. Archival photographs, a map of the counties of Ireland, a bibliography, and a timeline complement the text.
| Author: Bartoletti, Susan |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Come Go With Me: Old-timer Stories from the Southern Mountains
The author recorded these oral histories of "Southern Mountain" old folks over a twenty-five year period in order to preserve aspects of community that were disappearing.
| Author: Thomas, Ray Edwin (collected by) |
|
Dear Mr. Rosenwald
This is a fictionalized story of one community's efforts to build a school based on the historical Rosenwald schools. These schools in the American South were financed by Julius Rosenwald of Sears Roebuck and required collaboration of black and white com
| Author: Weatherford, Carole Boston |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
George Washington Carver
This biography of George Washington Carver, known as the "peanut man," is illustrated with his art work and archival photographs and includes notes, bibliographical resources and an afterword.
| Author: Bolden, Tanya |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies | science
|
George Washington Carver
This biography of George Washington Carver, known as the "peanut man," is illustrated with his art work and archival photographs and includes notes, bibliographical resources and an afterword.
| Author: Bolden, Tanya |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies | science
|
Gifts from the Sea
The lives of a lighthousekeeper and his daughter are changed by the discovery of a baby washed ashore after a shipwreck on the coast of Maine in the 1850's.
| Author: Kinsey-Warnock, Natalie |
|
Going Back Home: An Artist Returns to the South
This book is a partnership between African American artist, Michele Woods, who returned to the South and painted her family history, and author Toyomi Igus, who gave words to Woods's paintings.
| Author: Igus, Toyomi |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading | social studies
|
Henry David's House
These seamlessly woven excerpts from Thoreau's Walden and the beautiful watercolor illustrations together describe constructing and living in the house at Walden Pond.
| Author: Schnur, Steven (ed.) |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading
|
I Have Heard of a Land
A hardworking African American woman stakes a homestead claim in the Oklahoma Territory in the period after the Civil War. Told in rich, lyrical language, the beautifully illustrated story reminds us that African Americans were a part of the settlement o
| Author: Thomas, Joyce Carol |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Josepha
A boy narrates the story of his friend and protector, the immigrant young man Josepha, who had to leave school to work.
| Author: McGugan, Jim |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Log Cabin Quilt, The
Elvirey, her brother, grandmother, and father move to a log cabin in the Michigan woods after her mother dies. Granny's quilting scraps serve a greater purpose during a winter storm.
| Author: Howard, Ellen |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Memories of Survival
A mother and daughter create a narrative in stitchery and text of the mother's life in Poland during the Nazi occupation.This collection of memories of the holocaust provides a first hand account of danger, despair and hope. The detailed tapestries provid
| Author: Krinitz, Esther Nisenthal & Steinhardt, Bernice |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Mist over the Mountains
Memorable photographs and well-written text depict the history and present life in the geographic area known as Appalachia. The author includes a section on Further Reading.
| Author: Bial, Raymond |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
More Choices: Stories for Adult New Readers
These three stories fit with George Ella Lyon's collection Choices, but were not included in the original collection because some readers found them too controversial. Our readers found them powerful and moving, addressing life situations that m
| Author: Lyon, George Ella |
|
My Great Aunt Arizona
Based on the author's great aunt, Arizona was born in a log cabin. All her life she dreamed of visiting far-away places. She became a teacher and never left the area, but taught several generations of children to share her dreams.
| Author: Houston, Gloria |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Other Side, The
Spurred by a letter from her grandmother saying that "they're pulling Shorter down," the poet returns to the people and places of her childhood in Shorter, Alabama. The poems are accessible and concise but filled with powerful feeling. Photographs from
Prairie Builders, The
At the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge in central Iowa, scientists are recreating a tall-grass prairie. Color photographs, a glossary, web sites, and an index document the difficult process of bringing back a small piece of the prairie.
| Author: Collard, Sneed B. III |
HSE Descriptors:
science | social studies
|
Song of Be
When Be was a child, she and her mother left their people--the Namibian Bushmen--to work on a white man's plantation. Spending time with her grandfather helps her forget how much she misses others. With Namibia on the verge of freedom, Be finds the cour
| Author: Beake, Lesley |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
They Sought A New World
Through Kurelek's art and Margaret Englehart's additional text, this book tells the story of European immigrants to North America. In addition to describing issues like finding work and shelter, aspects of culture -- religion, maintaining cultural tradit
| Author: Kurelek, William |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Till Year's End
Following the format of a medieval book of hours, the book describes the labors of peasants month by month. The illustrations were inspired by those in early printed books. An Author's Note explains the calendar of medieval feast and holy days which was
| Author: Nilola, Lisa W. |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Traveling Cat, The
A young girl takes in a stray cat who stays long enough to have kittens before traveling on.
| Author: Lyon, George Ella |
|
Uncle Jed's Barbershop
A woman tells the story of her Uncle Jed, an African-American barber who traveled a regular route, saving his money for his own shop. When she became sick, he gave up his money for her operation, and when the Depression came, he lost everything again. F
| Author: Mitchell, Margaree K. |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Voices from the Fields
Photographs, poems, and interviews capture glimpses of life for today's migrant children.
| Author: Atkin, S. Beth |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Warm as Wool
Set in Ravenna, Ohio in 1803 and based on facts, this is a fictional account of the Ward family. Betsy Ward used a sockful of coins to buy sheep so that she could gather wool, spin cloth, and make clothes to keep her family warm.
| Author: Sanders, Scott R. |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Where Once There Was a Wood
With beautiful paper pulp illustrations and rich, alliterative text, the author raises the question of whether development is good ecology for the community.
White Wave
Retold from ancient sources, this Chinese tale of a lonely peasant's discovery of a magic shell relates the changes in his life that follow. The delicate pencil drawings by Ed Young complement the text. The author includes a note on the evolution of the
| Author: Wolkstein, Diane |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading
|
With a Hammer for My Heart
When 15-year-old Lawanda befriends a WW II veteran living in an old school bus, she sets in motion events that will change her life and all those around her. The well-written story unfolds with each chapter telling the story from the point of view of eac
| Author: Lyon, George Ella |
|
Year on Monhegan Island, A
Photojournalist Julia Dean chronicles a year in the life of residents of Monhegan Island, a small island off the east coast of Maine. We learn about their culture, government, and economy, as well as a bit about part-time resident Jamie Wyeth.
| Author: Dean, Julia |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Communities > rural > rural life
Appalachia: The Voices of Sleeping Birds
The author and the illustrator, both from Appalachia, lovingly remember the people, the customs, and the dogs.
Ballet for Martha
This is the story of the collaboration between Martha Graham and Aaron Copeland that resulted in a famous work of music and a famous ballet. Reveals the work that happens behind the scenes by the choreographer, composer and set developer of a ballet.
| Author: Greenberg, J. & Jordan, S. |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading | language arts - writing
|
Chanda's Secrets
Sixteen-year-old Chanda, who lives in a fictional sub-Saharan
country that is feeling the impact of HIV/AIDS psychologically(fears, lies, and sundered relationships)and socially (ostracism of tainted people, necessity of hiding), takes a courageous stand
| Author: Stratton, Allan |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Choices
George Ella Lyon, an accomplished writer of children's books, wrote this collection of stories (and its accompanying text, More Choices) specifically for adult new readers; in fact, she conferred with ABE students from Kentucky while creating the
| Author: Lyon, George Ella |
|
Fanny's Dream
A retelling of the Cinderella story, the book depicts the choices of Fanny Agnes, providing a humorous portrait of a strong woman.
Great Stone Face, The
The author retells a famous Hawthorne story about how a New England village interprets a mountain's "face" over the years as fulfilling the prophecy of revealing the noblest person of the time.
| Author: Schmidt, Gary/Hawthorne Nathaniel |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading
|
In Coal Country
Living in a small Ohio mining town, a small girl tells of her family's life in the first part of this century.
| Author: Hendershot, Judith |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
In November
As trees, animals, birds, and insects prepare for winter, people gather in warm homes to give thanks. Beautiful illustrations.
| Author: Rylant, Cynthia |
HSE Descriptors:
science
|
Jim the Boy
In a coming-of-age story set in Appalachia, Jim grows up as a town boy with his mother and uncles but finally makes friends with a mountain boy and meets his mountain grandfather.
Jip: His Story
Jip, a young orphan in the mid-1850s, lives on a farm, interacts with Put "the lunatic," and wonders about his past. Eventually he attends school and, with the help of Teacher (Lyddie from the Paterson book by the same name) and her Quaker friend, discov
| Author: Paterson, Katherine |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading
|
Knoxville, Tennessee
This brief and beautifully illustrated poem celebrates a young child's summer in Knoxville, TN.
| Author: Giovanni, Nikki |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading
|
Lights on the River
A migrant girl keeps memories of her grandma close as she deals with hard times in the United States. Her voice is strong, and the illustrations are stunning.
| Author: Thomas, Jane Resh |
|
Like Sisters on the Homefront
When 14-year-old Gayle gets into "trouble," she and her baby Jose leave New York City to live with family in rural Georgia. At first bored with and distressed about her situation, Gayle eventually makes friends with her cousin Cookie. Through "tellings" b
| Author: Williams-Garcia, Rita |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading
|
Lily Cupboard, The
A Dutch farm family hides a Jewish girl, who in turn wants to protect a rabbit.
| Author: Oppenheim, Shulamith L. |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Raising Yoder's Barn
After a fire destroys Yoder's barn, the Amish community gathers to build a new one. The gorgeous illustrations extend the reader's view of Amish life. One reader found a "blackface" depiction of a boy, dirty from the ashes, negatively suggestive.
| Author: Yolen, Jane |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Slavery Time: When I Was Chillun
Excerpts from 12 oral histories from former slaves, gathered during the Depression by WPA workers, provide several perspectives about slave life as remembered by the people interviewed, who were in their 80s and 90s at the time of the interviews.
| Author: Hurmence, Belinda |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Something Permanent
Walker Evans' photographs of southern United States during the Depression years are stark and haunting, and Cynthia Rylant's short poems describe their stories beautifully.
| Author: Rylant, Cynthia |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading | social studies
|
Stories I Ain't Told Nobody Yet
A collection of 49 poems, these vignettes of Appalachian life are funny, sad, moving, and silly. Not all of them are of great quality; teachers may want to pick and choose among them. The poem (on pg. 50) on abuse is powerful and likely to provoke good
| Author: Carson, Jo |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Talking with Tebe
Editor Lyons collected these excerpts about Clementine Hunter, considered one of America's finest folk artists, from magazine and newspaper articles and tape-recorded interviews. The artist's work illustrates the book.
| Author: Lyons, Mary E. (Ed.) |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading
|
This Is the Rope: A Story from the Great Migration
A rope found by a little girl becomes a multigenerational object to her family and helps to tell the story of their migration from the South. It has many uses and eventually becomes a storytelling prompt.
| Author: Woodeson, Jacqueline |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading
|
Tucker Pfeffercorn
This retelling of Rumpelstiltskin is set in small town Southern USA. The dialogue and dialect are delightful, and the illustrations by one of America's finest artists also contribute to telling the tale.
Communities > rural > rural life > farms
All the Places to Love
A young boy talks about all his favorite places, those of his family and his grandparents, the farm, and the adjacent countryside. The book is a celebration of those natural settings where we are most alive and feel we belong.
| Author: MacLachlan, Patricia |
|
Auction, The
In this sad intergenerational story, a boy and his grandfather reminisce the night before their farm is put up for sale.
Big Jabe
This tall tale relates how Jabe helped slaves.
Borning Room, The
The narrator remembers growing up in southern Ohio in the 19th century, remembers farm life, celebrates her relatives with their varying ideas about slavery and religion, remembers her part in hiding slaves.
| Author: Fleischman, Paul |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Christmas Tree Farm
Photos accompany this simple text about the activities that take place throughout the year at a Christmas tree farm in Rhode Island.
Cracked Corn and Snow Ice Cream
Almanac information and family history are given for each month in sections called Dates and Festivals, Farmer's Calendar, Worth Knowing, and Worth Cooking.
Drylongso
Drylongso, which takes place west of the Mississippi in 1975, is the story of a poor farming family's battle with a drought. Drylongso, "a youth imbued with simple human kindness . . . a folk hero" (author's notes) arrives, and with him comes ho
| Author: Hamilton, Viginia |
|
Family Farm
Two children learn that their family is in danger of losing its farm. They devise a plan for saving it.
Farm Summer 1942, The
Beautifully illustrated by Barry Moser, this reminiscence tells the story of a young boy's summer months at his grandparent's farm during World War II.
Gathering of Days, A
This book, subtitled A New England Girl's Journal, 1830-32, is a fictitious diary kept by a fourteen-year-old girl during the last few years she spent on her family's farm. During these months Catherine's father remarried, her closest friend died of feve
| Author: Blos, Joan W. |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Gratefully Yours
Orphaned by a New York tenement fire in 1920, Hattie rides an orphan train to Nebraska where she joins the Jansen household, Henry and his wife Elizabeth. The story relates the loss and healing process that both Hattie and Elizabeth experience. The stor
| Author: Buchanan, Jane |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Haystack
The uses of the old-fashioned haystack are brought back to life throughout the seasons.
Longitude Prize, The
This history documents the competition between "ocean clocks" and "lunars" to win the 20,000 pound prize (about $12 million today) from the British Parliament for a replicable and simple way to determine longitude at sea. The story follows John Harrison,
| Author: Dash, Joan |
HSE Descriptors:
math | science
|
Morning Milking
Although one OLRC reviewer was concerned that urban readers might not recognize the relevance of this quiet, reflective book, we found this gentle story of a farm child wishing she could make time stand still a lovely celebration of life, of barns and ani
| Author: Morris, Linda Lowe |
|
Night the Bells Rang, The
This short novel (76 pages), told from the point of view of a farm boy, tells the story of Mason's struggles with a bully, and of his growing up. Although the book has the feel of a reminiscence, the emotions are complex and the characters ring true.
| Author: Kinsey-Warnock, Natalie |
|
Out of the Dust
Set in Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl years of the Depression, this powerful book tells in unobtrusive blank verse the story of personal tragedy and community hardship through the experiences of Billy Jo, a 15-year-old girl. The book is so credible that
| Author: Hesse, Karen |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading | social studies
|
Thunderstorm
A wordless book that follows a storm through Mid-western farm country with only the times listed of the storm.Thunderstorm is a valuable, breathtaking insight into one of the Mid-west's most natural occurrences.
| Author: Geisert, Arthur |
HSE Descriptors:
science | language arts - writing
|
Tortilla Factory, The
This very simple text describes the process for making tortillas, from planting to preparation to eating for the strength to plant, etc.
Very Best of Friends, The
When a farmer dies, his wife deals with her grief by ignoring (hating) his favorite cat, until she finally realizes that they could find companionship with each other.
Waiting for the Evening Star
This beautifully illustrated book is about Berty, a small boy who lives a happy life in a Vermont farming community. Berty's life changes when his older brother, Luke, decides to leave the family farm to become a soldier in WWI.
| Author: Wells, Rosemary |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
What You Know First
A young girl does not want to leave the family farm that is being sold. She resolves her feelings realistically. The woodcut illustrations that look like old color-tinted photographs add veracity to the text.
| Author: MacLachlan, Patricia |
|
Winter Room, The
This book tells the story of Eldon, a boy growing up in the mid-20th century in rural Minnesota. He and his brother Wayne work hard to help out on the farm, but have time for fun and adventures too. After a short introduction, the book is structured in
Year of Fire, The
Grandpa tells granddaughter about the worst fire he has ever known, a fire that happened when the grandfather was a child. (based on a true story)
Communities > rural > small town life
Birds on a Wire
Renga poem (meaning linked verse in which one poet writes a verse and the other poet adds another verse, and so on) built around the day to day happenings of a small town. The authors trade stanza and bounce around the town as though they were observing
| Author: Lewis, J. Patrick & Paul Janeczko |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading | social studies
|
Ellen Foster
11-year-old Ellen tells her own story in this "Oprah Book about a foster childhood." She is an amazingly resilient child and an amazingly perceptive observer of others.
Jim the Boy
In a coming-of-age story set in Appalachia, Jim grows up as a town boy with his mother and uncles but finally makes friends with a mountain boy and meets his mountain grandfather.
Long Way From Chicago, A
Subtitled "A Novel in Stories," this is a book about Joey and Mary Alice, who leave their home in Chicago each summer during the Depression to spend a week with Grandma Dowdel, who lives in a very small downstate town and who is, to say the least, an unfo
Moving Mama to Town
Enterprising Freddy James moves his mother and younger brother to town after his father leaves and the farm fails. He works at the local saloon where he learns from everyone he meets.
| Author: Young, Ronder Thomas |
|
Poetry for Young People: Edna St. Vincent Millay
Beautifully illustrated collection of Edna St. Vincent Millay's poetry. The volume also includes a sketch of the poet's life.
| Author: Francis Schoonmaker |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading
|
Silent Boy, The
Katy,the young and curious daughter of a small-town doctor living in 1908, learns about life, death, and social distinctions from her family and her friend, Jacob, who is "touched."
Under the Shadow of Wings
Obie, a developmentally disabled boy dies causing a variety of emotional response from his friend Tatnall, an 11-year-old girl.
Up the Tracks to Grandma's
A girl describes her visits to her grandmother's home in a small-town Ohio in the middle 1900s, a time when her widowed grandmother plucked her own chickens, shoveled her own coal, and could not read English.
| Author: Hendershot, Judith |
|
Waiting to Waltz
Reminiscences of life in the small town of Beaver are told as poems from a young girl's point of view.
War Boy: A Country Childhood
The author describes his childhood in a small coastal town in England, which was often bombed during WW II. He offers technical descriptions of gas masks, bomb shelters, etc., as well as describing the games children played and how they interacted with s
| Author: Foreman, Michael |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Whale Port
In this book about a fictitious combination of real places, the text and colored-pencil drawings present the chronological development of a New England whaling town and its related businesses. The use of cut away art provides a glimpse inside the building
| Author: Foster, Mark |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Communities > rural > villages
Anno's Journey
Anno arrives by small boat, bargains for a horse, and begins a journey across Europe that crosses countries and merges past with present. The reader sees quiet villages, working farms, towering castles, and bustling cities. This world is populated with
Birds on a Wire
Renga poem (meaning linked verse in which one poet writes a verse and the other poet adds another verse, and so on) built around the day to day happenings of a small town. The authors trade stanza and bounce around the town as though they were observing
| Author: Lewis, J. Patrick & Paul Janeczko |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading | social studies
|
Color of My Words, The
This is an easy-reading novel, part poetry and part prose, about Ana Rosa, a young writer who is growing up poor in a seaside village in the Dominican Republic where she learns about family community, the merengue, and the power of words.
| Author: Joseph, Lynn |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Flood
As Sarajean and her family prepare for and deal with the devastating Midwest floods of 1993, they discover what is truly important during a time of trouble.
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!
This Newberry Award winner gives voice to residents of a medieval English village circa 1255. Poems in monologue form interspersed with explanatory passages bring the village to life. The book includes a map locating the characters in the village and an
| Author: Schlitz, Laura Amy |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Secret-Keeper, The
This is a fairy tale about Kalli, the secret-keeper, who takes others' secrets on so that they can be released from them. All the bad secrets threaten to make her ill until the townspeople come to her rescue.
Waiting for the Owl's Call
This narrative is rich in beautiful language - similes, personifications that describes the daily lives of Afghanistani children who work at rug looms looms using ancient patterns handed down from their ancestors. The narrator mentally creates new patter
| Author: Whelan, Gloria |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Waiting for the Owl's Call
This narrative is rich in beautiful language - similes, personifications that describes the daily lives of Afghanistani children who work at rug looms looms using ancient patterns handed down from their ancestors. The narrator mentally creates new patter
| Author: Whelan, Gloria |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Wolf of Gubbio, The
A legend tells the story of a wolf who terriorizes a community until the boy who became St.Francis of Assisi, negotates an agreement.
Year Down Yonder, A
This is the sequel to A Long Way From Chicago. Both books have won awards, the Newbery Medal for this one. Mary Alice goes to live with her spunky, trouble-making grandma in rural Illinois because the Depression has torn her family apart.
Communities > urban
Black Legacy
This history of African Americans in New York City from a Dutch colony to the 1990's contains 18 chapters, documents and maps, Endnotes, a bibliography, and an index.
| Author: Katz, William |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading | social studies
|
Can't Get There from Here
This fictional story of homeless teens trying to survive on NYC streets in winter recounts the perils of drugs, sex, starvation, cold, and the help of a few who try to intervene. This is a gripping story, but not for the faint of heart.
Catching the Fire
Philip Simmons, the great-grandson of slaves, became a revered artist and creator of ornamental iron work masterpieces in Charleston, South Carolina. Detailed color photographs convey his craftsmanship. The author interviewed Simmons and his co-workers
| Author: Lyons, Mary |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading
|
Day Before Christmas, The
Four years after the death of her mother, seven-year-old Allie goes with her grandfather to a performance of the ballet "The Nutcracker" on Christmas Eve. Warned by her father before leaving that Grandpa may be a little sad, Allie learns that Grandpa had
| Author: Bunting, Eve |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading
|
Do I Dare Disturb the Universe:
Charlise Lyles grew up in Cleveland in the 1960s and 1970s. This memoir focuses on life in the projects, her family's struggle to survive, her mother's relentless work to provide opportunities for children. Mostly, though, it's about Charlise-- her though
Finding Fish
This is the autobiography of Antwone Fisher (basis for a movie made by Denzel Washington). Antwone's childhood was filled with emotional and physical abuse. He found a way to overcome this difficult beginning.
Immigrant Kids
In this unique book, noted nonfiction writer Russell Freedman offers a rare glimpse of what it meant to be a young newcomer to America in the early 1900s.
| Author: Freedman, Russell |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Life Doesn't Frighten Me
In this single poem, Angelou celebrates courage to face internal and external fears, the courage that grows out of a belief in ourselves. The contemporary art is bold and child-like but may have the power to scare children. The text is repetitive and ea
Love, Loss, and What I Wore
The author reminisces indirectly by depicting and describing outfits she wore at times of loss in her life. This clever book has a limited audience: urban (especially New York), women, and people interested in fashion design.
Ninth Ward
This is a powerful reenactment of the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and how it affected the poor section of the ninth ward. The hurricane and subsequent levee failure come to life through the eyes of a twelve year old special girl. The voi
| Author: Rhodes, Jewell Parker |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading | social studies | science
|
Out of the Dump: Writings and Photogrpahs by Children from Guatemala
Approximately 1500 people, most children, live in a dump at the center of Guatemala City. In 1991 Nancy McGirr began a photography project with about 2 dozen children. She provided cameras; the children photographed their world. In 1993 Kris Franklin bega
| Author: Franklin, Kristine, & McGirr, Nancy (Eds.) |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Shutting Out the Sky
Subtitled "Life in the Tenements of New York, 1880-1924,," the chapters in this book offer information and perspectives on all aspects of immigration and life in NYC. Photographs and text document the experiences of five individuals from Belarus, Italy, L
| Author: Hopkinson, Deborah |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963, The
The ordinary interactions and everyday routines of the Watsons, an African American family from Flint, Michigan are drastically changed after a trip to Alabama in 1963. This is a powerful book, sometimes powerfully funny and sometimes powerfully touching
| Author: Curtis, Christopher P. |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading
|
Wonderful Towers of Watts, The
Throughout his life, Old Sam collects bits and pieces of glass, tiles, and discarded objects that he uses to build structures in his backyard in Watts.
Communities > urban > city
9-11 Artists Respond: Volume One
Over 100 graphic artists draw their reactions to the 9-ll attack on the World Trade Center. There are as many styles and points-of-view as artists. Although graphic in nature, some texts would be difficult for beginning readers due to size and type face
| Author: No author cited |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
A. D., New Orleans After the Deluge
This graphic novel originates in the personal involvement of the writer/artist in Hurricane Katrina, contributing seven vivid, authentic voices to enrich our understanding of this national disaster. Juxtaposed alongside the images we saw on television as
| Author: Neufeld, Josh |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
A. D., New Orleans After the Deluge
This graphic novel originates in the personal involvement of the writer/artist in Hurricane Katrina, contributing seven vivid, authentic voices to enrich our understanding of this national disaster. Juxtaposed alongside the images we saw on television as
| Author: Neufeld, Josh |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
All Around Town
Columbia, South Carolina of the 1920's and 1930's is chronicled by photographs by Richard Roberts and text by the author. One reader thought the text was too childish.
Alphabet City
Although we recommend alphabet books rarely and only with great cautions that teachers do not allow students to feel childish, this one is very unusual. This book is a collection of paintings of urban scenes, and each one presents the letter of the alpha
| Author: Johnson, Steven T. |
|
Anno's Journey
Anno arrives by small boat, bargains for a horse, and begins a journey across Europe that crosses countries and merges past with present. The reader sees quiet villages, working farms, towering castles, and bustling cities. This world is populated with
At Gleason's Gym
The story of Gleason's Gym in Brooklyn NY, and the many people who use it. It includes a brief story of Sugar Boy Younan, National Silver Gloves Champion 2006. The words and pictures tap into the senses. The illustrations demonstrate the rhythm to the mus
| Author: Lewin, Ted |
HSE Descriptors:
literature and arts | social studies
|
Black Cat
A black cat explores an urban neighborhood. The stunning illustrations are a combination of painting and photography.
| Author: Myers, Christopher |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading
|
Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine and the Lawless Years of Prohibition
This book is an in-depth look at the people and motivations behind prohibition and the factors that lead to the repeal of the amendment. It is an example of well written nonfiction. Engaging text is supported by primary source photos and newspaper article
| Author: Blumenthal, Karen |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies | language arts - reading
|
Chance of Sunshine, A
The pictures tell most of the story in this almost-wordless book. Two people chance to meet, become separated, and eventually find their way back together.
City by Numbers
This is a wordless book containing photographs of numerals in the context of shapes and objects found in a city.
| Author: Johnson, Stephen T. |
HSE Descriptors:
math
|
Good Morning, City
While most people sleep, some go to work, machines clean streets, subways rumble underground, etc. Through simple text and colorful illustrations, this book depicts morning in the city.
Gwendolyn Brooks
This biography describes the influences and hardships of the early years and the political activism of the later years of the African American poet Gwendolyn Brooks. The book includes a chronology, archival photos, an index, a list of published works and
| Author: Hill, Christine M. |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading | social studies | language arts - writing
|
Here in Harlem
Walter Dean Myers recreates the Harlem of his youth in poetry and populates it with colorful characters through their voices.
| Author: Myers, Walter Dean |
|
Jimi: Sounds Like a Rainbow
Told in vivid language and stunningly illustrated, this is a story of a talented child who discovers his love of music and learns to see, hear, and interpret the world around him in his own unique way.
| Author: Golio, Gary |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading | language arts - writing
|
Library, The
A delightfully illustrated story in verse about a shy, avid reader who gave her books to form a town library.
Memories of Summer
The novel is set in 1955. A father and 2 daughters (Lyric, the narrator, is 13 and sister Summer is 16) move from rural Kentucky to Flint, MI. The story is about the move, about Lyric's adjustment, but mostly about Summer's descent into mental illness and
Metropolis
This book provides a detailed look at 10 cities, from 11th century Jerusalem to 20th century New York City. Readers will learn about culture, architecture, and everyday life over the centuries as well as historical information about the cities themselves.
| Author: Lorenz, Albert |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Peppe the Lamplighter
A young Italian immigrant boy has to find a job lighting the lamps to help support his invalid father and many sisters. His proud father thinks it is inferior work until the night the boy refuses to light the lamps, and his little sister does not return
| Author: Bartone, Elisa |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Pride of Baghdad
This graphic novel of a family of lions liberated from the Baghdad zoo by U.S. bombing raids provides a symbolic understanding of the war from the dangers they encounter.
| Author: Vaughan, Brian K. |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Stone Bench in an Empty Park
This is a concise introduction to classic and modern haiku poetry with lovely photographs and accessible poetry.
| Author: Paul B. Janeczko |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading | language arts - writing
|
Uptown
Colorful collage and an easy-reading text belie a very sophisticated tour of Harlem including the Metro-North train, brownstones, shopping on 125th street, a barbershop, summer basketball, the Harlem Boys' Chois, and sunset over the Hudson River
You Can't Take a Balloon Into the Metropolitan Museum
While a girl and her grandmother view works of art at the Metropolitan Museum in New York City, the girl's escaped balloon travels around the city. The author of this wordless book include a list of the names and artists of the works of art that are incl
| Author: Weitzman, Jacqueline |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading
|
Communities > urban > urban development
City of Angels: In and Around Los Angeles
20 places or events in Los Angeles are briefly described. Each is accompanied by cartoon-like illustrations. A chronology of interesting tidbits of LA history concludes the book.
| Author: Jaskol, Julie & Lewis, Brian |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Man Who Made Parks, The
This is a biography of Frederick Law Olmsted, the first landscape architect and developer of Central Park in NYC (as well as other famous parks).
| Author: Wishinsky, Frieda |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place, The
Margaret Rose Kane, 12 years old, escapes oppressive summer camp with the help of her great-uncles and then helps them rescue from urban renewal the sculptural "towers" that they have been creating for 45 years.
| Author: Konigsburg, E. L. |
|
Tenement: Immigrant Life on the Lower East Side
Lots of photographs and a fairly easy-to-read text tell the story of the tenements that were built to house immigrants during the turn of the century (19th - 20th). Further reading includes books for adults and children as well as related WWW sites.
| Author: Bial, Raymond |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Communities > urban > urban living
Alphabet City
Although we recommend alphabet books rarely and only with great cautions that teachers do not allow students to feel childish, this one is very unusual. This book is a collection of paintings of urban scenes, and each one presents the letter of the alpha
| Author: Johnson, Steven T. |
|
Angel for Solomon Singer, An
In this urban story, a transplanted Hoosier lives a lonely life in New York City and looks for warmth and companionship.
Barrio
Photographs present the life of Jose and his family who live in a barrio or Hispanic neighborhood in San Francisco. A glossary contains Spanish words used in the story. One reviewer felt that the glorification/simplification of the issues addressed may m
| Author: Ancona, George |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Block, The
This collection of Langston Hughes poems is complemented by the illustrations of Romare Beardon. An introduction by Bill Cosby precedes the collection, and biographies of the poet and artist conclude it.
| Author: Hughes, Langston |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading
|
Butterfly Seeds, The
When Jake sails with his family for America, his grandfather gives him a gift of special seeds that will evoke memories of his grandfather in his new home.
| Author: Watson, Mary |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
By Dawn's Early Light
The book follows the activities of two children cared for by their grandmother and the activities of their mother who works the night shift at a factory. The story illustrates how a family still finds time to be together.
Chance of Sunshine, A
The pictures tell most of the story in this almost-wordless book. Two people chance to meet, become separated, and eventually find their way back together.
December
Simon and his mother celebrate Christmas in the cardboard house they built for themselves. They offer to share the little they have with an old woman. Later, Simon sees a miracle.
| Author: Bunting, Eve |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading
|
Fly Away Home
A homeless boy and his dad live at the airport while the father tries to find an apartment and a job. They hide out from airport officials but receive support from another down-on-their-luck family.
Good Morning, City
While most people sleep, some go to work, machines clean streets, subways rumble underground, etc. Through simple text and colorful illustrations, this book depicts morning in the city.
Gowanus Dogs
A homeless man meets some homeless dogs. The meeting changes everyone's life.
Great Fire, The
By weaving personal accounts from survivors together with carefully researched history, Jim Murphy constructs a riveting narrative that recreates the great Chicago fire with drama and immediacy. Authentic photos and drawings complement the text.
| Author: Murphy, Jim |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Great Migration, The
This book consists of reprints of a series of sixty paintings, by Jacob Lawrence, depicting the migration of African-Americans from the South to the North. In search of a better life, people moved by the thousands, from rural lifestyles to urban poverty.
| Author: Lawrence, Jacob |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
In Nueva York
This collection of short, interlocking stories depicts life in one of New York City's Puerto Rican communities.
| Author: Mohr, Nicholasa |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading
|
Just One Flick of the Finger
Young Jack brings his father's gun to school hoping to scare a bully, but events take an unexpected and violent turn.
| Author: Lorbiecki, Marybeth |
|
Make Lemonade
When fourteen-year-old LaVaughn takes a job baby-sitting for seventeen-year-old Jolly's two children, neither girl realizes how much she'll learn from the other. Despite no job, a lousy apartment, and a bleak future, Jolly, with the help of LaVaughn and
| Author: Wolff, Virginia Euwer |
|
Mama Provi and the Pot of Rice
Mama Provi lives on the first floor of an apartment building and her granddaughter, Lucy, lives on the eighth floor. When Mama Provi heads up with a pot of arroz con pollo to comfort Lucy (who has chicken pox), a simple pot of chicken and rice is transfo
| Author: Rosa-Casanova, Sylvia |
|
Maritcha: A Nineteenth Century American GIrl
Based on an unpublished memoir, this picture book tells the story of daily life for a middle-class African American girl in New York in the 19th century. Maps and photographs illustrate the story.
| Author: Bolden, Tonya |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Memories of Summer
The novel is set in 1955. A father and 2 daughters (Lyric, the narrator, is 13 and sister Summer is 16) move from rural Kentucky to Flint, MI. The story is about the move, about Lyric's adjustment, but mostly about Summer's descent into mental illness and
Monster
16-year-old Steve Harmon is on trial for murder. This riveting book tells his story in the form of his journals and a film script he is writing.
| Author: Myers, Walter Dean |
|
One Yellow Daffodil: A Hanukkah Story
Morris Kaplan, a Holocaust survivor, owns a flower shop that two children visit each Friday to buy Sabbath flowers. The children are surprised to learn that their friend Morris hasn't celebrated Hanukkah since his childhood. They insist that he join the
| Author: Adler, David |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
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Pearl Moscowitz's Last Stand
Pearl M., a long-time resident of her city street, refuses to let the city chop down the last gingko tree on the block. The book depicts the different ethnic groups that have moved on the street, but shows a real community of people interacting and livin
| Author: Levine, Arthur A. |
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Raisin in the Sun, A
When an African-American family chooses to integrate an all-white neighborhood, all of their value systems and relationships come under pressure.
| Author: Hansberry, Lorraine |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading
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Reappearance of Sam Webber, The
With the help of adult friends, eleven-year-old Sam Webber adjusts to the disappearance of his father and the reduced circumstances of life in Baltimore. Although the story is told from Sam's perspective, every reader can identify with the ultimately upb
| Author: Fuqua, Jonathon Scott |
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Riding the Tiger
This is an allegory that features a bored, lonely 10-year-old's who is offered a ride by an exciting and somewhat scary tiger and discovers that it is easier to get on the tiger than to get off.
| Author: Bunting, Eve |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading | social studies
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Rite of Passage
The book is set in Harlem in the late 1940s. Protagonist Johnny Gibbs, 15, is a model child and student until he learns that he is a foster child who must go to live with another family. Johnny feels betrayed and reacts by running away. What follows pu
| Author: Wright, Richard |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading
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Sanctuary, The
Little Man, age 10, thinks that Tico and Aaron should let him join their gang. But first he must retrieve a piece of junk from the altar "sanctuary" that "crazy" Lucy Johnson built in her backyard. Little Man gets caught and comes to know and love the o
| Author: Eskridge, Ann |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading
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Sarney
A sequel to Nightjohn, the book follows the life of Sarny, the slave girl that Nightjohn taught to read, as she travels to New Orleans in the aftermath of the Civil War to find her children who had been sold into slavery.
| Author: Paulsen, Gary |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
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Seedfolks
Thirteen people of different ethnic backgrounds who are strangers to each other tell their stories of a vacant lot in Cleveland that becomes a neighborhood garden. The book jacket refers to the "harvest of hidden lives" and a "hymn to the power of plants
smoky night
1
| Author: bunting, eve |
HSE Descriptors:
literature and arts | literature and arts | literature and arts | literature and arts | literature and arts
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Somewhere In the Darkness
Jimmy, a teenager, lives in the city with Mama Jean. Then he meets Crab, a "man with something to prove. Maybe Crab's not sure what it is; maybe Jimmy's not sure he wants to know. But it may be the last chance Crab has to tell Jimmy who he was, and who
| Author: Myers, Walter Dean |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading
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Tai Chi Morning: Snapshots of China
The travel journal and poems of the author and the travel sketches of the illustrator combine to depict China a decade ago.
Teacup Full of Roses
Three brothers live with their mother, disabled father and aging aunt in Washington, D.C. during the Vietnam war. Paul, the oldest and his mother's favorite, returns home from another drug rehabilitation program just as Joe, the middle very responsible s
| Author: Mathis, Sharon |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
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Tenement: Immigrant Life on the Lower East Side
Lots of photographs and a fairly easy-to-read text tell the story of the tenements that were built to house immigrants during the turn of the century (19th - 20th). Further reading includes books for adults and children as well as related WWW sites.
| Author: Bial, Raymond |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
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This Is the Rope: A Story from the Great Migration
A rope found by a little girl becomes a multigenerational object to her family and helps to tell the story of their migration from the South. It has many uses and eventually becomes a storytelling prompt.
| Author: Woodeson, Jacqueline |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading
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True Believer
This is not exactly a sequel to Make Lemonade, but the style is similar and many of the characters are the same-- LaVaughn, her mother, Jolly and her children [they have a minor role in this book]. LaVaughn is 15, lives in the inner city, and str
| Author: Wolff, Virginia Euwer |
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Uptown
Colorful collage and an easy-reading text belie a very sophisticated tour of Harlem including the Metro-North train, brownstones, shopping on 125th street, a barbershop, summer basketball, the Harlem Boys' Chois, and sunset over the Hudson River
Communities > urban > urban myths
Cycle of the Werewolf
Short mystery/horror story depicting the sequence of events as a werewolf terrorizes a small town in Maine over the course of a year. A ten year old parapalegic uncovers the mystery and slays the beast with the help of his fun loving uncle. Short chapte
| Author: King, Stephen |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading
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Great Fire, The
By weaving personal accounts from survivors together with carefully researched history, Jim Murphy constructs a riveting narrative that recreates the great Chicago fire with drama and immediacy. Authentic photos and drawings complement the text.
| Author: Murphy, Jim |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
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Communities > utopian
Elijah of Buxton
Eleven-year-old Elijah, the first to be born free in a Canadian settlement for runaway slaves at the end of the Underground Railroad, though considered "fra-gile" and talkative by adults, performs an heroic feat with his chucking stones.
| Author: Curtis, Christopher Paul |
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Shaker Hearts
A series of poems--Shaker mottos--are accompanied by lovely paintings by Wendell Minor. The book begins with an historical note on the Shakers and ends with explanations of terms and concepts. It is a celebration of the lifestyle and contributions of th
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