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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
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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
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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 |
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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 |
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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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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 |
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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
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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 |
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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
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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
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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
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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 |
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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 |
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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
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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
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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
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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 |
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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)
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