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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
|
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. |
|
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
|
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 |
|
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
|
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
|
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
|
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
|
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
|
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
|
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
|
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
|
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
|
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 |
|
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
|
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
|
|
