E Fiction
WOODSON

Jacqueline Woodson

The Other Side

(Grade Pre K -2)

Two girls, on white and one black, gradually get to know each other as they sit on the fence that divides their town.

Discussion questions

E Fiction
LIN

Grace Lin

The Year of the Dog

(Grades 3-5)

Frustrated by her seeming lack of talent for anything, a young Taiwanese American girl sets out to apply the lessons of the Chinese Year of the Dog, those of making best friends and finding oneself, to her own life. 

Discussion questions

J Fiction
YANG

Gene Luen Yang

American Born Chinese

(Middle School)

This graphic novel alternates three interrelated stories about the problems of young Chinese Americans trying to participate in popular culture.

Discussion questions

J Fiction
SATRAPI

Marjane Satrapi

Persepolis

(High School)

This autobiography tells the story of Satrapi’s early life as a girl in late 1970s and early 1980s Iran.  Through her young eyes, the reader sees the overthrow of the Shah, the Islamic fundamentalist rise to power, and the war with Iraq.

Discussion questions

Fiction
TYLER

Anne Tyler

Digging to America

(Adult)

When American couple Bitsy and Brad Donaldson and Iranian-American couple Sami and Ziba Yazdan both adopt Korean infant girls, their chance encounter at the Baltimore airport the day their daughters arrive marks the start of a long, intense, and sometimes awkward friendship.  A penetrating light on the American way as seen from two perspectives, those who are born here and those who are still struggling to fit in.

Discussion questions

E Fiction
RECORVITS

Recorvits, Helen and Swiatkowska, Gabi

My Name is Yoon

(Grade Pre K -2)

When Yoon moves from Koreas to America, she wants to keep her Korean name, Shining Wisdom, and writes her name using Korean symbols. Although everything seems different in American, Yoon finds ways to accept her new home and maintain her Korean heritage.

J Fiction
FLEMING

Fleming, Candace

Lowji Discovers America

(Grades 3-4)

When nine-year-old Lowji Sanjana moves from busy Bombay to a small, rural town in Illinois, he has great hopes of having a pet and making friends. He creatively wins over his grumpy landlady as he accomplishes both.

J Fiction
PARK

Park, Linda Sue

Project Mulberry

(Grades 5-6)

When Julia's mother suggests a project raising silkworms as she did as a girl in Korea, Julia and her friend Patrick learn not just about silkworms but about tolerance, prejudice, friendship and patience.

J Fiction
BUDHOS

Budhos, Marina

Ask Me No Questions

(Grades 7-10)

In the months following September 11th many Muslim men were arrested, detained, and eventually deported along with their families. When her father is arrested, fourteen-year-old Nadira must find a way to bring her family back together, all the while feeling like a dangerous outsider in the country she thought was her home.

Non-Fiction
305.23089/NAZ

Nazario, Sonia

Enrique's Journey: the Story of a Boy's Dangerous Odyssey to Reunite with his Mother

(High School - Adult)

When Enrique was five years old, his single mother made the trek from Honduras to the United States in search of work, hoping to make enough money to come home for her children. When she doesn't return, Enrique decides to make the difficult and dangerous journey north to find her.

E Fiction
KATZ

Katz, Karen

The Colors of Us

(Preschool)

Lena, born in Guatemala, learns she is the color of cinnamon. She and her Mom go for a walk to observe many other sades of brown. Lena realizes that every shade is beautiful and paints portraits of each of her friends.

E Fiction
POLACCO

Polacco, Patricia

Mrs. Katz and Tush

(Grades K-2)

Mrs. Katz is a lonely Jewish widow and Larnel is a young African American boy. Their friendship begins when Larnel gives the old woman a scagly kitten. During their daily visits, Mrs. Katz tells stories of her life and of the similar experiences Jews and African Americans had in coming to this country.

J Fiction
NAMIOKA

Namioka, Lensey

Yang the Youngest and His Terrible Ear

(Grades 3-5)

Newly arrived in Seattle from China, nine-year-old Yangtao is tone deaf. His parents, both professional musicians, assume his problem is lack of practice and chide him for playing baseball. Yangtao and a musically gifted friend team up to solve the problem.

J Fiction
FLEISCHMAN

Fleischman, Paul

Seedfolks

(Grades 6-8)

Kim, a Vietnamese girl mourning her dead father, plants six seeds in a vacant lot hoping to attract her father's spirit. Other neighbors become involved in the garden. The story illustrates how members of a multi-ethnic neighborhood overcome language barriers and prejudice to enrich one another's lives.

Biography
OBAMA

Obama, Barack

Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance

(High School - Adult)

President Obama's mother was a white American and his father was a black Kenyan whom he never knew. After completing college, Obama went to Kenya to experience the world of his late father. Readers will find his search for identity both moving and familiar.

J Spanish
REISER

Reiser, Lynn

Margaret and Margarita, Margarita y Margaret

(Grade Pre K -1)

Margaret, who speaks only English, and Margarita, who speaks only Spanish, meet in the park and have fun plying together even though they speak different languages.

J Fiction
MOCHIZUKI

Mochizuki, Ken

Baseball Saved Us

(Grades 2-4)

A Japanese American boy learns to play baseball when he and his family are forced to live in an internment camp during World War II. His ability to play helps him after the war is over.

J Fiction
CURTIS

Curtis, Christopher Paul

The Watsons Go to Birmingham

(Grades 5-8)

The mindsets and daily routines of the Watsons, an African American family living in Flint, Michigan, change drastically after they go to visit their grandmother in Alabama in the summer of 1963.

J Fiction
HOSSEINI

Hosseini, Khaled

Kite Runner

(High School - Adult)

Amir and Hassan are young boys growing up in Afghanistan in the 1970's. They are inseparable until an unspeakable event changes the nature of their relationship forever.

E Fiction
DOOLY

Norah, Dooley

Everybody Cooks Rice

(Grade K -3)

As Carrie travels from one of her neighbors' homes to the next, she is treated to samples of their ethnically divers dinners. She is surprised to find that although they all hail from different countries, there is one dish they have in common.

J Fiction
ELLIS

Ellis, Deborah

Breadwinner

(Grades 4-7)

After the Taliban takes over Afghanistan, women are no longer allowed to go to school or to play in the streets, let alone work outside the home. When her father is arrested, Parvana must disguise herself as a boy in order to support her struggling family.

Fiction
CISNEROS

Cisneros, Sandra

The House on Mango Street

(Teen - Adult)

After her family moves to the Hispanic area of Chicago, Esperanza learns to empower herself through her writing. She uses poems and stories to express thoughts and emotions about her neighborhood environment.