The Suburban Mosaic Book of the Year Program seeks to confront issues of racial and social justice and promote cross-cultural understanding through literature.
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An inspiring true story about the redemptive power of mercy. Founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, Bryan Stevenson tells this true story of Walter McMillan, a young man sentenced to death row for a murder he did not commit.
Red is a crayon. His label says that he is red but he is actually blue. Many people in his community try to help him become a better red but no matter how hard he tries he can't seem to do it. Then along comes a new friend who tries to help in a different way and Red discovers who he really is. He is Blue!
A child-friendly story of trials and triumphs. When Her Jun's family moves from Korea to West Virginia he struggles to adjust to his new home.
Nine-year-old Yasmin intends to read a book a day for the rest of her life. Book Uncle runs a free street corner lending library on the street corner, but the Mayor want to remove him because he doesn't have a permit. Yasmin organizes the neighborhood to save Book Uncle and his library.
This timely and powerful novel ties together the stories of three children seeking refuge. Separated by continents and decades, shocking connections give the reader a look at the life of each person and how each posses determination and hope.
In interweaving stories of sixteen-year-olds, modern-day Jesse tires to cope with the ramifications of her brother's death on 9/11, while in 2001, Ali, a Muslim, get trapped in one of the Twin Towers and meets a boy who changers everything for her as flames rage around them.
A young girl's dream to have clean water in Africa. Based on a true story.
An immigration story that celebrates the diversity of America.
Joe and Ravi are from different countries. They soon learn that they have much in common, including the school bully.
Ghost wants to be the fastest sprinter on his inner city track team but there are things he is running from. National Book Award Finalist.
National Book Award Winner, Congressman John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell recount marches from the Civil Rights Movement and the tumult that marchers met.
A gripping tale of adventure and searing reality, Lucky Boy gives voice to Soli, an 18 year old illegal immigrant from Mexico, and to Kayva, and Indian - American woman.
A socially awkward genetics professor seeks true love with a 16-page questionnaire. Respondent Rosie Jarman doesn’t meet his requirements—at least at first!
Mike is the perfect mix of both his parents.
Two children hear that there is "colored water" in the city. They want to taste it and see if it looks like a rainbow. They learn firsthand about segregation in the '60s.
It's hard enough to start at new school and make friends, but Cece feels extra alone because of her giant hearing aid.
For years Ally has covered up her dyslexia at school. But that changes when a new teacher makes an extra effort to reach the bright girl beneath the disruptive behavior.
Told from multiple viewpoints, an urban community contends with issues of race, class, gang violence, and stereotypes following a fatal shooting.
The Riveras emigrate from Mexico to Delaware so that their beautiful but brain-damaged daughter, Maribel, can attend a special school. They are met with numerous obstacles, including a smitten teenager, loss of employment, and worse. Along with the Riveras, the book features other immigrants who give up everything to pursue their American dream.
The Printz Honor author tells the story of a girl coping with devastating loss. Glory O’Brien has no idea the future needs her, and that the present needs her more.
6th grader Grayson was born male but feels “he” was meant to be a girl. When Grayson wins the lead female role in the play and makes friends who accept her, she begins to embrace who she really is.
Rose Howard loves words that sound the same (like her name Rose and rows), rules, prime numbers and her dog. When a storm hits her rural town and the dog is loose, Rose's story unfolds into a powerful tale.
This beautifully told and illustrated story shows the effects of a smile on everyone and everything.
Marisol McDonald mixes and matches food (peanut butter and jelly burritos), patterns (green dots/purple stripes), and games (soccer playing pirates) just as she embodies her Peruvian-Scottish- American heritage). Bilingual book with exuberant illustrations.
Fourth grader Anna Wang frets about fitting in with friends and instead escapes into books. When a friend reaches out to her for help, Anna sets aside fictional friends and becomes a member of her community.
Fifth grader Aliya, the only Muslim in her school, does not want to stand out. The arrival of a second Muslim student who wears hijab in school makes Aliya second-guess her religious confusion and work through universal preteen struggles.
Author Deborah Ellis interviewed 27 Afghan children ages 10-17, recording their stories about life in violent and war-torn Afghanistan and the hardships they face. This work provides a glimpse into the poverty and aftermath of war.
When Badi Hessamizadeh continues to suffer intense racial bullying, he blows up the toilet where he was swirlied every day. Now considered a terrorist, his dad changes his son's name to Bud Hess and enrolls him in a different school.
![Peaches for Monsieur le Curé – [also published as Peaches for Father Francis]](http://www.suburbanmosaicbooks.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/peaches-265x400.jpg)
Vianne Rochet, known for near-magical skills with chocolate, returns to the rural French village of Lansquenet and discovers a large Muslim population has grown. Tensions between cultures reach a boiling point when the resident priest is accused of a hate crime, and it will take an outsider to show the two communities how alike they really are.
A Medical doctor chronicles her life in Darfur, Sudan. Bashir's memoir tells of her early life as a black African Muslim from the Zaghawa tribe, her trials and tribulations in her Arab Muslim schools, and her and her family's subsequent involvement in the Darfur crisis.
Thirteen-year-old Lakshmi, though poor, enjoys her life until the Himalayan monsoons wash away her family's crops and she is sold to a brothel in India by her stepfather. She remembers her mother's wisdom, "Simply to endure is to triumph," until the day comes that she can reclaim her life.
When a school bus accident leaves sixteen-year-old Jessican an amputee, she returns to school with a prosthetic limb and her track team finds a wonderful way to help rekindle her dream of running again.
This novel in verse tells the story of ten-year-old Ha's journey from war-torn Vietnam to her new home in the United States. In America, Ha discovers the foreign world of Alabama. This is the story of her year of change: her dreams, grief, strength and healing as she journeys from one country to another, one life to the next.
Wangari Maathai is the first African woman and environmentalist to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Unlike most girls in Kenya, Wangari attended school where her love of plants and animals grew and her mind sprouted like a seed.
As Jane climbs trees, observes and reads about animals, and experiences the joys of nature in England, she dreams of Africa and of "a life living with, and helping, all animals." The story culminates in a striking photo of primatologist Jane Goodall in her twenties, living her dream in Africa, her hand extended to a chimpanzee.