Hispanic American Fiction
Alegria, Malin. Sofi Mendoza's Guide to Getting Lost in Mexico. 2007.
Sofi Mendoza lies to her parents and crosses the border into Mexico for a
weekend party. She had no idea that she would get stuck in a Mexican village
with a family she has never met before, unable to return to the United States.
Allende, Isabel. City of the Beasts. 2002.
Fifteen-year-old Alex embarks on a magical realism quest through the Amazon
with his adventuring magazine-reporter grandmother seeking mythical beasts.
Alvarez, Julia. How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents. 1991.
Four sisters adjust to their Dominican-New York City move over almost 30 years.
Alvarez, Julia. In the Time of the Butterflies. 1994.
This novelization, set during the days of the Trujilo dictatorship in the Dominican
Republic, tells the story of the Mirabal sisters who were assassinated after visting
their jailed husbands.
Anaya, Rudolfo. Bless Me, Ultima. 1972.
Catholicism and pagan mysticism pull at Antonio who is trying to divine his
destiny.
Cisneros, Sandra. Caramelo. 2002.
Celaya Reyes, called LaLa, is the youngest and the only girl among seven
siblings. Based on the author's life, the book follows LaLa from infancy to
adolescence as she grows up in a noisy, disputatious, and loving clan of Mexican
Americans.
Cisneros, Sandra. The House on Mango Street. 1984.
In vivid sketches drawn from real life, Esperanza tells of growing toward young
womanhood in a Chicano barrio of Chicago.
Ewing, Lynne. Party Girl. 1998.
The death of her best friend Ana in a drive-by shooting causes fifteen-year-old
Kata to question her position in the Los Angeles gang life.
Martínez, Manuel Luis. Drift. 2003.
At sixteen, Robert Lomos has lost his family, except for his worn-down
grandmother. His plan is to duck trouble, save his money, and head to California
to put his family back together . The trouble is, no one believes a delinquent
Mexican-American kid has a chance -- least of all, Robert himself.
Martinez, Victor. Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vada. 1996.
Manny relates his experiences as a member of a poor Mexican American family
in which the alcoholic father only adds to everyone's struggles.
Ortiz, Cofer, Judith. An Island Like You: Stories of the Barrio. 1995.
Twelve stories about young people caught between their Puerto Rican-heritage
and their American surroundings.
Ortiz, Cofer, Judith. The Meaning of Consuelo. 2003.
Set in the 1950s, a time when American influence is diluting Puerto Rico's rich
island culture, Consuelo watches her own family's downward spiral.
Peña, Matt de la. Mexican Whiteboy. 2008.
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Sixteen-year-old Danny, half Mexican, half white, has conflicts to overcome due
to his biracial heritage. He feels he's too brown to fit in at his at his mostly-white
prep school, and too pale when he visits the Mexican side of his family.
Sáenz, Benjamin Alire. He Forgot to Say Good-bye. 2008.
A friendship forms between two lonely teenaged Mexican-American boys who
are very different but who have the same father whom neither boy has met.
Sáenz, Benjamin Alire. Sammy and Juliana in Hollywood. 2004.
It’s 1969 and Sammy Santos is a graduating high school senior in the
unglamorous town Hollywood, New Mexico. Sammy faces the challenges of
“gringo” racism, unpopular dress codes, the Vietnam War, barrio violence, and
poverty.
Santana, Patricia. Motorcycle Ride on the Sea of Tranquility. 2002.
Growing up with her large Mexican American family in San Diego in the late
1960s, 14-year-old Yolanda tries to help her brother who has returned from the
war in Vietnam and is suffering emotional problems.
Serros, Michele. How to Be a Chicana Role Model. 2000.
You don’t have to be Chicana to enjoy this collection of witty, laugh-out-loud
short stories.
Soto, Gary. Accidental Love. 2006.
After unexpectedly falling in love with a "nerdy" boy, fourteen-year-old Marisa
works to change her life by transferring to another school, altering some of her
behavior, and losing weight.
Soto, Gary. Buried Onions. 1997.
A 19-year-old Mexican-American tries desperately to escape his violence-infested
neighborhood of Fresno, California.
Triania, Gaby. Cubanita. 2005.
The young son of a New Mexico sheep rancher longs to go with the men when
they take the sheep to the Sangre de Christo Mountains.
Valdes-Rodriguez, Alisa. Haters. 2006.
Having tried for years to deny her psychic abilities, high school sophomore Paski
has disturbing visions about the popular girl at her new high school in Orange
County, California.
Native American Fiction
Alexie, Sherman. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. 2007.
Junior wants more from life than what the reservation has to offer him so he
transfers to an all-white high school in town where he is stunned and amazed by
this strange and affluent new world.
Alexie, Sherman. The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. 1993.
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This painful and poignant account captures the determination of people struggling
to survive the bleak environment of life on the Spokane Indian Reservation.
Craven, Margaret. I Heard the Owl Call My Name. 1973.
A young minister is sent to spend a year with a Kwakiutl Indian tribe. Only the
reader knows that he is dying.
Dorris, Michael. A Yellow Raft in Blue Water. 1987.
The story intertwines three generations of American Indian women, depicting the
hardships they faced and the coming of age of the youngest girl, Rayona.
LaFarge, Oliver. Laughing Boy. 1929.
Pulitzer prize-winning novel about the tragic love of Laughing Boy, a Navajo
silversmith and horse trader, for Slim Girl.
Lipsyte, Robert. The Brave. 1991.
Having left the Indian reservation for the streets of New York, 17-year-old boxer
Sonny Bear tries to harness his inner rage by training with a policeman who is a
former boxer. Sequel to The Contender.
Wangerin, Walter. The Crying for a Vision. 1994.
The orphan "Moves Walking" has a strange power that makes his Lakota tribe
suspicious of him.
Short Story Collections
A Gathering of Flowers: Stories About Being Young in America. 1990.
Join In: Multiethnic Short Stories by Outstanding Writers for Young Adults. 1993.
Young Adult Fiction

Alphabet of Dreams – Susan Fletcher – beggars in the city of Rhagae

Anahita’s Woven Riddle – Meghan Nuttall Sayers – Iran

Before We Were Free – Julia Alvaraz – Dominican Republic

Born Confused – Tanuja Desal Hidier – India
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
The Fattening Hut – Pat Lowery Collins – tribal customs

First Crossings: Stories About Teen Immigrants – Donald Gallo

The House on Mango Street- Sandra Cisneros – Hispanic

I Am a Taxi – Deborah Elliot – prison life

Kiss the Dust – Elizabeth Laird – Kurdish resistance in Iran

The Marvelous Effect – Troy Cle – science fiction

Mitali Perkins – India

The Other Side of Truth – Beverly Naidoo – Nigeria

Over A Thousand Hills I Walk With You – Hanna Jansen – Rwanda

Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida – Victor Martinez – Mexican American

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood – Marjane Satrapip – Iran

Rain is Not My Indian Name – Cynthia Leitich Smith – Native American

Real Time: A Novel – Pnina Moed Kass – Israel

Sammy and Juliana in Hollywood – Benjamin Alire Saenz – “gringo” racism

Samurai Shortstop – Alan Gratz – Japan

A Step From Heaven – An Na – Korean

A Stone in My Hand – Cathryn Clinton – Gaza

Touching Spirit Bear – Ben Mikaelsen – Alaska

The Trap – John Smelcer – Alaska

When My Name was Keoko – Linda Sue Park - Korean
Madison Public Library
Multicultural Fiction for Teens
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Bud, Not Buddy – Christopher Paul Curtis – Great Depression
Candle in the Wind – Maureen Wart ski – Japanese American

Cezanne Pinto – Mary Stolz – slave in Virginia

Dangerous Skies – Suzanne Fisher Staples – Afro-American

Danger Zone – David Klass
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Dave at Night – Gail Carson Levine – Hebrew Home for Boys
25

Dragon Wings – Lawrence Yep – China

Fallen angels – Walter Dean Myers – Harlem

Forged by fire – Sharon Draper

For the Life of Laetitia – Merle Hodge

The Glory Field – Walter Dean Myers – Africa

Grab Hands and Run – Frances Temple – El Salvador

Heaven – Angela Johnson

If You Come Softly – Jacqueline Woodson

Let the Circle Be Unbroken – Mildred Taylor – rural Mississippi

One Bird – Kyoko Mori
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The road to Memphis – Mildred Taylor – rural Mississippi

Shizuko’s Daughter – Kyoko Mori
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The Skin I’m In – Sharon Flake
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Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush – Virginia Hamilton
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Taste of Salt – Frances Temple – Haiti

Tears of Tiger – Sharon Draper
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Toning the Sweep – Angela Johnson

Walking to the Bus-Rider Blues – Harriette Gillem Robinet – Montgomery,
Alabama
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The Watsons Go to Birmingham 1963 – Christopher Paul Curtis – Alabama

Years of Impossible Goodbyes – Sook Nyul Choi – North Korean
Multicultural Reading List for Adults
Ackerman, Diane (2007). The Zookeeper’s Wife. W.W. Norton and Company.
Story of Director of the Warsaw Zoo and his wife who were responsible for saving about
300 Jews during the Holocaust.
Adiger, Aravind (2008). The White Tiger. Free Press.
Exploration of India’s class struggle told through the story of a village boy who
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becomes the chauffeur to a rich man. Describes the inequalities that persist despite
India’s new prosperity.
Allende, Isabel (2009). The Sum of Our Days. Harper.
Memoir. Portrait of an unusual Chilean family told through a series of short
stories that could be letters to the author’s deceased daughter’s ghost.
Anam, Tahmima (2007). A Golden Age. John Murray Publishers.
Story takes place in 1971 in East Pakistan during the bloody revolution that led to
the formation of Bangladesh. Recounts the life of a widow who has lost her children
due to her poverty.
Barry, Sebastian (2008). The Secret Scripture. Viking.
Historical fiction. Story of an Irish woman, a patient in a mental hospital, who shares the
story of her life with a psychiatrist who is trying to determine if what she remembers is
what actually transpired.
Baszile, Jennifer (2009). The Black Girl Next Door. Simon and Schuster.
Story of the emotional struggle of a Black middle class family living in a white suburb in
the late 1970’s and 1990’s as post-segregation achievers.
Beardslee, Lois (2008). The Women’s Warrior Society. University of Arizona Press.
A collection of stories by an Ojibwa-Lacandon artist, author, and teacher. She dramatizes
the lives of seasonal workers making $7.05 an hour, the struggles of mothers to instill
native culture in their children to replace the self-loathing resulting from the racism they
experience in an all-white educational system, and their teaching of English grammar and
passing on traditional Native American Fables.
Blum, Jennifer(2005). Those Who Save Us. Harcourt.
Historical fiction. Story tells of a history professor from the University of Minnesota
collecting oral stories of WWII survivors, both German and Jewish, and that of her
German grandmother who moved to America after she married an American soldier.
Cooper, Helene (2008). The House at Sugar Beach. Simon and Schuster.
Memoir. Story of a privileged white girl living in Liberia who was forced to flee
during the bloody 1980 coup and her later return to her native country to look for her
half sister.
Multicultural Reading List for Adults
DeRosnay, Tatiana (2007). Sarah’s Key. St. Martin’s Press.
Story of a young girl and her family who have to leave her brother during the Holocaust.
Dodd, Christopher J. (2007). Letters from Nuremberg. Three Rivers Press.
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Connecticut Senator Dodd’s father who served as a prosecutor during the Nuremberg
trials recounts his experiences through a series of letters to his wife.
Ebershoff, David (2008). The 19th Wife. Random House.
Historical fiction. Story of a woman living in a polygamist strain of the Mormon culture
in the late 1800’s.
Eggars, Dave (2006). What is the What. Random House.
Historical fiction. Story based on the life of one of the so called “Lost Boys” who was
forced to leave his village in Sudan at the age of seven.
Fadiman, Anne(1997). The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. Farrar, Straus, and
Giroux. A Hmong child(Laos), her American doctors, and the collision of two cultures.
Hakakian, Roya ( 2005). Journey from the Land of No. Three Rivers Press
Story of a Jewish-Iranian girl caught in revolutionary Iran. The family eventually
emigrates to the U.S.A. Roya now lives in Connecticut.
Hofmann, Corinne (2007). Reunion in Barsaloi. Arcadia Books.
Fourteen years after fleeing with her baby daughter and divorcing, the author returns to
Kenya to search for her warrior husband.
Hofmann, Corinne( 2005). The White Masai. Arcadia Books.
Story based on the incredible love story and cross-cultural marriage of a Kenyan man, a
warrior in one of Kenya’s most traditional semi-nomadic tribes, the Masai, and a
European woman.
Hogan, Linda (1995). Solar Storms: A Novel. Scribner.
The story of five generations of Native American Women and their struggle to preserve
their way of life.
Horn, Dara (2006). The World to Come. W. W. Norton and Company.
Story describes a real life art heist and traces the life and times of Russian born artist
Marc Chagall. The main character’s life journeys from a Jewish Orphanage in 1920’s
Soviet Russia to junior high school in New Jersey to time spent in Vietnam.
Hosseini, Khaled (2007). A Thousand Splendid Suns. Riverhead Books.
Story of the beauty and brutality of two women’s lives in war-torn Afghanistan.
Multicultural Reading List for Adults
Lahiri, Jhumpe (1999). Interpreter of Maladies. Houghton-Mifflin.
Collection of short stories. Captures the out-of-context lives of immigrants, expatriates,
and first generation Americans in stories that travel from India to America and back.
Lahiri, Jhumpe (2003). The Namesake. Houghton-Mifflin.
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Two generations of the Ganguli family of India who come to America and experience
life as foreigners.
Lahiri, Jhumpe (2008). Unaccustomed Earth. Alfred A. Knopf.
Collection of short stories. Explores the gulf that separates expatriate Bengali parents
from their American-born children.
Lee, Janice Y. K. (2009). The Piano Teacher. Viking.
Life in Hong Kong before and after World War II. A novel about the affairs of a
Hong Kong couple’s hired help.
Marshall, Joseph (1998). The Dance House: Stories from Rosebud. Red Crane Books.
Stories and essays on a Sioux Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Discusses the role
that a dance house plays in Indian Society and the frequently adversarial relationship
between Indians and the federal government.
Nafisi, Azar (2008). Things I’ve Been Silent About. Random House.
Memoir. Written by the author of Reading Lolita in Tehran. The author’s father was the
mayor of Tehran who was accused of plotting against the Shah and was thrown in jail.
Tells of her unhappy family life.
Nemirovsky, Irene (2007). Suite Francaise. Alfred A. Knopf.
Story tells of life in France from June 4, 1940 until July 1941as the German forces
prepare to invade Paris. Story was written before the author was sent to Auschwitz. The
writing was discovered and published by her daughter in the late 1990’s.
Rachlin, Nahid (2006). Persian Girls. The Penguin Group.
Story depicts women’s life in the Shah’s Iran circa 1950.
See, Lisa (2005). Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. Random House.
Story of two little girls growing up in a remote area of China.
Swarup, Vikas (2005). Slumdog Millionaire. Scribner.
The producers can’t understand how a poor orphan who has never been to school can
correctly answer all of the questions in India’s game show “Who will win a Billion?”.
29
The World Understanding Committee recommends the following article. This
article could not be reproduced here.
Born in the USA, NEA Today, January/February, 2009, Ellen Flannery
30
GLOBAL ISSUES
Global issues Web Guide – www.worldrevolution.org
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ACCESS to MEDICINES – millions around the world die of preventable diseases
simply because they cannot afford to buy medicines
AGEING – millions of older people across the world face chronic poverty,
homelessness, abuse and other problems
AIDS – 20 million people have died from HIV/AIDS. 40 million are currently
infected and 70 million will die in the next 20 years
BIODIVERSITY – between 1-to 20% of all species will be driven to extinction in the
next 20 to 25 years
CHILD LABOR – at least 250 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 are
working in developing countries
CHILD SOLDIERS – some 300,000 children are serving as soldiers in current armed
conflicts
CHILDREN – millions of children worldwide face hunger, poverty, disease and
abuses and neglect of their human rights
Today, over 26,500 children died around the world. This is equivalent to 1 child dying
every 3 seconds, 18 children dying every minute, a 2004 Asian Tsunami occurring every
week, an Iraq scale death toll every 15-36 days, almost 10 million children dying every
year, some 60 million children dying between 2000 and now.
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CHILDREN AND WAR – in the last decade more children were killed than soldiers
ENVIRONMENT – pressures on the world’s natural resources and ecosystems are
increasing rapidly
FORESTS – half of the forests that originally covered 46% of the Earth’s surface are
gone
HUMAN TRAFFICKING – at least 800,000 to 900,000 people worldwide are
trafficked each year
INDIGENOUS PEOPLE – many indigenous people are excluded from society and
deprived of their rights
INEQUALITY – the richest 20% of the world’s population now receives 150% of the
income of the poorest 20%
LANDMINES – landmines maim or kill 26,000 civilians every year including
10, 000 children
MOUNTAINS AND OCEANS – many mountain environments have been degraded
and coastal and marine ecosystems are being destroyed
CLIMATE CHANGE – global warming is expected to increase the Earth’s
temperature 3°C (5.4° F) in the next 100 years
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CORAL REEFS – 60% of the world’s coral reefs which contain almost ¼ of all
marine species could be lost in the next 20-40 years
DESERTIFICATION – desertification threatens nearly ¼ of the land surface of the
globe putting one billion people at risk
MONEY - half of the world’s population live on less on $2 a day – 1.2 million
people live on less than $1 a day
EDUCATION – 275 million children will not complete a primary education – 875
million adults are illiterate
REFUGEES – 14 million people live as refugees
WATER - 1 billion people lack access to fresh water
WOMEN AND WAR – during armed conflict, women and girls are constantly
threatened with rape, violence and humiliation
A FEW ANSWERS
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PEACE CORPS – offers lesson plans and stories, multimedia, service projects for
students, Water in Africa lesson plans
CATHOLIC RELIEF SERVICES FAIR TRADE – handcrafts, coffee, chocolate, etc
at www.crsfairtrade.org
EQUAL EXCHANGE FAIR TRADE – small farmers, big change – helping green
the earth through reforestation, natural resource conservation and organic practices
KAZURI AMERICA – Kenyan women making jewelry and beads to help people
around Nairobi
HEIFER INTERNATIONAL – works in the areas of livestock and agriculture to
develop programs that alleviate hunger and poverty
PENNIES FOR PEACE – collect pennies for schoolchildren, based on the best-seller
Three Cups of Tea
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Multicultural Arts Information Websites
Music
www.teachervision.fen.com/multiculturalism/resource/8388.html
created in partnership with MENC(National Association for Music
Education)
Fee: 7 day free trial available
Includes lesson plans, references, professional development, themes,
slideshows, song and dance activities, directions for making native
instruments, musical notation indigenous to specific countries
The following subscription databases are available through your local
library or school’s subscription. Access is available to non-residents if
logged in from within a subscribing library. Check with your local library as
to their subscription status.
Visual Arts
www.artstor.org
website be accessed through your local library’s or school’s subscription to
this website. This website can also be accessed at home with your local
library card number.
Can find pictures of famous art.
ICONN
www.iconn.org CT’s re-search engine
Can be accessed through your local town or school library or from home
with your library card number
Select ICONN - Resources-People, Places, Events for Primary Sources
multi-media. AP images available.
Key Word: World News Digest. Multi-media video and commentary
Multicultural Arts Information Websites
The following websites are free.
Internet Public Library(IPL)
www.IPL.org
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Free website with access to multi-media. Links to other free sites.
Click on subject collections-Arts and Humanities-Fine Arts.
Photography and Film, Performing Arts, Visual Arts, Music
CT Humanities Council(CHC)
www.ctculture.org
Resources on programs and services to help explore CT’s cultural life and
the world of great literature.
Cultural sites, activities calendar, book discussions for children, families,
and adults
Cultural Series-histories of CT’s many cultural communities-books,
documentaries
Ask for Public Performance Catalog for a listing of in-school performances
available.
CT Heritage Gateway
www.ctheritage.org
Cultural Resources for Teachers –lesson plans, CT museums, heritage
activities calendar, in-school programs, books and videos, on-line heritage
exhibitions
NY Public Library Digital Library Collection
www.digitalgallery.nypl.org
free access to their digital images, video, and audio collections
You can access free digital library collections of many big cities
(e.g. Chicago www.digital.chipublib.org/)
Google: [City] Public Library Digital Collection for website
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Movies with World Understanding themes:
El Norte: Brother and sister from Guatemala yearn to escape persecution by the Military
in Guatemala by illegally reaching the USA through Mexico.
Namesake: couple from India immigrates to the USA and raise a family. Older American
son experiences identity conflicts.
Osama: recounts the efforts of a family of women to survive the oppressive TalibanAfghanistan regime. Osama, a 12 year old girl, dresses as a boy so she can find work and
help support her mother and grandmother.
Slum Dog Millionaire: Orphaned young man survives the slums of Mumbai and ends up
in the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire but he has to explain why he
knows the answers to most of the questions.
Persepolis: a girl’s perspective of the Iranian Revolution.
Hotel Rwanda: tribal fighting and massacres in Rwanda. One man finds the courage to
save more that 1,000 refugees.
Yesterday: Zulu language film. Mother struggles to raise her daughter in African village
while she is HIV positive.
Children of Haven: Iranian boy accidentally loses his sisters shoes and has to share his
sneakers with her.
The Visitor: Relationship between an American widowed college professor and an
immigrant couple.
Billy Elliot: Billy trades boxing globes for ballet slippers. Conflict ensues with is
hardworking miner dad.
Au Revoir Les Enfants: Jewish boy passes for Christian when priest hides him in his
boarding school during the Nazi occupation of France.
Life is Beautiful. Italian family is arrested and taken to a Nazi concentration camp. Six
year old boy remains unaware of hardships due to his father’s efforts.
35