DIVERSITY
Hear My Voice
Personal Stories of America’s Diversity
What Are You? Voices of Mixed-Race Young People by Pearl Fuyo Gaskins
Interviews, poems and essays reveal what it means to grow up outside America’s
racial borderlines.
Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to his White Mother by James McBride
True story of a biracial man who grew up in Brooklyn’s Red Hook projects and his
mother, a Jewish woman who married a black man.
Remix: Conversations with Immigrant Teenagers by Marina Budhos
Personal struggles and triumphs of immigrant teens in America and the challenges
they face.
Sugar in the Raw: Voices of Young Black Girls in America by Rebecca Carroll
Unfiltered stories of young African-American girls between the ages of 11 and 20.
Speaking Out: Teenagers take on Race, Sex, and Identity by Susan Kuklin
Feelings of teenagers in a multicultural public high school.
Hearing Us Out: Voices from the Gay and Lesbian Community by Roger Sutton
The voices in this book will help everyone see more clearly the gay and lesbian
community as diverse people with their own history, stories an future.
Hear These Voices: Youth at the Edge of the Millennium by Anthony Allison
Fifteen “at risk” teenagers describe what becoming an adult is like at the edge of the
millennium.
I Am Beautiful: A Celebration of Women in their Own Words edited by Dana
Carpenter and Woody Winfree
Moving portrait of women across America who have discovered what it means to be
beautiful.
OutSpoken: Role Models from the Lesbian and Gay Community by Michael
Thomas Ford
Eleven out lesbians and gay men talk about themselves and their careers, about
coming out, and about leading a fulfilling life within and beyond the gay community.
American Dragons: Twenty-Five Asian American Voices edited by Laurence
Yep
Stories, poems and excerpts from plays by Asian Americans give heart-wrenching
insight into their struggles for identity in a new culture.
White is a State of Mind: A Memoir by Melba Patillo Beals
Melba Beals, one of the nine black students admitted to the all-white Little Rock
Central High School in 1957, eventually flees the violence and prejudice in her
hometown and begins the journey to heal her soul from the scars of racism.
All Over But the Shoutin’ by Rick Bragg
Haunting memoir about growing up dirt-poor in the piney woods of Alabama.
Travels with Lizbeth: Three Years on the Road and on the Streets by Lars
Eighner
One man’s experience of homelessness as he and his dog, Lizbeth, struggle to
survive on the streets of Austin, Texas, and hitchhiking along the highways to
California and back.
Bloods: An Oral history of the Vietnam War by Black Veterans by Wallace Terry
This compelling portrait of black Americans in combat reveals the soldiers as men
whose dramatic monologues bear witness to humanity.
Moving Violations by John Hockenberry
A paraplegic since an auto accident at age eighteen, this ace reporter holds nothing
back in this achingly honest story.
I am the Fire of Time: The Voices of Native American Women edited by Jane
B. Katz
Anthology of songs, poetry, prose, narrative and oral history of Native American
women.
Down These Mean Streets by Piri Thomas
Piri vividly describes coming of age on the streets of Spanish Harlem, surviving
street gangs, drugs and, eventually, prison.
Love Makes a Family: Portraits of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender
Parents and their Families edited by Peggy Gillespie
Photographs and personal stories challenge heterosexual assumptions and
stereotypes of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender families of all kinds.
The Shared Heart: Portraits and Stories Celebrating Lesbian, Gay, and
Bisexual Young People by Adam Mastoon
Inspiring stories of struggles for self-expression and unconditional love.
The Four of Us: A Family Memoir by Elizabeth Swados
Swados's brother's diagnosis of schizophrenia affects everyone in the family.
Rising Voices: Writings of Young Native Americans selected by Arlene
Hirschfelder and Beverly Singer
Young people speak of identity, family and community, ritual, history, and the harsh
realities of their lives.
New Kids on the Block: Oral histories of Immigrant Teens by Janet Bode
Teen immigrants who have escaped war, poverty, and repression talk about the
challenges they face as they try to carve out new lives in America.
Making Connections: Diversity 2003
AMERICA STREET: A Multicultural Anthology of Stories (SC)
Fourteen stories by American authors from diverse racial and cultural backgrounds.
ANNE FRANK: The Diary of a Young Girl (940.53)
The classic account of eight people hiding from the Nazis for two years in occupied
Holland.
THE BEAN TREES Kingsolver, Barbara
Taylor Greer heads West and is surprised to find a young Indian girl in her ’55
Volkswagen-thus begins their new life together.
A BEND IN THE RIVER Naipaul, V.S
After a recent civil war, a country in the interior of Africa is under a new president
whose insane energy and crudity have made his power felt everywhere, including an
isolated village at a bend in the river.
BLACK LIKE ME (301.451) Griffin, John Howard
John Griffin, a white man, spent two months of his life as a black in the Deep South
during the late fifties, when segregation was the rule. This narrative chronicles his
experiences during that incredible period.
THE BRAVE Lipsyte, Robert
Sports writer Lipsyte’s powerful sequel to The Contender, in which a young man
faces the conflict between his traditional values and the treacherous world of proboxing.
THE BROKEN CORD (362.1) Dorris, Michael
A father reveals the tragedy and pain of a family confronted with their son’s fetal
alcohol syndrome.
CHINA BOY Lee, Gus
A hilarious and touching novel dealing with the adolescent rites of passage as well as
the clash of cultures faced by a Chinese-American teenager.
THE COLOR OF WATER: A Black man’s Tribute to His White Mother (PB)
McBride, James
A remarkable story of a remarkable woman focusing on issues of race, religion,
identity and what family really means.
CRIES OF THE SPIRIT: A Celebration of Women’s Spirituality (810.8) Sewell,
Marilyn, ed.
A rich collection of poetry and prose by women about women.
DOUBLE STITCH: Black Women Write About Mothers and Daughters (810.8)
Essays by Maya Angelou, Alice Walker, Audre Lorde, Bell Hooks, June Jordan, Sonia
Sanchez and others.
FAREWELL TO MANZANAR (940.5472) Houston, Jeanne
Jeanne is seven years old when her family is uprooted from their home and sent to
live at Manzanar internment camp. A haunting story that is often compared to The
Diary of Anne Frank.
FINDING MY VOICE Lee, Marie G.
Korean-American high school senior Ellen Sung must deal with the prejudice of some
of her classmates as well as the pressure from her parents to get good grades.
THE GIRL IN THE WHITE SHIP: A True Story of Escape, Faith and Survival
(325.73) Townsend, Peter
A vivid account of Vietnamese Tran Hue Hue’s harrowing escape from Vietnam by
riverboat.
THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS Roy, Arundhati
Tale of twins in India who share a dark secret of their childhood.
GROWING UP LATINO: Reflections on Life in the United States (810.8)
HAVING OUR SAY: The Delany Sister’s First 100 Years (929.2) Sadie & Bessie
Delany
The memories of Sadie and Bessie Delany offer a glimpse of the birth of black
freedom in America.
THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET Cisneros, Sandra
The poverty and deprivation of growing up in the barrios of Chicago.
HOW THE GARCIA GIRLS LOST THEIR ACCENTS Alvarez, Julia
Tensions and joys of four sisters who move from the Dominican Republic to New
York City.
IN NUEVA YORK Mohr, Nicholasa
A collection of interrelated stories of the Puerto Rican community in New York
reflecting its vitality, humor and pathos, hope and despair.
JOIN IN: Multiethnic Short Stories by Outstanding Writers for Young Adults (SC)
THE JOY LUCK CLUB Tan, Amy
A Mah Jong and storytelling support group is the backdrop of this tale of Chineseborn mothers and their American-born daughters, trying to bridge
the cultural gap between them.
A LESSON BEFORE DYING Gaines, Ernest J.
A story of the friendship between two black men - one wrongfully condemned to die,
and the other persuaded to share his learning and pride before
the first man is executed.
THE MONUMENT Paulsen, Gary
Thirteen-year-old Rocky, self-conscious about the braces on her leg, has her life
changed by the remarkable artist who comes to her small Kansas town to design a
war memorial.
NIGHT (940.54) Wiesel, Elie
Terrifying account of Nazi death camp horror - a young Jewish boy witnesses the
death of his family.
ON THE REZ (978.3) Frazier, Ian
Portrays many sides of Native Americans, their culture, history and present day
reservation life. Ranges from inspiring stories of pride and heroism to depressing
looks at today’s Native society.
PRIDE OF FAMILY: Four Generations of American Women of Color (920) Ione,
Carole
A probing and beautiful memoir of the women in a black family - their strength, their
pride and their inheritance of a shared past.
RACE MATTERS (305.8) West, Cornell
Engaging essays focused on the current problems in American culture as a whole,
and the black community specifically.
RISING VOICES: Writings of Young Native Americans (810.8)
ROAD FROM HOME: The Story of an Armenian Girl (B) Kherdian, David
To escape the Armenian holocaust, Veron Dumehjiian at age 16, left for America as a
"mail-order" bride.
SHABANU: Daughter of the Wind. Staples, Suzanne Fisher
The life of a young Muslim girl in Pakistan is both sweet and cruel as she is torn
between duty and her own dreams.
SHIZUKO’S DAUGHTER Mori, Kyoko
In the years following her mother’s suicide, Yuki develops an inner strength in coping
with her distant father, her resentful stepmother, and her haunting, painful
memories.
SO FAR FROM THE BAMBOO GROVE Watkins, Yoko
Yoko and her family are living in Korea during World War II. In 1945, they are
warned of a communist attack and flee to Seoul hoping to make connections to
Japan. Instead, they begin a life as refugees.
STORIES FROM EL BARRIO (SC) Thomas, Piri
Short stories of life in El Barrio - Puerto Rico in New York City - reflecting the
problems, the joys, the conflict and the love.
STUBBORN TWIG: Three Generations in the Life of a Japanese American
Family (929.2) Kessler, Lauren
The story of a Japanese American family’s century-long struggle to adjust, endure
and ultimately triumph in their new country.
SUGAR IN THE RAW: Voices of Young Black Girls in America (305.235) Carroll,
Rebecca
A stereotype-breaking book voicing the views of many young black women on their
race, gender and their futures.
WE WERE ALWAYS FREE: The Maddens of Culpeper Counry Madden, T.O.
This narrative chronicles the history of a Virginia family of free blacks from the
American Revolution to the present
WHEN I WAS PUERTO RICAN; ALMOST A WOMAN (B) Santiago, Esmarelda
Coming-of-age memoirs of a young woman who emigrates to the U.S. and finds
herself torn between two cultures.
WILD SWANS: Three Daughters of China (951.05) Chang, Jung
How three generations of women fared during the political turmoil of 20th century
China, from a warlord’s concubine to a political activist.
YELLOW RAFT IN BLUE WATER Dorris, Michael
A saga of three generations of Indian women, beset by hardship and torn by angry
secrets, yet joined together by the bonds of kinship.
YOU GOTTA HAVE WA (796.357) Whiting, Robert
Japanese society seen through the eyes of the players from the two professional
baseball leagues.
ZLATA’S DIARY (949.7) Filopovic, Zlata
A moving narrative begun by a young girl in Sarajevo during the recent war. She
tells of the destruction of her city and the loss of her childhood
and also reveals the simple pleasures of life despite war.
REUNION (VR 940.53)
Fifty years after his parents sent him to America to evade Nazi persecution, a
German Jew returns home to search for his closest childhood friend, the son of a
wealthy military family.
THEY RISKED THEIR LIVES: Rescuers of the Holocaust (VR 940.53) Block, Gay
Interviews revealing the great variety of people who risked their lives and those of
their families to save Jews.
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