Multi-Cultural Literature
Search Terms
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Thailand - Fiction
Japan - Fiction
China - Fiction
India - Fiction
Mexico - Fiction
France - History - Fiction
South Africa - Biography
Persian Gulf War -- Personal Narratives
Folklore - Iran
The Master Puppeteer
F Paterson
• A thirteen-year-old
boy describes the
poverty and
discontent of
eighteenth century
Osaka and the world
of puppeteers in
which he lives.
Of Nightingales that Weep
F Paterson
• The vain young
daughter of a
samurai finds her
comfortable life
ripped apart when
opposing warrior
clans begin a
struggle for imperial
control of Japan.
The Sign of the
Chrysanthemum
F Paterson
• Thirteen-year-old
Muna searches for
the father he has
never seen in twelfth
century feudal
Japan.
The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn
Hoobler
• While attempting to
solve the mystery of
a stolen jewel,
Seikei, a merchant's
son who longs to be
a samurai, joins a
group of kabuki
actors in eighteenthcentury Japan.
The Demon in the Teahouse
Hoobler
• In eighteenth-century
Japan, fourteen-yearold Seikei, a merchant's
son in training to be a
samurai, helps his
patron investigate a
series of murders and
arson in the capital city
of Edo, each of which is
associated in some way
with a popular geisha.
The Revenge of the Forty-Seven
Samurai by Haugaard.
• A fourteen-year-old
serving boy finds
himself surrounded
by suspicion and
betrayal as his
master gathers a
group of samurai to
avenge Lord
Asano's death.
Spilled Water
by Grindley
• After her father's death,
Lu Si-Yan's uncle sells
her to a rich family who
expect her to work as
their servant until she is
old enough to marry
their son, but when she
runs away things only
get worse.
The Girl-Son
F Neuberger.
• Based on the life of
Induk Pahk, a Korean
educator, whose
widowed mother
disguised her as a boy
at the age of eight in
order for her to attend
school, a choice
forbidden to girls in the
early twentieth century
in that country
When My Name Was Keoko
F Park
• With national pride and
occasional fear, a
brother and sister face
the increasingly
oppressive occupation
of Korea by Japan
during World War II,
which threatens to
suppress Korean
culture entirely.
So Far from the Bamboo Grove
F Watkins.
• A fictionalized
autobiography in
which eleven-yearold Yoko escapes
from Korea to Japan
with her mother and
sister at the end of
World War II.
Daughter of Venice
F Napoli
• Frustrated with the
restrictions her gender
imposes on her life,
fourteen-year-old
Donata disguises
herself as a boy and
sneaks out of her noble
family's house to roam
the streets of late
sixteenth-century
Venice.
The Shadows of Ghadames
F Stolz
• At the end of the
nineteenth century in
Libya, eleven-year-old
Malika simultaneously
enjoys and feels
constricted by the
narrow world of women,
but an injured stranger
enters her home and
disrupts the traditional
order of things.
One More River
F Banks
• Fourteen-year-old
Lesley is upset
when her parents
abandon their
comfortable life in
Canada for a
kibbutz in Israel
prior to the 1967
war.
Habibi
F Nye
• When fourteen-year-old
Liyanne Abboud, her
younger brother, and
her parents move from
St. Louis to a new home
between Jerusalem and
the Palestinian village
where her father was
born, they face many
changes and must deal
with the tensions
between Jews and
Palestinians.
Samir and Yonatan
F Carmi
• Samir, a Palestinian
boy, is sent for surgery
to an Israeli hospital
where he has two
otherworldly
experiences, making
friends with an Israeli
boy, Yonatan, and
traveling with him to
Mars where Samir finds
peace about his
brother's death in the
war.
Seven Daughters & Seven
Sons
398.2 C662
• A retelling of a
traditional Arabic
tale in which a
young woman
disguises herself as
a man and opens up
a shop in a distant
city in order to help
her impoverished
family.
The Beduins' Gazelle
F Temple.
• In 1302, two cousins
of the nomadic Beni
Khalid tribe who are
betrothed become
separated by
political intrigue
between warring
tribes.
The Legend of the Wandering
King
F Gallego Garcia
• Motivated by
jealousy and the
desire to receive
acclaim as a great
poet, Walid ibn Huyr,
a prince of ancient
Arabia, commits
acts which
completely change
the course of his life.
Lugalbanda
398.2 H38
• An ancient
Sumerian tale about
the youngest and
weakest of eight
brothers who,
caught up in an illadvised war, uses
his wits and courage
and eventually
becomes king.
The Breadwinner
F Ellis
• Because the Taliban
rulers of Kabul,
Afghanistan, impose
strict limitations on
women's freedom and
behavior, eleven-yearold Parvana must
disguise herself as a
boy so that her family
can survive after her
father's arrest.
If You Could Be My Friend
956.94 Sh1
• Contains the
correspondence
between two girls, one
an Israeli and the other
a Palestinian, from
August 1988 until their
meeting in October
1991. Includes a brief
history of their two
peoples.
Three Wishes; Palestinian and
Israeli Children Speak
956.9 EL5
• The author interviews
Israeli and Palestinian
children regarding their
thoughts about being
caught in the middle of
the violence taking
place between the two
peoples.
Teen Voices from the Holy
Land; Who Am I To You?
305.8 W29
• Thirty--four young
Palestinians and
Israelis describe
their lives, their
dreams for the
future. and their
common desire for
peace and justice.
A Little Piece of Ground
F Laird
• During the Israeli
occupation of Ramallah
in the West Bank of
Palestine, twelve--yearold Karim and his
friends create a secret
place for themselves
where they can
momentarily forget the
horrors of war.
The Mzungu Boy
by Mwangi
• A twelve-year-old
Kenyan boy is
befriended by the
white landowner's
son, and they are
both caught up in
powerful forces as a
rebellion arises in
the area
Somehow Tenderness
Survives
SS Rochman
• A collection of ten
stories about
southern Africa - five
by black southern
Africans and five by
white southern
Africans - that
portray what it feels
like to grow up
under apartheid.
A Girl Named Disaster
F Farmer
• While fleeing from
Mozambique to
Zimbabwe to escape an
unwanted marriage,
Nhamo, an eleven-yearold Shona girl, struggles
to escape drowning and
starvation and in so
doing comes close to
the luminous world of
the African spirits.
Refugee Boy
F Zephaniah.
• Fourteen-year-old
Alem Kelo adjusts to
life as a foster child
seeking asylum in
London, while his
Eritrean mother and
Ethiopian father
work for peace
between their
homelands in Africa.
Dream Freedom
F Levitin
• Marcus and his
classmates learn about
the terrible problem of
slavery in present-day
Sudan and raise money
to help buy the freedom
of some of the slaves.
Alternate chapters tell
the stories of the
slaves.
Finding Miracles
F Alvarez.
• Fifteen-year-old
Milly Kaufman is an
average American
teenager until Pablo,
a new student at her
school, inspires her
to search for her
birth family in his
native country.
Little Soldier
F Ashley.
• Taken from Africa to
a foster home in
London after his
family is killed by an
enemy tribe,
Kaninda discovers
the meaning of hate
and the value of not
hating.
Wandering Warrior
by Da Chen
• Eleven-year-old
Luka, destined to
become the future
emperor of China, is
trained in the ways
of the kung fu
wandering warriors
by the wise monk
Atami.
The Divine Wind : a Love Story
F Disher.
• On the eve of World
War II, Hart, an
Australian boy and
Mitsy, a JapaneseAustralian girl, fall in
love but are driven
apart.
Samurai Shortstop
by Gratz,
• While obtaining a
Western education at a
prestigious Japanese
boarding school in
1890, sixteen-year-old
Toyo also receives
traditional samurai
training which has
profound effects on both
his baseball game and
his relationship with his
father.
Vero and Philippe
F Hatton
• When Mother fires the
housekeeper life
becomes difficult for the
entire Vo family,
Vietnamese immigrants
to France in 1964, but
eight-year-old Vero and
her twelve-year-old
brother, Philippe, work
together to try to
convince Mother to
rehire her.
Time's Memory
F Lester.
• Ekundayo, a Dogon
spirit brought to
America from Africa,
inhabits the body of a
young African American
slave on a Virginia
plantation, where he
experiences loss,
sorrow, and
reconciliation in the
months preceding the
Civil War.
Chinese Cinderella and the Secret
Dragon Society / Adeline Yen Mah.
• During the Japanese
occupation of parts of
China, twelve-year-old
Ye Xian is thrown out of
her father's and
stepmother's home,
joins a martial arts
group, and tries to help
her aunt and the
Americans in their
struggle against the
Japanese invaders.
Figs and fate : Stories About Growing Up
in the Arab World Today
SS Marston.
• A collection of five
stories portraying
Arab life in Egypt,
Lebanon, Syria, a
Palestinian refugee
camp in Lebanon,
and Iraq today.
The Eagle's Shadow
F Martin
• In 1946, while her
emotionally distant
father is in occupied
Japan, a twelve-yearold girl spends a year
with her mother's
relatives in a Tlingit
Indian village in Alaska
and begins to love and
respect her heritage as
she confronts the secret
of her mother's
disappearance.
Zazoo
F Mosher.
• Amid old secrets
revealed and rifts
healed, a thirteenyear-old Vietnamese
orphan raised in
rural France by her
aging "GrandPierre" learns about
life, death, and love.
The Pull of the Ocean
F Mourlevat
• Loosely based on
Charles Perrault's "Tom
Thumb," seven brothers
in modern-day France
flee their poor parents'
farm, led by the
youngest who, although
mute and unusually
small, is exceptionally
wise.
Journey to Jo’burg
F Naidoo
• Separated from their
mother by the harsh
social and economic
conditions prevalent
among blacks in South
Africa, thirteen-year-old
Naledi and her younger
brother make a journey
of over 300 kilometers
to find her in
Johannesburg.
No Turning Back
F Naidoo
• When the abuse at
home becomes too
much for twelveyear-old Sipho, he
runs away to the
streets of
Johannesburg and
learns to survive in
the post-apartheid
world.
Out of Bounds
SS Naidoo
• Seven stories, spanning
the time period from
1948 to 2000, chronicle
the experiences of
young people from
different races and
ethnic groups as they
try to cope with the
restrictions placed on
their lives by South
Africa's apartheid laws.
A Single Shard
F Park.
• Tree-ear, a thirteenyear-old orphan in
medieval Korea,
lives under a bridge
in a potters' village,
and longs to learn
how to throw the
delicate celadon
ceramics himself.
Keeper
F Peet.
• In an interview with a
young journalist, World
Cup hero, El Gato,
describes his youth in
the Brazilian rain forest
and the events,
experiences, and
people that helped
make him a great
goalkeeper and
renowned soccer star.
Jaguar
F Smith.
• While
accompanying his
father on an
expedition up the
Amazon River to a
jaguar preserve in
Brazil, fourteenyear-old Jacob must
contend with
dangerous animals
and fortune hunters.
Pacific Crossing
F Soto.
• Fourteen-year-old
Mexican American
Lincoln Mendoza
spends a summer
with a host family in
Japan, encountering
new experiences
and making new
friends.
The Land I Lost
B H98
• A collection of
personal
reminiscences of the
author's youth in a
hamlet on the
central highlands of
Vietnam.
Chinese Cinderella : the True Story
of an Unwanted Daughter
305.4 M272c
• A Chinese proverb
says, "Falling leaves
return to their roots".
Adeline Yen Mah
returns to her roots to
tell the story of her
painful childhood and
her ultimate triumph
and courage in the face
of despair.
Facing the Lion:Growing Up Maasai
on the African Savanna
916.7 L63
• A member of the Masai
people describes his life
as he grew up in a
northern Kenya village,
traveled to America to
attend college, and
became an elementary
school teacher in
Virginia.
Thura’s Diary:My Life in Wartime Iraq
by Thura Al-Windawi
B AL9
• Nineteen-year-old Thura alWindawi kept a diary during
the conflict in Iraq, saying
that it was her way of
controlling the chaos. The
diary, which documents the
days leading up to the
bombings, the war itself, and
the lawless aftermath, puts a
personal face on life in
Baghdad. Thura's Diary
gives the perspective of a
young woman caught in the
midst of a turbulent time and
puts a face, a name, and a
voice to the word Iraqi.
Search Terms
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Thailand - Fiction
Japan - Fiction
China - Fiction
India - Fiction
Mexico - Fiction
France - History - Fiction
South Africa - Biography
Persian Gulf War - Personal Narratives
Folklore - Iran