A Step from Heaven, by An Na

A Step from Heaven by An Na publisher and date: Front Street, 2002 genre: realistic fiction age/grade: young adult Synopsis (from www.bn.com) 2001 National Book Award Nominee When she is five, Young Ju Park and her family move from Korea to California. During the flight, they climb so far into the sky she concludes they [...]

In the Small, Small Night, by Jane Kurtz

by Jane Kurtz illustrated by Rachel Isadora Publisher and date: Greenwillow Books, 2005 Genres: fiction with folktales mixed in Age/Grade:ages 5 and up Synopsis: (from the author’s website) Kofi can’t sleep in his new home in the United States, so his older sister Abena soothes his fears about life in a different country by telling [...]

The Color of Home, by Mary Hoffman

by Mary Hoffman Illustrated by Karin Littlewood Publisher and date: Phyllis Fogelman Books, 2002 Genres: fiction Age/Grade:ages 4-8 Synopsis: (from www.bn.com) This remarkably moving picture book follows first-grader Hassan through his first few days at school. Hassan has only recently arrived in the United States after he and his family were forced to flee Somalia, [...]

Water Hole Waiting, by Jane Kurtz

by Jane Kurtz and Christopher Kurtz Illustrated by Lee Christiansen Publisher and date: Harper Collins, March 2002 Genres: fiction Age/Grade:ages 4-8 Synopsis: (from www.bn.com) Waiting is hard. And if you are a small vervet monkey with a big thirst, it’s even harder. But wait you must, because snap! go Crocodile’s jaws; slip, slap go Lion’s [...]

Brothers in Hope: The Story of the Lost Boys of Sudan, by Mary Williams

by Mary Williams Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie Publisher and date: Lee and Low, April 2005 Genres: nonfiction Age/Grade:ages 7 and up Synopsis: (from www.leeandlow.com) Eight-year-old Garang is tending cattle far from his family’s home in southern Sudan when war comes to his village. Frightened but unharmed, he returns to find everything has been destroyed.Soon [...]

Weedflower, by Cynthia Kadohata

Weedflower Author: Cynthia Kadohata Publisher and date: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2006 Genres: historical fiction Age/Grade: Grades 5 and up Synopsis: (from www.bn.com) Twelve-year-old Sumiko feels her life has been made up of two parts: before Pearl Harbor and after it. The good part and the bad part. Raised on a flower farm in [...]

The Year of the Dog

The Year of the Dog by Grace Lin publisher and date: Little, Brown, and Compan, 2006 genre: from the author’s website: The book is fiction, but almost everything had a real life inspiration. age/grade: ages 8-12 Synopsis: from Gracelin.com Grace’s first middle grade novel! This exhuberant novel follows a young girl’s adventures during the Chinese [...]