Showing titles in Multicultural Stories

Esperanza Ortega possesses all the treasures a young girl in Aguascalientes, Mexico could want. But a sudden tragedy shatters that dream, forcing Esperanza and Mama to flee to California and settle in a Mexican farm labor camp. There they confront the challenges of hard work, acceptance by their own people, and economic difficulties brought on by the Great Depression. Pam Munoz Ryan eloquently portrays the Mexican workers' plight in this abundant and passionate novel.

Set in Mississippi at the height of the Depression, this is the story of one family's struggle to maintain their integrity, pride, and independence in the face of racism and social injustice. And it is also Cassie's story - Cassie Logan, an independent girl who discovers over the course of an important year why having land of their own is so crucial to the Logan family, even as she learns to draw strength from her own sense of dignity and self-respect. 

 When Billy Burgers gets a bad report at the doctor, his mom starts pushing fruits and veggies and cutting out the junk food. Delirious from his cravings, Billy swipes a bag of chips from the school cafeteria and devours them. When he realizes his mistake, he rushes to pay, but it's too late. He's sent to the principal's office for stealing. Can Billy make up for his poor judgement? Can he live life with less junk food and more movement? Can he become Billy Burger, Model Citizen?! 

When Aria, a mysterious boy who never EVER speaks, starts at school and is picked on by His Royal Thug-ness Doofus (Rufus), Hero and her bestie Jaz feel compelled to help. But they're far too chicken to actually do anything heroic, so they befriend Aria and try to uncover the truth about him. What happened to his voice? Where did he come from? What are those three dents on his middle finger?

In his signature style, Oliver creates a fabulously diverse and heartfelt duo in Thao and Kadir and their sometimes hilarious and sometimes heart-wrenching dilemmas of culture and belonging in a remote rural community. Throw in some slam poetry, and it might just end in a lifelong friendship and a whole lot more understanding.

Tom Lee’s life changes forever the day he meets a talking tiger named Mr. Hu and discovers that he has magical powers and great responsibilities that he never imagined. Tom joins Mr. Hu’s ragtag band of creatures in their fight to keep an ancient talisman out of the hands of the worst possible enemy. This action-packed fantasy reveals a hidden world within our own where animals take human form, where friendship is the final weapon in the battle between good and evil, and where a young boy is responsible for saving the world he knows—and the one he is just discovering.

Zadie Ma has a special talent for telling stories...and it seems that some of Zadie's stories come true. Zadie's dearest wish is to have a dog of her own, and so she starts to write the story of a poor unwanted dog called Jupiter, who's just waiting to be rescued by a loving girl like Zadie. One morning when she's supposed to be minding the family shop for her mother, Zadie sets off to look for Jupiter. The scene that unfolds isn't quite the same as in her story, but she does find a real dog, and his name is Jupiter.

A companion book for young listeners based on 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus, the groundbreaking best seller by Charles C. Mann.

The Easter holidays are about to get a lot more exciting! Maddy and her best friend Dev have lucked out and are heading to the seaside where the brand-new roller coaster, the Mega Beast, is about to open. This will literally be life-changing! One problem: Maddy has to bring her annoying little brother Oli and her cheeky grandad Agung along for the weekend. With seaside hazards such as terrifying seagulls, stinky pickled eggs and a giant candyfloss-mad dog to deal with, will Maddy ever get to loop-the-loop on the best ride ever?

February 19, 1942. George Takei is four years old when his world changes forever. Two months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declares anyone of Japanese descent an enemy of the United States. George and his family were American in every way. They had done nothing wrong. But because of their Japanese ancestry, they were removed from their home in California and forced into camps with thousands of other families who looked like theirs.

Piper Chen loves nothing more than to sing. She sings to the sun, and she sings to the moon. She sings to her stuffed animals and with the birds outside her window. So, when her music teacher asks if Piper would like to sing a solo in her school’s Spring Sing, all she can say is “yes!” But as practice continues, doubt and worry creep in and Piper’s confidence wavers. She feels like butterflies are having a dance party in her belly.

Kwan Wilson was a high school basketball star living in San Diego when a tragic accident changed his life in ways no one could predict. He only looked at his phone for a few seconds, but that was all the time it took to crash his car into a telephone pole, killing his mother and paralyzing him from the waist down. After the accident, his father, Admiral Douglas Wilson, sent him off to live with his maternal grandmother in South Florida.

Michael Jackson's journey to fame began in 1966 at age eight, when he started singing with his brothers in the Jackson 5. In the early 1970s, he launched a solo career, accumulating a dozen number-one singles. His record-breaking album, Thriller, has sold an estimated 110 million copies worldwide. He won 17 Grammy awards and was introduced into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice. In 2009, people of all ages mourned Michael's sudden death.

This chapter-book edition of the number-one New York Times best seller by luminaries Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds is an essential introduction to the history of racism and antiracism in America.

The number one sports series for kids takes listeners on the court and behind the scenes with beloved NBA icon Kobe Bryant in this inspiring biography.

Her name is Omakayas, or Little Frog, because her first step was a hop, and she lives on an island in Lake Superior. It is 1850 and the lives of the Ojibwe have returned to a familiar rhythm: they build their birchbark houses in the summer, go to the ricing camps in the fall to harvest and feast, and move to their cozy cedar log cabins near the town of LaPointe before the first snows.

Underneath the New Mexico sky, a Navajo boy named Cody finds that his family's barrels of water are empty. He checks the chicken coop-- nothing. He walks down the road to the horses' watering hole. Dry. Meanwhile, a few miles away, Darlene Arviso drives a school bus and picks up students for school. After dropping them off, she heads to another job: she drives her big yellow tanker truck to the water tower, fills it with three thousand gallons of water, and returns to the reservation, bringing water to Cody's family, and many, many others.

Liam is starting at a new school, and he is worried about making new friends. When a classmate asks about Liam’s cleft lip, Liam is afraid the boy is making fun of him. But in class that afternoon, Liam discovers that what makes him different also makes him special, and that is a reason to be proud. K-3 listeners will find a friend in this series featuring quiet but strong Indigenous third-grader Liam Kingbird.

This book is an essential resource for young listeners to learn about the Reign of Terror against the Osage people – one of history's most ruthless and shocking crimes. In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Nation in Oklahoma, thanks to the oil that was discovered beneath their land. Then, one by one, the Osage began to die under mysterious circumstances, and anyone who tried to investigate met the same end.

Every year, in the magical town of Ravenskill, Witchlings who participate in the Black Moon Ceremony are placed into covens and come into their powers as full-fledged witches. And 12-year-old Seven Salazar can't wait to be placed in the most powerful coven with her best friend! But on the night of the ceremony, in front of the entire town, Seven isn't placed in one of the five covens. She's a Spare!