United States

Materials from United States of America

Mei Ling in China City

Based on a true story of events during World War II in China City, a 12-year-old Chinese American girl named Mei Ling Lee was separated from her best friend Yayeko Akiyama when she and her family were interned in the Manzanar War Relocation Center. By writing letters to each other, both young girls recounted their lives and hardships in China City and Manzanar. This unprecedented children’s book depicts the cross-cultural experiences of Americans of Chinese and Japanese ancestry during the war years.

My Ocean: A Novel of Cuba

After his grandparents emigrate, 12-year-old Enrique heads for the ocean, a source of comfort and solace. Why did they flee Cuba, leaving Enrique and his mother behind? Should they go, too? If not, will they, like so many others, be seen as disloyal? The sea has no answers for the boy. As the years pass, Enrique is invited to become a Pioneer, a special honor that bodes well for his future, but it means he’s forbidden from reading the letters his grandparents send home. Enrique wants to belong, to show that he’s deserving of the honor, and once again, he seeks the ocean’s solace. Once again, the ocean has no easy answers. Still, life goes on. There are games with his friends, swimming expeditions, girls to hang out with. And always, there’s the ocean, a place he can go in good times and bad as he tries to make sense of what the future holds for him, his family, and many other Cubans.

Red Midnight

When guerrilla soldiers strike Santiago’s village, they shoot at everyone in their path. Dos Vías is on fire, and the night glows red. “Take the cayuco and sail to the United States of America. Now go!” Santiago’s uncle Ramos tells him, and Santiago, twelve, and his four-year-old sister, Angelina, flee.

With a map, a machete, and very little food, Santiago and Angelina set sail in their uncle Ramos’s sea kayak, built for just such an escape, but not for a sailor who is only a boy. Santiago heads for the United States on a voyage that will take them through narrow channels guarded by soldiers, shark, infested waters, and days of painful heat and raging storms. Santiago knows that he and Angelina probably will die trying to make the voyage, but they certainly will die at the hands of rebels or government soldiers if they do not try.

Br’er Rabbit Captured!: A Dr. David Harleyson Adventure

World-renowned painter Dr. David Harleyson and his nephew John D. are about to set off another adventure! This time they’re headed down South to Sandy Creek, where Dr. David plans on capturing the famous trickster Br’er Rabbit on canvas—a portrait he’s always dreamed of painting. Br’er Fox has “thoughtfully” agreed to help.
 
But getting Br’er Rabbit to sit for his portrait is easier said than done because he has to keep slipping away from Br’er Fox and Br’er Wolf, who also want to capture him—to barbecue! It will be a summer of adventure—and misadventure—for John D. as he meets all the favorite characters from Uncle Remus and retells their classic tales in funny letters home to his dad.

Under the Ramadan Moon

Ramadan is one of the most special months of the Islamic year, when Muslims pray, fast, and help those in need. This story serves as an introduction to Ramadan.

Gothic Lolita: A Mystical Thriller

TWO GIRLS, THOUSANDS OF MILES APART…Chelsea lives in Los Angeles; Miya lives in Tokyo. Other than the fact they’re both half Japanese and obsessed with dressing like Gothic Lolitas, they would seem to have nothing in common. Or do they? THE BLOG THAT WENT AWAY. They got to know each other through their blogs. But three years ago something happened to Chelsea, an event so terrible that she stopped writing altogether. Miya’s been checking Chelsea’s blog ever since, to see if she’s come back, but she never has. Until today. A LIFE AND DEATH CONNECTION. Today is the day Chelsea finally goes back online and tells Miya everything. And today is the day that Miya’s life could change forever because of it. Like a Japanese manga come to life, Gothic Lolita is a mythic fairy tale about love, death, and rebirth…and the courage it takes to reach out to another soul.

Ask Me No Questions

Nadira and her family are undocumented, fleeing to the Canadian border as they run from the country they thought was their home. For years since emigrating from Bangladesh, they have lived on expired visas in New York City, hoping they could someday realize their dream of becoming legal citizens. But after 9/11, everything changes. Suddenly, being Muslim means being dangerous, a suspected terrorist. And when Nadira’s father is arrested and detained at the border, Nadira and her older sister, Aisha, are sent back to Queens and told to carry on, as if everything is the same. Nadira and Aisha live in fear they’ll have to return to a Bangladesh they hardly know. Aisha, always the responsible one, falls apart. It’s up to Nadira to find a way to bring her family back together again. Critically acclaimed author Marina Budhos has written a searing portrait of contemporary America in the days of terrorism, orange alerts, and the Patriot Act, and a moving and important story about something most people take for granted — citizenship and acceptance in their country.

Wildflower Girl

Thirteen-year-old Peggy O’Driscoll, left orphaned and homeless by the Great Famine of the 1840s, leaves Ireland to seek her fortune in America.

Gemini Summer

In the quiet of Hog’s Hollow, each member of the River family pursues a dream. Old Man River sets out to build a fallout shelter in case the war in Vietnam “brings the end of everything;” his wife Flo, who collects Gone with the Wind dolls, attempts to pen her own Southern saga; Beau, their older son, suffers from “space fever” and aspires to be an astronaut. As for Danny, the younger River boy, well, he just dreams of having a dog. Then in the spring of 1965 tragedy befalls the Rivers–a tragedy that makes the Old Man wish he’d never started building the shelter, stops Flo from finishing her bestseller, and leaves Beau grounded rather than airborne. But the tragedy does finally bring a dog into Danny’s life. And not just any old dog. Danny comes to believe that the mixed-breed stray embodies the spirit of someone he dearly loves. He won’t allow anyone to separate him from the dog, not even after it bites the neighborhood bully and the police are sent to take it away. Together Danny and his dog run off, heading toward Cape Caneveral, where the Gemini missions blast off from, and where dreams come true.