Best of
Multicultural-Literature

2000

Seven Spools of Thread: A Kwanzaa Story


Angela Shelf Medearis - 2000
    When their father dies, he leaves an unusual will: by sundown, the brothers must make gold out of seven spools of thread or they will be turned out as beggars.

Jazz


Walter Dean Myers - 2000
    From bebop to New Orleans, from ragtime to boogie, and every style in between, Jazz takes readers on a musical journey from jazz's beginnings to the present day. Created by a celebrated father-son team, Jazz is a Coretta Scott King Honor Book and a Kirkus Best Children's Books Editor's Choice.In addition to its colorful and lyrical celebration, the book includes a brief introductory essay about the history and form of jazz, as well as a timeline and glossary of jazz terms.Coretta Scott King Award Honor for illustrationALA Notable Children's BookLee Bennett Hopkins Poetry AwardPublishers Weekly's 100 Best Books of the YearKirkus Reviews Editor's ChoiceBooklist Editor's ChoiceBooklist Top Ten in Black HistoryBook Link's Best New Books for the ClassroomGolden Kite Award: Picture Book Text

The Upside Down Boy/El nino de cabeza


Juan Felipe Herrera - 2000
    Everything he does feels upside down: he eats lunch when it's recess and goes to play when it's time for lunch, and his tongue feels like a rock when he tries to speak English. But a sensitive teacher and his family help him find his voice through poetry, art and music.

Grandfather Counts


Andrea Cheng - 2000
    Helen is excited, but anxious. How will she and her siblings, who know only English, communicate with Gong Gong, who speaks only Chinese?At first Gong Gong keeps to himself, reading the Chinese newspapers he brought with him. Then one day, as Helen sits outside watching for the train that runs behind her house, Gong Gong joins her. He starts counting the train cars in Chinese, and then teaches Helen the words. Helen reciprocates by teaching Gong Gong to count in English. Soon Helen and Gong Gong are teaching each other more words, and a special bond between them begins to develop and grow.A moving intergenerational story, Grandfather Counts highlights the universality of the love shared between grandparent and grandchild, a love that helps them cross the boundaries of language and culture.

Escaping to America: A true story


Rosalyn Schanzer - 2000
    Tells how the author's family left difficult conditions in Poland to make a better life for themselves in America early in the twentieth century.

Brother Sun, Sister Moon: The Life and Stories of St. Francis


Margaret Mayo - 2000
    Born into a wealthy family, he led a dissolute life as a young man. Then one day he had a conversion experience while passing a poor leper's hut. From that day on, Francis dedicated his life to helping the poor and outcasts of society and to teaching respect for all living things. He was joined by a noblewoman, Clare, who was soon known as Sister Moon to Francis's Brother Sun. This appealing book includes many of the tales that were told about him, including his taming of the fierce wolf of Gubbio and the famous prayer that begins, "Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace". With its charming text and glowing illustrations this is a book to give, to keep, to cherish.

Words with Wings: A Treasury of African-American Poetry and Art


Belinda Rochelle - 2000
    African-American poetry and art take wing and soar in this collection compiled by Belinda Rochelle.With work that spans the nineteenth century through the present, this stunning collection pairs twenty poems by distinguished African-American poets with twenty works of art by acclaimed African-American artists.Renowned poets and artists such as Maya Angelou, Langston Hughes, Rita Dove, Countee Cullen, Jacob Lawrence, and Paul Lawrence Dunbar powerfully explore themes of slavery, racism, and black pride, among many others.Named as one of the New York Public Library's "100 Titles for Reading and Sharing," this important collection was described as "a stirring book that will take [readers] up close and also extend their view of themselves" in a starred review by Booklist.Supports the Common Core State Standards

Fishbone


Aimee Nezhukumatathil - 2000
    With a sensory zest that tickles both mind and tongue, she invokes her heritage in inimitable poems that go straight for the heart. Her gift for gloriously exact detail, her vulnerability, and her humor make Fishbone an impressive and eclectic debut.

My Very Own Room


Amada Irma Pérez - 2000
    Five brothers, two parents, and a house full of visiting relatives make a young Mexican American girl feel crowded.Five little brothers, two parents, and a house full of visiting relatives make a young Mexican American girl feel crowded. She loves her family, but how can she get a little space of her own? This delightful memoir of a California childhood, by Amada Irma P�rez, sparkles with exuberance and wit.Renowned painter Maya Christina Gonzalez brings the captivating scenes to life with bold colors and whimsical details. My Very Own Room gently teaches a valuable lesson about the strength of family and the importance of dreams.

Voices from the Fields: Children of Migrant Farmworkers Tell Their Stories


S. Beth Atkin - 2000
    Now in paperback, this critically acclaimed book features photographs, poems, and interviews with nine children who reveal the hardships and hopes of today's Mexican-American migrant farm workers and their families.