Farewell to Manzanar: A True Story of Japanese American Experience During and After the World War II Internment

During my undergrad years in Chicago, I had the privilege of meeting a Japanese American interment camp survivor. She, along with thousands of other Americans, were forced to live in these camps during WWII. According to my older friend, all of the Japanese Americans in her generation spent time in the camps. Their stories must be told in order for us to fully understand the effects of WWII on our country. Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston offers an insiders look at the interment camp through her poignant memoir.   

Journal of Scott Pendleton Collins: A World War II Soldier, Normandy, France, 1944

Walter Dean Myers thrusts the 21st. century reader into the heat of the Normandy invasion. Scott Collins' journal follows the gritty battle through the perspective of a young American soldier. This engaging first-person narrative builds background knowledge that brings social studies to life.  Myers' poignant depiction of the soldier's life allows readers relate to the many youth who fought and sacrificed for this nation.

As an avid Dear America fan, I picked up this book back in the day, skeptical about the plot of a boy's "journal".  My first thought after reading a few entries was this is better than "Saving Private Ryan." I always wanted to get inside the characters heads, and Myers finally took me there. Though this is the only title I've read in the My Name Is America Series, I am confident that this series is a wonderful way to achieve content area literacy.  Plus, every American child needs to know and feel that they are a part of this country's grand narrative. Instructional texts alone are not enough to foster that awareness. Rich historical fiction such as Myers' work engages readers holistically, leaving them poised to discover their role in the American story.

Reading Level from Lexile: 810L

The Roll of Thunder Gift Set

My parents gave me the Mildred D. Taylor series gift set as birthday present. I must have been ten or eleven. The timing couldn't have been better. I sensed commonality with Taylor's life-like characters, immersing myself in the Depression era Deep South. The protagonist, Cassie Logan, is the daughter of Black land-owners who have over come generations of adversity and injustice. Their land-ownership sets them apart from the majority of their community who are share-croppers. This young girl is n o exception; Taylor follows Cassie as she experiences the cruelty and senselessness of prejudice first hand. The stomach churning accounts of hatred and lyrical prose will engage readers mind, body and soul.