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On a hot day in July 1919, five black youths went swimming in Lake Michigan, unintentionally floating close to the “white” beach. An angry white man began throwing stones at the boys, striking and killing one. Racial conflict on the beach erupted into days of urban violence that shook the city of Chicago to its foundations. This mesmerizing narrative draws on contemporary accounts as it traces the roots of the explosion that had been building for decades in race relations, politics, business, and clashes of culture. This history includes archival photos and prints, source notes, bibliography, and an index.

Twelve-year-old Korean American Junie Kim, who’s kept quiet about the bullying and racism she encounters at school, is diagnosed with depression but is later inspired to speak out after learning about her grandparents’ experiences during the Korean War.

Biracial eighteen-year-old Daunis Fontaine has never quite fit in either in her hometown or on the nearby Ojibwe reservation. But when Daunis’s best friend, Lily, is murdered, she agrees to go undercover in her community and help the FBI while secretly pursuing her own investigation.

In the sticky-hot summer of 1968, a year in American history marked by assassination, Vietnam War protests, and civil rights rioting, Alice faces some trying concerns of her own.

On the surface, Ramiro Lopez and Jake Upthegrove couldn’t live more different lives. Ram is Mexican-American, lives in the poor section of town, and is doing his best to keep his mother sane while his brother fights off a drug-induced coma. Jake is a WASP who drives a nice car, lives in a mansion, and has a mother who drinks a bit too much and a step-father who cheats on her. But there is one point, one issue, where their lives are exactly the same; their fathers walked out on them when they were just young boys. And at this convergence, Ram and Jake see how everything in their lives is just a little bit similar, because they both blame everything that goes wrong on the one thing they actually have in common.

Frank’s parents insist that he only date Koreans, so when he falls for Brit, who is white, he teams up with Joy so they can pretend to date each other, giving them both the freedom to spend time to date who they like.

Times are tough for Beans and his family in Key West during the Great Depression. Can Beans and his friends trust the New Dealers who say that they have come to Florida to make their small, poor town a tourist destination? Bean’s saga is both humorous and poignant in his satisfying story.

Tanya Lee Stone deftly uses new research to illuminate the dramatic facts behind the 2013 film of the same name, focusing both on the girls captured on camera and many others. She examines barriers to education in depth—early child marriage and childbearing, slavery, sexual trafficking, gender discrimination, and poverty—and shows how removing these barriers means not only a better life for girls, but safer, healthier, and more prosperous communities.

Theater mice perform in a space just out of human sight in a venerable old New York theater. Alas! The leading rodent taken to Brooklyn before she performs in the final play before the theater is destroyed. Humor abounds in this satisfying tale.

Dangerous work and long hours were the norm for some poor children-many of them young immigrants — who worked in Pennsylvania coal mines prior to child labor laws.

Two friends — one black and wealthy, the other poor and white — are united by their lack of mothers, but divided by the racism and classicism in their small Ohio town.

Hand in Hand presents the stories of ten men from different eras in American history, organized chronologically to provide a scope from slavery to the modern day. The stories are punctuated with dynamic full color portraits and spot illustrations by two-time Caldecott Honor winner and multiple Coretta Scott King Book Award recipient Brian Pinkney. Backmatter includes a civil rights timeline, sources, and further reading. 

“You’re always drawing in that notebook of yours,” Dino’s friend teases. To the small boy, 1950s Havana is alive with color, music, and glamour, and he itches to capture it on paper. When Fidel Castro and the Communist Party take over the Cuban government, Dino’s family must move to New York, where the lonely boy pours his heart into making a model of Havana’s archways and balconies, buildings and streets. Rosemary Wells composes a tender ode to an immigrant boy who grew up to be a U.S. architect, while Peter Ferguson’s atmospheric paintings evoke two vibrant cities as they were half a century ago.

To avoid spending time with his father and his new girlfriend, eleven-year-old Nathan goes to stay with his grandma, Nali, on the Navajo reservation where Nathan meets a Holy Being from the Navajo Creation Story—a Water Monster in need of his help.

Can a painting speak? This collection of lyrical responses to famous American works of art provides answers.

This handsome addition to the series demonstrates the similarities between Christmas celebrations in different cultures and commonalities shared throughout the world. Lush photographs illuminate the straightforward text.

Crisp photographs are used to illustrate this truly American holiday while revealing its origins in harvest festivals. A table of contents, index, and more are included.

Sunita, a volunteer at the Wild at Heart Animal Clinic, desperately wants a cat of her own, but her parents won’t hear of it. Eventually, Sunita gets her animal as readers learn about feral cats and the need for animal control.

Like many girls her age in India, thirteen-year-old Koly faces her arranged marriage with hope and courage. But Koly’s story takes a terrible turn when in the wake of the ceremony, she discovers she’s been horribly misled—her life has been sold for a dowry. Can she forge her own future, even in the face of time-worn tradition? 

Horton Halfpott is the underappreciated but rule-abiding kitchen boy for the Luggertucks of Smugwick Manor. Everything changes — literally and figuratively — when Lady Luggertuck’s corset is loosened to unleash a series of farcical, laugh-out-loud adventures.

Ana Shen has what her social studies teacher calls a “marvelously biracial, multicultural family” but what Ana simply calls a Chinese-American father and an African-American mother. And on eighth-grade graduation day, that’s a recipe for disaster. Both sets of grandparents are in town to celebrate, and Ana’s best friend has convinced her to invite Jamie Tabata-the cutest boy in school—for a home-cooked meal.

When he was 10 years old, Victor wanted to be just like master magician Harry Houdini. For years Victor did not realize what magic he held in his hands with a box initialed “E.W.” What happened years later when Victor discovered that Houdini’s given name was Ehrick Weiss creates a plausible and captivating glimpse at a major historical figure.

“Young Quebrado’s name means ‘the broken one,’ a child ‘of two shattered worlds.’ The son of a Taíno Indian mother and a Spanish father, he is taken in 1510 from his village on the island that is present-day Cuba and enslaved on a pirate’s ship, where a brutal conquistador, responsible for thousands of deaths throughout the Americas, is held captive for ransom. When a hurricane destroys the boat, Quebrado is pulled from the water by a fisherman, Naridó, whose village welcomes him, but escape from the past proves nearly impossible.” — Gillian Engberg, Booklist

Growing up is particularly difficult for Evie Green as she has no past. She lost it when her father testified against fellow police officers in a racially motivated murder. Each family member must learn to deal with their new lives and identities alone.