Racism

Kite Runner

Posted on September 29, 2013 by webmaster

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The Kite Runner
by Khaled Hosseini

Amir is the privileged son of a wealthy businessman in Kabul, and Hassan, the son of Amir’s father’s servant are best friends. As children in the relatively stable Afghanistan of the early 1970s, the boys are inseparable. They spend idyllic days running kites and telling stories of mystical places and powerful warriors until an unspeakable event changes the nature of their relationship forever, and eventually cements their bond in ways neither boy could have ever predicted.

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Even after Amir and his father flee to America, Amir remains haunted by his cowardly actions and disloyalty. In part, it is these demons and the sometimes impossible quest for forgiveness that bring him back to his war-torn native land after it comes under Taliban rule.

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
840	Middle School	32	Adventure	2004	1594480001

Quake Disaster in San Francisco 1906

Posted on September 16, 2013 by webmaster

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Quake: Disaster in San Francisco – 1906
by Gail Langer Karwoski

It is 1906, and 13-year-old Jacob Kaufman, who lives in San Francisco with his father and little sister, is outside when a major earthquake shakes the city, cracking streets and toppling buildings. After Jacob and his dog save the life of San, a Chinese boy, the two join together to search for their families and for food and temporary shelter. Though San occasionally faces racial hostility, the boys meet many strangers who help them through the difficult days

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
770	Middle School	153	Historical Fiction	2006	1561453692

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Posted on July 1, 2013 by webmaster

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I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
by Maya Angelou

After Maya Johnson, age five, is raped while visiting her mother in St. Louis, she and her older brother Bailey are returned to the loving care of Momma Henderson (the children’s grandmother) in Stamps, Arkansas. Because of her traumatic experience, Maya stops speaking – even five years after the incident. She becomes instead a keen observer of her surroundings, particularly with the racial politics and divisions in her town.

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Mrs. Bertha Flowers, an “aristocrat of Black Stamps,” helps Maya get back on her feet. She tells Maya: “Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with the shades of deeper meaning.”

It is with these lines that Maya Johnson’s voice becomes alive. A historical autobiography that depicts one woman’s survival through adolescence, breaking down racial barriers, and becoming a mother; all the while showing the trials, motivations and triumphs that come along with being outcast from society.

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
1070L	High School	246	Autobiographical	1969	0553279378

To Kill a Mockingbird

Posted on April 16, 2013 by webmaster

To Kill a Mockingbird

by Harper Lee

This book takes place in small-town Depression-era Maycomb, Alabama. The story centers on the trial of Tom Robinson, a black worker who is falsely accused of rape by a young white woman. The small Southern town is bitterly divided over the racially fueled charges.

We see this ugly scenario play out through the eyes of a child. Jean Louise “Scout” Finch is the young daughter of Atticus, the civil rights lawyer who takes up Tom’s defense. She is spunky and bright and believes in the basic goodness of everyone, although the trial causes her to reexamine her beliefs. By the end of the novel, Scout learns about the evils of racism and the courage of one man (her father), who stands up for what he believes is right in the face of widespread public contempt.

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Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
870L	Young Adult	288	Drama	1960	0446310786