Book — Historical fiction. By Margarita Engle. 2018. 192 pages.
A novel that uses free verse to tell the story of the 1943 Zoot Suit (or Sailor) Riots through a wide range of characters.
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Book — Fiction. By Marge Pellegrino. 2009. 250 pages.
Historical fiction for young adult readers about the experience of Central American refugees and the long journey north.
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Book — Fiction. By Beverley Naidoo, illustrated by Eric Velasquez. 1988. 96 pages.
A brother and sister take their sick sibling to the city of Johannesburg to get their mother at work, and come to understand the struggle for freedom and dignity taking place in South Africa.
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Book — Fiction. By Margarita Engle. 2016. 176 pages.
Story of three friends fighting for freedom in Cuba during the 19th century.
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Book — Fiction. By Cory Doctorow. 2008. 384 pages.
A contemporary novel for teenagers that explores Homeland Security and freedom of speech in the post-9/11 United States.
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Book — Fiction. By Katherine Paterson. 1995. 192 pages.
A young girl works in the mills and gets involved in labor activism.
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Book — Historical fiction. By Lynn Rubright. 2008. 89 pages.
Historical fiction inspired by incidents in the early life of sharecropper Owen Whitfield, the organizer of the Southern Tenant Farmers Union.
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Book — Fiction. By Harriette Gillem Robinet. 2003. 142 pages.
Historical fiction chapter book on the Haymarket labor struggles and massacre.
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Book — Fiction. By Chris Crowe. 2003. 240 pages.
Historical fiction about the murder of Emmett Till for high school students.
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Book — Fiction. By Robert Sharenow. 2009. 320 pages.
Louise's mother spends her mornings at the local elementary school with a group of women known as the Cheerleaders, who harass the school's first Black student, six-year-old Ruby Bridges.
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Book — Fiction. By Ann Turner and Ronald Himler. 1995. 32 pages.
Based on the diary of the author's great-grandmother, this is a poignant and compelling look at slavery through the eyes of a young girl.
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Book — Historical fiction. By Jewell Parker Rhodes. 2010. 224 pages.
Historical fiction for grades 6-12 about the devastation when the levees broke in New Orleans and how people drew on their wits, community, and history to survive.
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Book — Fiction. By Rita Williams-Garcia. 2010. 224 pages.
Chapter book for middle school introduces readers to the Black Panthers in 1960s Oakland.
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Book — Fiction. By Toni Morrison. 2004. 80 pages.
Fictional story and real photographs tell the story of desegregation, for upper elementary and above.
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Book — Fiction. By Deborah Wiles 2014. 544 pages.
Historical fiction for young adults set in Greenwood, Mississippi during the 1964 Freedom Summer.
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Book — Fiction. By Walter Dean Myers. 2011. 176 pages,
Historical novel about the 1863 draft riots in New York for young adults.
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Book — Fiction. By Deborah Ellis. 2009. 206 pages.
A story based in Bolivia about a group of peasants who organize against the military.
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Book — Fiction. By Silas House and Neela Vaswani. 2013. 304 pages.
Two 12-year old pen pals find commonalities in issues of the environment, immigration, employment, and overall human rights.
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Book — Fiction. By James Sturm and Rich Tommaso with an introduction by Gerald Early. 2007. 96 pages.
Told from the point of view of a sharecropper, this narrative in graphic novel format follows baseball champion Satchel Paige as he travels throughout the segregated South.
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Book — Fiction. By Patricia C. McKissack. 2007. 108 pages.
Story for young readers about a 12-year-old girl's education during the Harlem Renaissance with Zora Neale Hurston as her teacher.
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Book — Fiction. By Patricia McKissack. 2006. 112 pages.
Historical fiction about the lunch counter sit-ins for ages 9+.
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Book — Fiction. By Margarita Engle. 2016. 272 pages.
Historical fiction in free verse about the building of the Panama Canal.
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Book — Fiction. By Jewell Parker Rhodes. 2013. 288 pages.
Historical fiction about Reconstruction-era Louisiana through the eyes of a young girl who bridges the divide between the long-time plantation workers and the Chinese indentured servants.
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Book — Fiction. By Walter Dean Myers. 2009. 320 pages.
Young adult novel about a U.S. soldier in Iraq.
Teaching Activity by Walter Dean Myers
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Book — Historical fiction. By Winifred Conkling. 2011. 160 pages.
Based on the true story of two girls who meet in 1940s California and a landmark lawsuit on education.
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