Ages 10-13; Gr.5-7.
The inspirational true story of how twenty-two-year-old Henny Sinding courageously helped smuggle hundreds of Jewish families in occupied Denmark to safety in Sweden during the Holocaust. In 1943, Henny Sinding, only twenty-two years old, and the crew of Gerda lll, a lighthouse supply boat, risked everything to smuggle their Jewish compatriots across the Øresund strait to safety in Sweden during World War ll.

Lexile measure 710; Gr.5-8; National Book award finalist 2023.
In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, thirteen-year-old Matthew discovers a shocking secret about his great-grandmother's past as he learns about her life during the Holodomor famine in Soviet Ukraine.

Lexile measure HL530L; Ages 10 and up; Gr.5-8; Pura Belpre illustrator winner, 2024.
Pedro Martín has grown up hearing stories about his abuelito--his legendary crime-fighting, grandfather who was once a part of the Mexican Revolution! But that doesn't mean Pedro is excited at the news that Abuelito is coming to live with their family. After all, Pedro has 8 brothers and sisters and the house is crowded enough! Still, Pedro piles into the Winnebago with his family for a road trip to Mexico to bring Abuelito home, and what follows is the trip of a lifetime, one filled with laughs and heartache.

Ages 12 and up; Gr.7 and up.
When Jarrett J. Krosoczka was in high school, he was part of a program that sent students to be counselors at a camp for seriously ill kids and their families. Going into it, Jarrett was worried: Wouldn't it be depressing, to be around kids facing such a serious struggle? Wouldn't it be grim? But instead of the shadow of death, Jarrett found something else at Camp Sunshine: the hope and determination that gets people through the most troubled of times.

Ages 10 and up; Gr.4-6; Sydney Taylor notable book, 2023.
The moving true story of how young Ukrainian Jewish piano prodigies Zhanna (alias "Anna") and her sister Frina outplayed their pursuers while hiding in plain sight during the Holocaust.

Ages 12-18; Gr.7-9.
In America, there is a tradition of teens protesting injustice and bringing about change that the older generation just couldn't. Craftivism means using handmade art to provoke, to interrupt, to draw attention, to help others, and hopefully to bring change. Ever heard of the AIDS Memorial Quilt, which helped raise awareness of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s? That's craftivism.

Ages 12 and up; Gr.7-9.
In another unrelenting look at the iniquities of the American justice system, Lawrence Goldstone examines the history of racism against Japanese Americans, exploring the territory of citizenship and touching on fears of non-white immigration to the US -- with hauntingly contemporary echoes.

Ages 12-18; Gr.7 and up.
There is a saying: knowledge is power. The secret is this. Knowledge, applied at the right time and place, is more than power. It's magic. That's what the Black Panther Party did. They called up this magic and launched a revolution.

Ages 14 and up; Gr.7 and up.
After spending her early years in Wuhan, China, riding water buffalos and devouring stinky tofu, Laura immigrates to Texas, where her hometown is as foreign as Mars--at least until 2020, when COVID-19 makes Wuhan a household name. In Messy Roots, Laura illustrates her coming-of-age as the girl who simply wants to make the basketball team, escape Chinese school, and figure out why girls make her heart flutter.

Ages 10 and up; Gr.5 and up.
Acclaimed novelist Ibi Zoboi illuminates the young life of the visionary storyteller Octavia E. Butler in poems and prose. Born into the Space Race, the Red Scare, and the dawning Civil Rights Movement, Butler experienced an American childhood that shaped her into the groundbreaking science-fiction storyteller whose novels continue to challenge and delight readers fifteen years after her death.

Lexile measure 730; Ages 8-12; Gr.5 and up; Pura Belpre award, author honor 2022.
Based on a true story, the tale of one girl's perilous journey to cross the U.S. border and lead her family to safety during the Mexican Revolution.

Gr.7 and up.
A searing new work of nonfiction from award-winning author Brandy Colbert about the history and legacy of one of the most deadly and destructive acts of racial violence in American history: the Tulsa Race Massacre.

Ages 10-14; Gr.5-9.
From Children's Literature Legacy Award-winning author Nikki Grimes comes a feminist-forward new collection of poetry celebrating the little-known women poets of the Harlem Renaissance--paired with full-color, original art from today's most talented female African-American illustrators.

Lexile measure 930; Ages 12 and up; Gr.7 and up.
This inspiring memoir chronicles Top Chef star and Forbes and Zagat 30 Under 30 phenom Kwame Onwuachi's incredible and odds-defying fame in the food world after a tough childhood in the Bronx and Nigeria.

Ages 10-14; gr.7 and up.
In an exquisitely curated volume of 140 full-color and black-and-white photographs, Martin W. Sandler unpacks the United States Farm Security Administration's sweeping visual record of the Great Depression.

Lexile measure 1120; Ages 10-14; Gr.5-9.
In this key civil rights and social justice book for young readers, Scipio Africanus Jones-a self-taught attorney who was born enslaved-leads a momentous series of court cases to save twelve Black men who'd been unjustly sentenced to death.

Ages 12 and up; Gr.7 and up,
a National Book Award Finalist A Coretta Scott King Author Award Honor Book A Michael L. Printz Honor Book A Walter Dean Myers Honor Book.
With passion and precision, Kekla Magoon relays an essential account of the Black Panthers--as militant revolutionaries and as human rights advocates working to defend and protect their community. In this comprehensive, inspiring, and all-too-relevant history of the Black Panther Party, Kekla Magoon introduces readers to the Panthers' community activism, grounded in the concept of self-defense, which taught Black Americans how to protect and support themselves in a country that treated them like second-class citizens.

Ages 8-12; Gr.4-6.
An ALA Top Ten and Eisner-nominated middle grade graphic novel adventure based on a true story, about a young conservationist who overcomes the odds to save and return a sun bear to its natural habitat.

Lexile measure 930; Ages 10-14; Gr.5-9.
Ernest Shackleton's remarkable story is a terrifying adventure with the happiest of endings - another brilliant narrative non-fiction Antarctic adventure featuring an explorer who was a true polar hero.

Ages 8-14; Gr.6-10.
Before there was Barack Obama, before there was Kamala Harris, there was Fighting Shirley Chisholm. Running for President chronicles the life of Shirley Chisholm, a woman of matchless integrity and great dignity who had a passion for social justice. Chisolm was the first black woman to seek presidential nomination from a major party when she announced her candidacy for the Democratic nomination in 1972.

Lexile measure 1120; Ages 8-12, Gr.6 and up.
Unravel the mystery of how and why Henry Wadsworth Longfellow twisted historical facts when he penned his famous poem, 'Paul Revere's Ride'.

Ages 12-18; Gr.7-12.
The term "Apple" is a slur in Native communities across the country. It's for someone supposedly "red on the outside, white on the inside." In APPLE (SKIN TO THE CORE), Eric Gansworth tells his story, the story of his family--of Onondaga among Tuscaroras--of Native folks everywhere. From the horrible legacy of the government boarding schools, to a boy watching his siblings leave and return and leave again, to a young man fighting to be an artist who balances multiple worlds. Eric shatters that slur and reclaims it in verse and prose and imagery that truly lives up to the word heartbreaking.

Ages 8-14; Gr.7-9.
Uri Shulevitz details the eight-year odyssey of how he and his Jewish family escaped the terrors of the Nazis by fleeing Warsaw for the Soviet Union in Chance. It was during those years, with threats at every turn, that the young Uri experienced his awakening as an artist, an experience that played a key role during this difficult time.

Ages 10-14; Gr.5-9.
Award-winning author Tonya Bolden explores Black women who have changed the world of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) in America. Including groundbreaking computer scientists, doctors, inventors, physicists, pharmacists, mathematicians, aviators, and many more, this book celebrates more than 50 women who have shattered the glass ceiling, defied racial discrimination, and pioneered in their fields.

Ages 8-12; Gr.5-8.
On the hundredth anniversary of the historic win for women's rights, it's time to celebrate the names and stories of the women whose stories have yet to be told. Gorgeous portraits accompany biographies of such fierce but forgotten women as Yankton Dakota Sioux writer and advocate Zitkála-Sá, Mary Eliza Church Terrell, who cofounded the National Association of Colored Women (NACW), and Mabel Ping-Hua Lee, who, at just sixteen years old, helped lead the biggest parade in history to promote the cause of suffrage.

Ages 8-12; Gr.7-9.
The Moon landing is one of the most ambitious, thrilling, and dangerous ventures in human history. This exquisitely researched and illustrated book tells the stories of the 400,000 unsung heroes--the engineers, mathematicians, seamstresses, welders, and factory workers--and their innovations and life-changing technological leaps forward that allowed NASA to achieve this unparalleled accomplishment.

Ages 10-14; Gr.5-7; Coretta Scott King author honor, 2021.
An eye-opening book that tells the important, overlooked story of black women as a force in the suffrage movement--when fellow suffragists did not accept them as equal partners in the struggle. For African American women, the fight for the right to vote was only one battle. Women of color, especially African American women, were fighting for their right to vote and to be treated as full, equal citizens of the United States. Their battlefront wasn't just about gender. African American women had to deal with white abolitionist-suffragists who drew the line at sharing power with their black sisters. They had to overcome deep, exclusionary racial prejudices that were rife in the American suffrage movement. And they had to maintain their dignity--and safety--in a society that tried to keep them in its bottom ranks.

Ages 11 - 20.
The construct of race has always been used to gain and keep power, to create dynamics that separate and silence. This remarkable reimagining of Dr. Ibram X. Kendi's National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning reveals the history of racist ideas in America, and inspires hope for an antiracist future.

Lexile measure 940; Ages 10-15;Gr.5 and up.
Civil rights icon Ruby Bridges--who, at the age of six, was the first black child to integrate into an all-white elementary school in New Orleans--inspires readers and calls for action in this moving letter. Written as a letter from civil rights activist and icon Ruby Bridges to the reader, This Is Your Time is both a recounting of Ruby's experience as a child who had to be escorted to class by federal marshals when she was chosen to be one of the first black students to integrate into New Orleans' all-white public school system and an appeal to generations to come to effect change.

Ages 10 and up; Gr.7 and up; National Book award winner, 2019.
1919 was a world-shaking year. America was recovering from World War I and black soldiers returned to racism so violent that that summer would become known as the Red Summer. The suffrage movement had a long-fought win when women gained the right to vote. Laborers took to the streets to protest working conditions; nationalistic fervor led to a communism scare; and temperance gained such traction that prohibition went into effect.

Ages 10 and up; Gr.5-6.
It's 1941 and ten-year-old Norman Mineta is a carefree fourth grader in San Jose, California, who loves baseball, hot dogs, and Cub Scouts. But when Japanese forces attack Pearl Harbor, Norm's world is turned upside down as, one by one, things that he and his Japanese American family took for granted are taken away.

Lexile measure 840; Ages 12 and up; Gr.7 and up; Printz award honor, 2020.
In her own voice, acclaimed author and poet Nikki Grimes explores the truth of a harrowing childhood in a compelling and moving memoir in verse. Growing up with a mother suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and a mostly absent father, Nikki Grimes found herself terrorized by babysitters, shunted from foster family to foster family, and preyed upon by those she trusted.

Ages 12 and up, Gr.6-9.
This book is about the Stonewall Riots, a series of spontaneous, often violent demonstrations by members of the gay (LGBTQ+) community in reaction to a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. The Riots are attributed as the spark that ignited the LGBTQ+ movement.

Lexile measure 840; Ages 10-14; Gr.5-8.
Amid the constant rain of German bombs and the escalating violence of World War II, British parents by the thousands chose to send their children out of the country: the wealthy, independently; the poor, through a government relocation program called CORB. In September 1940, passenger liner SS City of Benares set out in a convoy of nineteen ships sailing for Canada. On board were ninety CORB children, chaperones, and crew, along with paying passengers.

Ages 12 and up; Gr.7 and up; Printz Honor, 2020.
New from Geraldine McCaughrean comes an extraordinary story of eight boys stranded on a rock in the middle of the sea, left to fight for their survival. Every time a lad went fowling on the stacs, he came home less of a boy and more of a man. If he went home at all, that is. This is an extraordinary story of fortitude, endurance, tragedy and survival, set against an unforgettable backdrop of savage beauty.

Lexile measure 1110; Ages 12 and up; Gr.7 and up.
A rousing rags-to-riches episode, a tale of youth power, and a scarcely told chapter in African-American history, Attucks! charts the rise of the legendary Crispus Attucks High School Tigers in the 1950s. By winning the Indiana state high school basketball boys' championship in 1955, ten teens from a school meant to be the centerpiece of racially segregated education in Indiana shattered the myth of their own inferiority.

Lexile measure 960; Ages 12 and up; Gr.7 and up.
The history of this era is complex; the cultural impact extraordinary. But it's the personal stories of eight people-six American soldiers, one American military nurse, and one Vietnamese refugee-that create the heartbeat of Boots on the Ground.

Lexile measure 1010; Ages 13-17 ; Gr.7 and up.
An astonishing account of the assassination of America's most beloved and celebrated civil rights leader, Martin Luther King, by NY Times bestselling author, James L. Swanson.

Ages 9-12; Gr.5-8.
Today, we know Dolores Huerta as the cofounder, with Cesar Chavez, of the National Farmworkers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers of America. We know her as a tireless advocate for the rights of farmworkers, Mexican American immigrants, women, and LGBTQ populations.

Lexile measure 1140L; ages 11-14; Gr.5-9.
Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) is best known for the telling of his own emancipation. But there is much more to Douglass's story than his time spent enslaved and his famous autobiography.

Lexile measure 1110; Ages 11-13; Gr.5-8
Robert F. Sibert Medal winner Bugs, of all kinds, were considered to be "born of mud" and to be "beasts of the devil." Why would anyone, let alone a girl, want to study and observe them? One of the first naturalists to observe live insects directly, Maria Sibylla Merian was also one of the first to document the metamorphosis of the butterfly.

Lexile measure 1230; Ages 12 and up; Gr.7 and up.
Rebels, rulers, scientists, artists, warriors and villains Women are, and have always been, all these things and more. Looking through the ages and across the globe, Anita Sarkeesian, founder of Feminist Frequency, along with Ebony Adams PHD, have reclaimed the stories of twenty-five remarkable women who dared to defy history and change the world around them.

Lexile measure 950; Gr.6 and up.
From the legendary civil rights activist and author of the million-copy selling Warriors Don't Cry comes an ardent and profound childhood memoir of growing up while facing adversity in the Jim Crow South. Long before she was one of the Little Rock Nine, Melba Pattillo Beals was a warrior. Frustrated by the laws that kept African-Americans separate but very much unequal to whites, she had questions.

Ages 10-13; Gr.5 and up.
A meningitis outbreak in their underprivileged neighbourhood left Sylvia Acevedo's family forever altered. As she struggled in the aftermath of loss, young Sylvia's life transformed when she joined the Brownies. The Girl Scouts taught her how to take control of her world and nourished her love of numbers and science.

Lexile measure 1090; Ages 10 and up; Gr.6-8.
"Women's rights are human rights." The words are relevant today, but they could just as easily have been used by Elizabeth Cady Stanton at Seneca Falls in 1848. Or Susan B. Anthony when she was arrested for voting in 1872. Or Alice Paul when she was imprisoned and tortured for peacefully protesting outside of the White House in 1917. The story of women's suffrage is epic.

Lexile measure 1000; Ages 10-14; Gr.5-9; Robert F. Sibert Informational Honor Book, 2019.
In this nonfiction title for young readers, acclaimed author Gail Jarrow explores in riveting detail the famous War of the Worlds radio broadcast from 1938, highlighting the artists behind the broadcast, the broadcast itself, the aftermath, and the repercussions of "fake news" today.

Lexile measure 680; ages 12 and up; Gr.7-9.
A sculptor of historical figures starts with givens but creates her own vision. Edmonia Lewis was just such a sculptor, but she never spoke or wrote much about her past, and the stories that have come down through time are often vague or contradictory. Some facts are known: Edmonia was the daughter of an Ojibwe woman and an African Haitian man. She had the rare opportunity to study art at Oberlin, one of the first schools to admit women and people of color, but lost her place after being accused of poisoning and theft, despite being acquitted of both. She moved to Boston and eventually Italy, where she became a successful sculptor.

Lexile measure 1110; Ages 12 and up; Gr.6-8.
Examines the Constitutional origins of modern-day political problems and outlines solutions for these issues.

Lexile measure 1120; Ages 8-12; Gr.4-8.
Swept up in the Gold Rush of 1897, young Jack London headed north to strike it rich in the Klondike and discovered something more precious than gold--the seeds of the stories that would flower into his classic novels The Call of the Wild and White Fang, and timeless short stories such as "To Build A Fire."

Ages 10-14; Gr.5-9.
Over the centuries, untold numbers of black men and women in America have achieved great things against the odds. Pathfinders is a collective biography of sixteen diverse American men and women of African descent who made their mark on American history in the 18th to 20th centuries.

Lexile measure 1090L; Ages 13 and up; Gr.7 and up.
A New York Public Library Best Book of 2017 A Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Book for Teens 2017 This first-ever LGBTQ history book of its kind for young adults will appeal to fans of fun, empowering pop-culture books like Rad American Women A-Z and Notorious RBG.

Lexile measure 1100; Ages 8-12; Gr.4-8.
In luminous paintings and arresting poems, two of children's literature's top African-American scholars track Arturo Schomburg's quest to correct history. Traces legal clerk Arturo Schomburg's efforts to curate a collection of African books, letters, music, and art.

Lexile measure NC790L; Gr.4-8.
The world's greatest scientists gather in a secret town in the desert to develop the atomic bomb.

Gr.6 and up.
Tillie Walden's Eisner Award winning graphic memoir Spinning captures what it's like to come of age, come out, and come to terms with leaving behind everything you used to know.

Lexile measure 1080; Ages 10 and up; Gr.5 and up.
A 2018 Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award Winner On May 4, 1961, a group of thirteen black and white civil rights activists launched the Freedom Ride, aiming to challenge the practice of segregation on buses and at bus terminal facilities in the South. The Ride would last twelve days. Despite the fact that segregation on buses crossing state lines was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1946, and segregation in interstate transportation facilities was ruled unconstitutional in 1960, these rulings were routinely ignored in the South.

Lexile measure 980; Ages 10-14; Gr.6 and up.
Native American Jim Thorpe became a super athlete and Olympic gold medalist. Indomitable coach Pop Warner was a football mastermind. In 1907 at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania, they forged one of the winningest teams in American football history. Called "the team that invented football," they took on the best opponents of their day, defeating much more privileged schools in a series of breathtakingly close calls, genius plays, and bone-crushing hard work.

Lexile measure 900; ages 14 and up; Gr.7 and up.
The deep and enduring friendship between Vincent and Theo Van Gogh shaped both brothers' lives. They shared everything, swapping stories of lovers and friends, successes and disappointments, dreams and ambitions.

Lexile measure 1170; Ages 12 and up.
While most people say they believe in equal rights, the word feminism--America's new F-word--makes people uncomfortable. Explore the history of US feminism through pioneers such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Betty Friedan, Shirley Chisholm, and Gloria Steinem. Meet modern leaders such as Rebecca Walker and Julie Zeilinger, who are striving to empower women at work, in government, at home--and in cultural and personal arenas.

Lexile measure 1050; Ages 12 and up; Gr.7 and up.
Most people know Florence Nightingale was a compassionate and legendary nurse, but they don't know her full story. This riveting biography explores the exceptional life of a woman who defied the stifling conventions of Victorian society to pursue what was considered an undesirable vocation.

Gr.5-8.
The history is told through personal stories and firsthand accounts of the movement's key events, like the 1950s "Lavender Scare," the Stonewall Inn uprising, and the AIDS crisis.

Ages 10-14; Gr.6 and up; YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults, 2017.
Through the powerful stories of five enslaved people who were "owned" by four of our greatest presidents, this book helps set the record straight about the role slavery played in the founding of America.

Lexile measure 840; Ages 5-8.
Critically acclaimed author Jabari Asim and Caldecott Honor-winning illustrator E.B. Lewis give readers a fascinating glimpse into the boyhood of Civil Rights leader John Lewis. John wants to be a preacher when he grows up a leader whose words stir hearts to change, minds to think, and bodies to take action.

Lexile measure 850; Ages 10-18.
This striking work of narrative nonfiction tells the true story of six-year-old Sachiko Yasui's survival of the Nagasaki atomic bomb on August 9, 1945, and the heartbreaking and lifelong aftermath.

Lexile measure 950; Ages 10-14; Gr.5-8.
Documents the true story of the legendary samurai who was raised in the household of the enemies who killed his father before being sent to live in a monastery where, against the odds, he learned and perfected his fighting skills.

Lexile measure 1210; Ages 11 and up.
Young Nellie Bly had ambitious goals, especially for a woman at the end of the nineteenth century, when the few female journalists were relegated to writing columns about cleaning or fashion. But fresh off a train from Pittsburgh, Nellie knew she was destined for more and pulled a major journalistic stunt that skyrocketed her to fame: feigning insanity, being committed to the notorious asylum on Blackwell's Island, and writing a shocking exposé of the clinic's horrific treatment of its patients.

Lexile measure 1080; Ages 13 and up; Gr.6-10.
A 2017 YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction finalist! This book explores the way government policy and popular responses to immigrant groups evolved throughout U.S. history, particularly between 1800 and 1965.

Lexile measure 1050; Ages 12 and up; Gr.7 and up.
Just seventy-five years ago, the American government did something that most would consider unthinkable today- it rounded up over 100,000 of its own citizens based on nothing more than their ancestry and, suspicious of their loyalty, kept them in concentration camps for the better part of four years. How could this have happened? Uprooted takes a close look at the history of racism in America and carefully follows the treacherous path that led one of our nation's most beloved presidents to make this decision.

Lexile measure 1220; Ages 9-13; Gr.6-8.
A comprehensive overview of one of the most controversial wars in America's history written by masterful children's historian and Newbery Medalist Russell Freedman.

Lexile measure 630; Gr.6-8; Robert F. Sibert Honor Award honor, 2017.
In his signature eloquent prose, backed up by thorough research, Russell Freedman tells the story of Austrian-born Hans Scholl and his sister Sophie. They belonged to Hitler Youth as young children, but began to doubt the Nazi regime. As older students, the Scholls and a few friends formed the White Rose, a campaign of active resistance to Hitler and the Nazis.

Lexile measure 970; Ages 11-15; Gr.6-10.
A Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Honor Winner At the outset of World War II, Denmark did not resist German occupation. Deeply ashamed of his nation's leaders, fifteen-year-old Knud Pedersen resolved with his brother and a handful of schoolmates to take action against the Nazis if the adults would not.

Lexile measure 1040; Ages 10-14; gr.5-9; Guided reading Z.
Sibert Honor author Deborah Hopkins brings us remarkable stories from the Danish resistance during WWII. When the Nazis invaded Denmark the morning of Tuesday, April 9, 1940, the people of this tiny country to the north of Germany awoke to a devastating surprise. The government of Denmark surrendered quietly, and the Danes were ordered to go about their daily lives as if nothing had changed. But everything had changed.

Lexile measure GN920L; Ages 12 and up; Gr.6-9.
One thousand eight hundred and thirty-three people lost their lives. The tale of this historic storm and the drowning of an American city is one of selflessness, heroism, and courage -- and also of incompetence, racism, and criminality.

Lexile measure 1120; Ages 12-18; Gr.5-8.
In this poetic memoir, which won the Pura Belpré Author Award, was a YALSA Nonfiction Finalist, and was named a Walter Dean Myers Award Honoree, acclaimed author Margarita Engle tells of growing up as a child of two cultures during the Cold War. Her heart lies in Cuba, her mother's tropical island country, a place so lush with vibrant life that it seems like a fairy tale kingdom. But most of the time she lives in Los Angeles, lonely in the noisy city and dreaming of the summers when she can take a plane through the enchanted air to her beloved island.

Lexile measure AD740L; Gr.5 and up.
Born of Mohawk and Cayuga descent, musical icon Robbie Robertson learned the story of Hiawatha and his spiritual guide, the Peacemaker, as part of the Iroquois oral tradition. Now he shares the same gift of storytelling with a new generation. Hiawatha was a strong and articulate Mohawk who was chosen to translate the Peacemaker's message of unity for the five warring Iroquois nations during the 14th century.

Lexile measure 850; Ages 14-17: Gr.6-9.
In New York Times bestselling author Walter Dean Myers's last novel, he delivers a gripping story based on the life of a real dancer known as Master Juba, who lived in the nineteenth century. This engaging historical novel is based on the true story of the meteoric rise of an immensely talented young black dancer, William Henry Lane, who influenced today's tap, jazz, and step dancing.

Lexile measure 890; Ages 11-18; Gr.7-12; guided reading Z
The story of Daniel Ellsberg and his decision to steal and publish secret documents about America's involvement in the Vietnam War.

Lexile measure 1160; Ages 12 and up; Gr.5-8.
The page-turning, heart-wrenching true story of one young woman willing to risk her safety and even her life for a chance at freedom in the largest slave escape attempt in American history.

Lexile measure 980; Ages 10-14; Gr.5-8.
With archival photographs and text among other primary sources, this riveting biography of Mary Mallon by the Sibert medalist and Newbery Honor winner Susan Bartoletti looks beyond the tabloid scandal of Mary's controversial life.

Ages 9-14; Gr.7-10
Birds were "the objects of my greatest delight," wrote John James Audubon (1785-1851), founder of modern ornithology and one of the world's greatest bird painters. His masterpiece, The Birds of America depicts almost five hundred North American bird species, each image--lifelike and life size--rendered in vibrant color. Audubon was also an explorer, a woodsman, a hunter, an entertaining and prolific writer, and an energetic self-promoter.

Lexile measure 1110; Ages 9-13; Gr.5-9.
This middle-grade chapter book unearths the mysteries of the Mawangdui (mah-wahng-dway) tombs, one of China's top archaeological finds of the last century.

Lexile measure 1160; Gr.5-9.
For the 50th anniversary of the 1965 march for voting right from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, Newberry Medalist Russell Freedman has written a riveting account of this pivotal event in the history of civil rights.

Lexile measure 950; Ages 12-18; gr.7-12.
Here is the riveting story of the Russian Revolution as it unfolded. When Russia's last tsar, Nicholas II, inherited the throne in 1894, he was unprepared to do so. With their four daughters (including Anastasia) and only son, a hemophiliac, Nicholas and his reclusive wife, Alexandra, buried their heads in the sand, living a life of opulence as World War I raged outside their door and political unrest grew.

Ages 10-14; Gr.5-8.
Before the Little Rock Nine, before Rosa Parks, before Martin Luther King Jr. and his March on Washington, there was Barbara Rose Johns, a teenager who used nonviolent civil disobedience to draw attention to her cause. In 1951, witnessing the unfair conditions in her racially segregated high school, Barbara Johns led a walkout--the first public protest of its kind demanding racial equality in the U.S.--jumpstarting the American civil rights movement.

Lexile measure 790; gr.5-8.
An emotionally powerful biography told in verse of a dancer, singer, comedienne, and enduring figure - Josephine Baker - from her birth in the slums, her fantastic success, and her fight against racial prejudice.

Lexile measure 950; Ages 10-14; Gr.6-10.
Presents an account of the 1944 civil rights protest involving hundreds of African-American Navy servicemen who were unjustly charged with mutiny for refusing to work in unsafe conditions after the deadly Port Chicago explosion.

Ages 12-18; Gr.6-12.
In the early 1940s, young women enlisted for peacetime duty as U.S. Army nurses. But when the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 blasted the United States into World War II, 101 American Army and Navy nurses serving in the Philippines were suddenly treating wounded and dying soldiers while bombs exploded all around them.

Ages 12 and up.
The book spotlights social justice advocates Mother Jones, José Martí, Emmeline Pankhurst, Francis Townsend, Mohandas Gandhi, Francisco I. Madero, Nelson Mandela, Cesar Chavez, Martin Luther King, Jr., Harvey Milk, Frieda Zames, Václav Havel, Aung San Suu Kyi, Rigoberta Menchú, Marina Rikhvanova, Dalia Ziada and Gabby Pacheco.

Lexile measure GN620L; Ages 10 and up; gr.7-12.
Ernest Shackleton was one of the last great Antarctic explorers, and he led one of the most ambitious Antarctic expeditions ever undertaken. This is his story, and the story of the dozens of men who threw in their lot with him - many of whom nearly died in the unimaginably harsh conditions of the journey.

Lexile measure 990; Ages 14-17; Gr.7-12.
John Brown is a man of many legacies, from hero, freedom fighter, and martyr, to liar, fanatic, and "the father of American terrorism." Some have said that it was his seizure of the arsenal at Harper's Ferry that rendered the Civil War inevitable. Deeply religious, Brown believed that God had chosen him to right the wrong of slavery.

Gr. 7-12.
Angel Island, off the coast of California, was the port of entry for Asian immigrants to the United States between 1892 and 1940. Following the passage of legislation requiring the screening of immigrants, "the other Ellis Island" processed around one million people from Japan, China, and Korea.

Lexile measure 1170L; Ages 9-13; Gr.5-9.
An introduction to the life of young Benjamin Franklin describes how, as a rebellious teen in 1732, he ran away from his family and a Boston apprenticeship to Philadelphia, and how throughout subsequent decades he rose to become a distinguished statesman, renowned author and world-famous scientist.

Lexile measure 1110; Ages 11-15.
Before the rise of the Nazi party, Germany, especially Berlin, was one of the most tolerant places for homosexuals in the world. Activists such as Thomas Mann and Albert Einstein campaigned openly for the rights of gay men and women and tried to repeal the law against homosexuality. But that all changed when the Nazis came to power; existence for gay people became fear-filled.

Lexile measure 1100; Ages 11 and up; gr.5-9.
Traces the true story of prospectors Stanley Pearce and Marshall Bond, who joined thousands of men along the dangerous Chilkoot and White Passes to seek their fortunes in the gold fields of Canada.

Lexile measure 1090; Ages 11-15, gr. 5-9.
 A 2014 YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Finalist They became America's first black paratroopers. Why was their story never told? Sibert Medalist Tanya Lee Stone reveals the history of the Triple Nickles during World War II.

Lexile measure 980; gr.5-8.
Diego Rivera offers young readers unique insight into the life and artwork of the famous Mexican painter and muralist. The book follows Rivera's career, looking at his influences and tracing the evolution of his style.

Gr. 7-10.
This book offers readers a unique look at the events that led to the Emancipation Proclamation. Filled with little-known facts and fascinating details, it includes excerpts from historical sources, archival images, and new research that debunks myths about the Emancipation Proclamation and its causes.

Ages 11-15, gr. 5-9.
While Americans fought for freedom and democracy abroad, fear and suspicion towards Japanese Americans swept the country after Japan's sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. Culling information from extensive, previously unpublished interviews and oral histories with Japanese American survivors of internment camps, Martin W. Sandler gives an in-depth account of their lives before, during their imprisonment, and after their release.

Lexile measure 940; Book level 7.2; Ages 8-12; Gr.5-8.
Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus and sparked a boycott that changed America. Harriet Tubman helped more than three hundred slaves escape the South on the Underground Railroad. Shirley Chisholm became the first black woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Lexile measure 780; ages 12 and up.
After her critically acclaimed books of interviews with Afghan, Iraqi, Israeli and Palestinian children, Deborah Ellis turns her attention closer to home. For two years she traveled across the United States and Canada interviewing Native children. The result is a compelling collection of interviews with children aged nine to eighteen.

Ages 11 and up.
Congressman John Lewis (GA-5) is an American icon, one of the key figures of the civil rights movement. His commitment to justice and nonviolence has taken him from an Alabama sharecropper's farm to the halls of Congress, from a segregated schoolroom to the 1963 March on Washington, and from receiving beatings from state troopers to receiving the Medal of Freedom from the first African-American president.

Lexile measure 1000; Ages 11-18; Gr.6 and up.
A spy mission, a Holocaust tale, and a first-class work of nonfiction. In 1945, at the end of World War II, Adolf Eichmann, the head of operations for the Final Solution, walked into the mountains of Germany and vanished from view. Sixteen years later, an elite team of spies captured him at a bus stop in Argentina and smuggled him to Israel, resulting in one of the century's most important trials -- one that cemented the Holocaust in the public imagination.

Lexile measure 1080; gr.6-10; Guided reading Z
Recounts the 35th president's assassination and details key events while sharing informative back matter and archival photographs.

Lexile measure 1110; Ages 8-14, gr. 5-9.
A clear-sighted, carefully researched account of two surprisingly parallel lives and how they intersected at a critical moment in U.S. history.

Lexile measure 920; Ages 11 and up, gr. 7-12.
Steve Sheinkin presents the fascinating and frightening true story of the creation behind the most destructive force that birthed the arms race and the Cold War in Bomb: The Race to Build--and Steal--the World's Most Dangerous Weapon.

Lexile measure 1370; Ages 10 and up, gr. 7-12.
Discovering Black America offers readers an unprecedented account of more than 400 years of African American history set against a background of American and global events.

Awards: Coretta Scott King Author Award, 2013.; Ages 11-18; Biography, gr. 5-8.
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.

Ages 12 and up, gr. 7-12.
An original collection of voices, filled with hope and tears, chronicles the history of Ellis Island and the people it served. Indians, settlers, immigrants, inspectors, doctors, nurses, cooks, and social workers all played a big part in that history.

Lexile measure 930; Ages 12-18; Gr.7-12.
A dramatic account of the 1875 attempt to steal the 16th president's body describes how a counterfeiting ring plotted to ransom Lincoln's body to secure the release of their imprisoned ringleader and how a fledgling Secret Service and an undercover agent conducted a daring election-night sting operation.

Ages 12 and up, gr. 5-8.
In early 1968 the grisly on-the-job deaths of two African-American sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee, prompted an extended strike by that city's segregated force of trash collectors. Workers sought union protection, higher wages, improved safety, and the integration of their work force. Their work stoppage became a part of the larger civil rights movement and drew an impressive array of national movement leaders to Memphis, including, on more than one occasion, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Lexile measure 1060; Ages 11-17, gr. 5-9.
This is the true story of Solomon Northup, a free black man from New York who was captured in the United States and sold into slavery in Louisiana. Drawing from primary source documents, including Northup's own memoir, this compelling book has a narrative that is packed with the action of Solomon's 12-year odyssey as a slave and historical perspective on the human experience of buying and selling human beings.

Guided Reading Level Y; Lexile measure 1040 Ages 11 and up.
Acclaimed author Deborah Hopkinson pieces together the story of the Titanic and that fateful April night in 1912, drawing on the voices of survivors and archival photographs.

Lexile measure 1020; Ages 10 and up, gr. 6-12.
The inspiring story of one of the greatest moments in civil rights history seen through the eyes of four young people at the center of the action. The 1963 Birmingham Children's March was a turning point in American history. In the streets of Birmingham, Alabama, the fight for civil rights lay in the hands of children like Audrey Hendricks, Wash Booker, James Stewart, and Arnetta Streeter.

Awards: Sibert Honor Book; Ages 11 and up, gr. 7-12.
In the nineteen fifties and early sixties, Birmingham, Alabama, became known as Bombingham. At the center of this violent time in the fight for civil rights, and standing at opposite ends, were Reverend Fred L. Shuttlesworth and Eugene "Bull" Connor. From his pulpit, Shuttlesworth agitated for racial equality, while Commissioner Connor fought for the status quo.

Lexile measure 1000; Book level 7.4; Ages 12 and up, gr. 7-10.
On March 25, 1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City burst into flames.  The factory was crowded.  The doors were locked to ensure workers stay inside.  One hundred forty-six people--mostly women--perished; it was one of the most lethal workplace fires in American history until September 11, 2001.

Ages 7-14, gr. 5-9.
I knew nothing could happen to us within those walls, in the house Baba built. In Ed Young's childhood home in Shanghai, all was not as it seemed: a rocking chair became a horse; a roof became a roller rink; an empty swimming pool became a place for riding scooters and bikes.

Lexile measure 1140; Ages 11-15, gr. 5-8.
Focusing on the Sioux nation as representative of the entire Native American story, this meticulously researched account allows the great chiefs and warriors to speak for themselves about what happened to the Sioux from 1860 to the Massacre of Wounded Knee in 1891.

Lexile measure 1190; Ages: 10 up; Grade level: 9.8; Gr. 5-8.
Racial bombings were so frequent in Birmingham that it became known as "Bombingham." Until September 15, 1963, these attacks had been threatening but not deadly. On that Sunday morning, however, a blast in the 16th Street Baptist Church ripped through the exterior wall and claimed the lives of four girls.

Lexile measure 1160; Ages 10-16; Book level 8.4; Gr. 6-9.
An account of Marquis de Lafayette, a young French nobleman, who helped bring victory at Yorktown and became a lifelong friend of George Washington.

Lexile measure 990; Book level 7.3; Ages 12 and up; Biography, gr. 6-9.
New York Times bestselling author, Newbery Honor recipient, and National Book Award finalist Steve Sheinkin presents both the heroism and the treachery of one of the Revolutionary War's most infamous players in his biography of Benedict Arnold.

Lexile measure 1180; Ages 14-up; Book level 9.2; Gr. 6-10.
Boys, let us get up a club. With those words, six restless young men raided the linens at a friend's mansion, pulled pillowcases over their heads, hopped on horses, and cavorted through the streets of Pulaski, Tennessee in 1866. The six friends named their club the Ku Klux Klan, and, all too quickly, their club grew into the self-proclaimed Invisible Empire with secret dens spread across the South.

Lexile measure 870; Ages 13 - up; Book level 5.4, gr. 7-9.
Haya Leah Molnar, née Eva Zimmermann, recalls growing up in Bucharest, Romania, during the 1950s. Though she heard Yiddish and kept Kosher at home, Eva remained unaware of her Jewish heritage. This ignorance protected Eva at her Communist-run school.

Ages 14-18, gr. 6-12.
Nonfiction master Russell Freedman illuminates for young readers the complex and rarely discussed subject of World War I. The tangled relationships and alliances of many nations, the introduction of modern weaponry, and top-level military decisions that resulted in thousands upon thousands of casualties all contributed to the "great war," which people hoped and believed would be the only conflict of its kind.

Ages 12- up, gr. 6-12.
A graphic novel based on the life and death of Robert 'Yummy' Sandifer, an 11-year-old gang member from Chicago's Southside who was killed by his own gang. 11-year-old Roger is trying to make sense of his classmate Yummy's death, but first he has to make sense of Yummy's life.

https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/8491580.
A companion book for young readers based on 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus, the groundbreaking bestseller by Charles C. Mann.

Lexile measure 1000; ages 10-18; book level 6.8; Gr. 5-10.
"When it comes to justice, there is no easy way to get it. You can't sugarcoat it. You have to take a stand and say, 'This is not right.'" - Claudette Colvin On March 2, 1955, an impassioned teenager, fed up with the daily injustices of Jim Crow segregation, refused to give her seat to a white woman on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama.

Ages 10-18, gr. 6-12.
An inspiring look at the fight for the vote, by an award-winning author Only 44 years ago in the U.S., Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was leading a fight to win blacks the right to vote. Ground zero for the movement became Selma, Alabama.

Ages 10-up, gr. 6-12.
The fantastic, heroic life of Nelson Mandela, brought to life in this landmark graphic work. Nelson Mandela's memoir, Long Road to Freedom, electrified the world in 1994 with the story of a solitary man who, despite unbelievable hardships, brought down one of the most-despised regimes in the world.

Gr. 6-12.
This book reports on the work of forensic scientists who are excavating grave sites in James Fort, in Jamestown, Virginia, to understand the people who lived in the Chesapeake Bay area in the 1600s and 1700s.

Lexile measure 1040; ages 9-18, gr. 5-8.
Before global warming, there was dust. In the 1930s, dangerous black storms swept through the Great Plains. Created by drought and reckless farming, these lethal storms were part of an environmental, economic, and human catastrophe that changed the course of American history.

Lexile measure 1030; Ages 10-14; Book level 6.6, gr. 6-9.
Historian Scott Reynolds Nelson recounts how he came to discover the real John Henry, an African-American railroad worker who became a legend in the famous song.

Lexile measure 980; ages 10-up; autobiography and biography, gr. 5-8.
They had the right stuff. They defied the prejudices of the time. And they blazed a trail for generations of women to follow. What does it take to be an astronaut? Excellence at flying, courage, intelligence, resistance to stress, top physical shape -- any checklist would include these. But when America created NASA in 1958, there was another unspoken rule: you had to be a man.

Ages 13-18, gr. 7-12.
Who was the flapper, and who was the New American Woman? They weren't specific individuals, but rather symbols that defined women in the early decades of the twentieth century. After the country had celebrated the end of World War I in 1918, the Flapper shocked society by flagrantly defying the traditional passive and genteel image of femininity.

Gr. 5-9.
The Civil War has been studied, written about, even sun about for generations. But few have heard of Sarah Emma Edmonds, Rosetta Wakeman, or Mary Galloway. They were among the hundreds of women who assumed male identities, put on uniforms, enlisted in the Union or Confederate Army, and went into battle alongside their male comrades.

Lexile measure 1030; Book level 3.9; Ages 5-12; Gr.k-4
Wangari Maathai, winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize and founder of the Green Belt Movement, grew up in the highlands of Kenya, where fig trees cloaked the hills, fish filled the streams, and the people tended their bountiful gardens. But over many years, as more and more land was cleared, Kenya was transformed. When Wangari returned home from college in America, she found the village gardens dry, the people malnourished, and the trees gone. How could she alone bring back the trees and restore the gardens and the people?

Lexile measure 910; Ages 12-up ; Book level 6.1; Gr. 6-12.
Leaving his home in a migrant community, Francisco sets off for college, carrying memories of years of poverty and prejudice.

Ages 13-18, Gr. 7-12.
Who was Rosie and who was Mrs. America? They weren't specific individuals; rather, they were symbols that defined perceptions of women during the 1930s and 1940s.

Lexile measure 1020; ages12-18; book level 7.1, gr. 7-12.
After watching her teachers and headmasters beaten in public, Moying flees school for the safety of home, only to witness her beloved grandmother denounced, her home ransacked, her father's precious books flung onto the back of a truck, and Baba himself taken away.

Gr. 5-8.
Every year on the fourth Thursday of November, Americans celebrate with a Thanksgiving meal. But what is the origin of this tradition? Did it really begin when the Pilgrims and Native Americans got together in 1621 in Plymouth,Massachusetts? In her signature narrative nonfiction style, Penny Colman paints a fascinating picture of this cherished American holiday.

Ages 11-adult.
In a provocative anthology, two editors with opposing viewpoints present an unflinching collection of works reflecting on the nature of war. Marc Aronson thinks war is inevitable. Patty Campbell thinks war is cruel, deceptive, and wrong. But both agree on one thing: that teens need to hear the truthful voices of those who have experienced war firsthand.

Lexile measure 1210; ages 9-12; book level 8.8; Gr. 6-9.
Newbery Award-winning author Russell Freedman offers up this powerful account of the survival of American soldiers while camped at Valley Forge during a crucial period in the American Revolution. George Washington's army almost perished during the winter of 1777-78.

Lexile measure 900; ages 10-up; book level 5.9; Gr. 5-8.
"We are the ship; all else the sea."-Rube Foster, founder of the Negro National League . The story of Negro League baseball is the story of gifted athletes and determined owners; of racial discrimination and international sportsmanship; of fortunes won and lost; of triumphs and defeats on and off the field.

Ages 11-18.
Referred to as the most segregated city in America, Birmingham, Alabama, became a hotbed for civil rights activity in the early 1960s. Great African-American leaders, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth, helped lead the civil rights movement in the city. In Birmingham, African-American youth marched, sang, and spoke out against segregation.

Ages 12 and up.
Depicting the history of Israel from biblical Abraham to the present, this sophisticated, four-colour graphic adaptation is academically grounded, guiding readers through highlights both in historical detail and from Israel's world view.

Ages 9-14; book level 6.8, gr. 5-8.
1607: A New Look at Jamestown is the last word on America's first colony. With expert appraisal of new archaeological evidence, this National Geographic title stands alone for timely authority and visual appeal.

Ages 11-15.
California's rich history is traced for young readers: from its origins as a sparsely populated outpost of the Spanish empire in the 16th century to the frenzied westward migration of the 1850s.

Guided Reading Level W; Lexile measure 950; ages 9-15, book level 5.
Picture a Crow Indian elder, his wizened eyes catching yours in the ancient flicker of firelight. His mesmerizing stories span the ages, from Custer to World War II to the 21st Century. He is the last traditional chief of his people. He is over 90 years old. Now picture that same man lecturing at colleges nationwide, and addressing the United Nations on the subject of peace.

Guided Reading Level R; Lexile measure 1130; Book level 7.6; Ages 9-12
The Great Fire of 1871 was one of most colossal disasters in American history. Overnight, the flourshing city of Chicago was transformed into a smoldering wasteland. The damage was so profound that few people believed the city could ever rise again. By weaving personal accounts of actual survivors together with the carefully researched history of Chicago and the disaster, Jim Murphy constructs a riveting narrative that recreates the event with drama and immediacy.

Lexile measure 1190; ages 10-18; book level 8.3, gr. 6-12.
Most people know Jane Addams (1860-1935) as the force behind Hull House, one of the first settlement houses in the United States. She was also an ardent suffragist and civil rights activist, co-founding the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the American Civil Liberties Union. But it was her work as a pacifist that put her in the international spotlight.

Ages 10-15; book level 9.1; autobiography and biography, gr. 6-9.
Ladies First introduces young readers to 40 American women of achievement who were first in their field. A full-page portrait begins each informative three-page profile.

Ages 14-18; book level 6.6; biography, gr. 7-12.
With the thoroughly researched and passionately drawn Malcolm X, Helfer and award-winning artist Randy DuBurke capture Malcolm Little's extraordinary transformation from a black youth beaten down by Jim Crow America into Malcolm X, the charismatic, controversial, and doomed national spokesman for the Nation of Islam.

Guided Reading Level: Z; Lexile measure 1170; book level 7.1.
Author Paul Robert Walker draws on scores of eyewitness accounts of the Battle of the Little Bighorn from Indians, soldiers, and scouts, measuring their testimony against the archaeological evidence to separate fact from fiction.

Ages 8-14; gr. 5-9.
An illustrated, humorous introduction to world history with a emphasis on violence and villains.

Gr. 5-8.
As a boy, Cesar Chavez picked peas, grapes, and other crops in the hot sun. His experiences as a migrant farm worker had a profound effect on Chavez. With a strong belief in nonviolence, Chavez staged boycotts, strikes, and other protests to bring national attention to the terrible working and living conditions of the farm workers.

Guided Reading Level X; Lexile measure 920; Ages 9-14; Grade level 6.2
They threw rocks and rotten eggs at the school windows. Villagers refused to sell Miss Crandall groceries or let her students attend the town church. Mysteriously, her schoolhouse was set on fire--by whom and how remains a mystery. The town authorities dragged her to jail and put her on trial for breaking the law. Her crime? Trying to teach African American girls geography, history, reading, philosophy, and chemistry.

Guided Reading Level: Z; Lexile measure 1130; Ages 10-18; Grade level 7.3.
Most people know the name John Wilkes Booth, but few likely have heard of his elder brother Edwin. Find out about the brothers through first-hand accounts. Learn how alike and how different they were, and how each made a lasting impression on American history.

Guided Reading Level Y; Lexile measure 1050; Ages 10-18; Grade level 7.8.
Through interviews with surviving Hitler Youth members as well as those who resisted the movement, explores how Hitler gained the loyalty, trust, and passion of so many of Germany's young people that by the time he became Chancellor of Germany in 1933, 3.5 million children belonged to the Hitler Youth.

Lexile measure 1010; Ages 9-14; Grade level 6.2; Gr. 5-8.
For thirty years, the whole last half of his life, Leonardo da Vinci was obsessed with unlocking the secrets of nature. His notebooks are the mind-boggling evidence of a fifteenth-century scientist standing at the edge of the modern world, basing his ideas on observation and experimentation.

Guided Reading Level W; Lexile measure 1100; Ages 6-12; Grade level 7.9
Recounts the true story of spirit and determination from America's early civil rights history and the Cannon Street all-stars who were not allowed to play in the World Series game.

Guided Reading Level Y; Lexile measure 1190; Ages 8-14; Grade level 7.1.
Based on an actual memoir written by Maritcha Rimond Lyons, who was born in New York City, this poignant story tells what it was like to be a black child born free during the days of slavery.

Lexile measure 1180; Ages 12-18; Grade level 8.2.
This extensively researched and groundbreaking account by Sibert medalist Marc Aronson centers on events in the mid-18th century that enabled Americans to give up their loyalty to England and form their own nation.

Guided Reading Level: Z; Lexile measure 1080; Ages 10 and up; Book level 8.3
An award-winning author chronicles the story of the women's suffrage movement in America, using compelling period photographs--including some never before published--to illustrate the vivid narrative.

Guided Reading Level: Z; Lexile measure 1130; ages 10-14; book level 9.
It's 1793, and there's an invisible killer roaming the streets of Philadelphia. The city's residents are fleeing in fear. This killer has a name--yellow fever--but everything else about it is a mystery. Its cause is unknown and there is no cure. This powerful dramatic account by award-winning author Jim Murphy traces the devastating course of the epidemic.

Guided Reading Level X; Lexile measure 560; Ages 10-15; Grade level 5.8.
When the Supreme Court decision to desegregate public schools was handed down in 1954, the course of American history was forever changed. Here are personal reflections, stories, and poems from ten of today's most accomplished writers for children, all young people themselves at the time of the Brown v. Board of Education decision.

Guided Reading Level: Z; Lexile measure 1020; ages 12-up; book level 7.
Before Springsteen and before Dylan, there was Woody Guthrie. With "This Machine Kills Fascists," scrawled across his guitar in big black letters, Woody Guthrie brilliantly captured in song the experience of twentieth-century America. Whether he sang about union organizers, migrant workers, or war, Woody took his inspiration from the plight of the people around him as well as from his own tragic childhood.

Guided Reading Level Y; Lexile measure 1040; Ages 9-18; Grade level 7.9.
A stirring account of Japanese Americans in World War II, based mainly on diaries, autobiographies, and the military records of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which was known as the Purple Heart Battalion because of its bravery. After the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, all people on the West Coast of Japanese heritage, whether resident aliens or citizens, were forced to move into internment camps.

Grade level 4.7; Poetry & rhymes, gr. 5-12.
Presents poems and brief biographical notes about such well-known African Americans as: Arthur Ashe, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Louis Armstrong, Martin Luther King, Jr., Satchel Paige, Rosa Parks, Langston Hughes, Jesse Owens, Marian Anderson, Malcolm X, Wilma Rudolph, and Billie Holiday.

Lexile measure 1130; Book level 8; Ages 12-16; Gr.5-8.
A history of African-American whalers between 1730 and 1880, describing their contributions to the whaling industry and their role in the abolitionist movement.

Ages 10-up; book level 5.3; Gr. 6-9.
The author recreates his father's visit to Tibet and the wondrous things that he found there.

Lexile measure 1030; biography, gr. 6-8.
A history of the African-American struggle for freedom and equality, beginning with the capture of Africans in 1619, continuing through the American Revolution, the Civil War, and into contemporary times.

Guided Reading Level V; Lexile: 1110; Ages 9-16; Grade level 6.5
Abraham Lincoln stood out in a crowd as much for his wit and rollicking humor as for his height. This Newbery Medal-winning biography of our Civil War president is warm, appealing, and llustrated with dozens of carefully chosen photographs and prints.