Anchor Book: Esperanza Rising
Theme of Book Ladder: Prejudice
Picture Book #1: All Colors We Are: The Story of How We Got Our Skin Color” By: Katie Kissinger
This picture book is bilingual and offers students an accurate and effective explanation of how we get our skin color (genetics, melanin, and the sun) and emphasizes that skin color is just skin and it is what makes everyone different. I feel that this would be a great book to read to younger students to teach them that all skin color is just genetics and it does not someone lesser than you are because of it.
Picture Book #2: Busing Brewster By: Richard Michelson
This picture book is about a boy named Brewster who is entering into the 1st grade at a mainly white elementary school. When Brewster arrives on the first day of school there are white protesters shouting and throwing rocks. This book is a prime example of the discrimination that minorities faced in America many years ago.
Picture Book #3: One Green Apple By: Eve Bunting
Farah is a Muslim immigrant that feels alone when she is around her classmates because she cannot speak the language. Even though they cannot speak the same language, Farah bonds with her classmates by making apple cider with them. This picture book shows how hard it can be for someone in a new country that does not speak the native language, but also shows how it can be done!
Picture Book #4: Separate Is Never Equal: The Story of Sylvia and Her Family By: Duncan Tonatiuh
This book looks at the discrimination that Mexican-Americans faced in schools across California. This book follows a girl named Sylvia Mendez who tries to enroll in school but is directed to the “Mexican School”. Sometimes people often overlook other ethnicities when thinking about desegregation of schools and this book gives an insight on the struggle that Mexica-Americans faced also.
Novel #l: Esperanza Rising By: Pam Munoz Ryan
In the novel, Esperanza Rising, we see an upper-class family in Mexico immigrant to the United States to only realize that they would become a low-class family. This novel shows all the stereotypes that come along with being a Mexican-American. For example, the Mexicans could only swim on Friday afternoons because they cleaned the pool on Saturday’s.
Novel #2: Kira-Kira By: Cynthia Kadohata
Kira-Kira is a novel that deals with prejudice against Japanese-Americans in Georgia. The book is about select groups of people in Georgia that are deliberately hateful toward the Japanese-Americans who have come to work in the factories.
Novel #3: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian By: Sherman Alexie
This novel tells the story of Junior, a cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Junior eventually leaves his troubled school to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot. This book would be great for students to read because it shows what it is like to be different when everyone else around you is the same.
Non-fiction: Prejudice By: Tish Davidson
This non-fiction novel uses actual historical events and real-life situation to explore how and why discriminatory attitudes are formed. The book also offers ideas on how to respond to prejudice and ways to stand up to it.
Graphic Novel: American Born Chinese By: Gene Luen Yang
This graphic novel is about a boy named Jin Wang, a Chinese-American kid who only wants to fit in at his new school. This book is similar to that of Esperanza Rising because it examines a young child trying to desperately fit in and looks at acts of prejudice against their race.