Angelou, Maya. I Know Why
the Caged Bird Sings. New York: Bantam, 1983. ISBN: 553279378
The remarkable autobiography of poet Maya Angelou, who grew up in a small town
in Arkansas. Her story provides poignant insights into racial problems and personal
obstacles that she had to overcome.
Order I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
African American Persepective Resource
Bul-Dau, John and Michael Sweeney.God Grew Tired of Us: A Memoir.. National Geographic Society, 2008. ISBN: 978-1426202124
"Lost Boy" John Dau's autobiography tells his gripping experience of surviving the Sudanese civil war. Dau traces his 1,000-mile flight into exile, walking barefoot with thousands of other "Lost Boys" from Sudan to Ethiopia, back to Sudan and to a refugee camp in Kenya. Dau is finally resettled in America where he must adapt to a new home. This story tells of the Lost Boys' collaboration and dedication to one another to survive.
Beals, Melba Patillo.
Warriors Don’t Cry. Econo-Clad Books, 1999. ISBN: 785752528
The abridged but compelling accounts of the nine African Americans who first
integrated Little Rock Arkansas’ Central High School in 1957. Photographs
are included.
African American Persepective Resource
Bently, Richard & Nissan, Luana. The Roots of Giving and Serving. Indiana University Center on Philanthropy, Indianapolis. 1996. ASIN: B0006QXNXE
Text can be viewed in full at the Digital Collections of IUPUI Library.
Charlesworth, Liza. African
Americans Who Made A Difference: 15 Plays for the Classroom. New
York: Scholastic, Inc., 1997. ISBN: 590535463
This book is a compilation of plays about famous African Americans including
background information, photos, and scripts.
Order African Americans Who Made A Difference: 15 Plays for the Classroom
African American Persepective Resource
Fugate, Sandy. For the Benefit of All: A History of Philanthropy in Michigan. Battle Creek: W.K. Kellogg Foundation, 1997. ISBN: 1891445006
The story of how penniless people--European Americans, Latinos and African Americans,
Native and Asian Americans-- demonstrating acts of kindness, forming leadership
and wealth, gave back to Michigan to make it the blessed state of philanthropy
and achievement it is today.
Order For the Benefit of All: A History of Philanthropy in Michigan
African American Persepective Resource
Hansen-Harding, Alexandra. Great
American Speeches. New York: Scholastic Trade, 1997. ISBN: 590898108
A compilation of twenty speeches delivered by men and women throughout history
who have made a positive contribution to society. Diverse cultures and ethnic
backgrounds are represented.
African American Persepective Resource
Jolie, Angelina. Notes from My Travels and Schuster, 2003.
Goodwill Ambassador for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and award-winning actress Angelina Jolie shares her memoirs from her visits to Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Pakistan, Cambodia, and Ecuador, where she worked on behalf of refugees.
Kerber, Linda K. and Jane Sherron
DeHart. Women's America: Refocusing the Past, Third Edition.
New York: Oxford University Press, 1991. ISBN: 0195121813
Considered the most widely used anthology of American women's history, this
book covers the span of women's experiences in the U.S. from colonial times
to the present, including writings on race and ethnicity, class and gender in
the lives of women.
Order Women's America: Refocusing the Past
African American Persepective Resource
Lee, Harper. To Kill a
Mockingbird. New York: Warner Books, 1988. ISBN: 446310786
The story of a family in the south whose lawyer father testifies for a wrongly
accused African American and the growth his children experience from the ordeal.
African American Persepective Resource
Levine, Ellen. Freedom's
Children. Puffin, 2000. ISBN: 0698118707
Thirty African-Americans who were teens in the '50s and '60s give oral histories
of their involvement in the struggle for civil rights. All of the stories are
true. ~ALA Booklist Editor's Choice ~School Library Journal Best Book of the
Year"
African American Persepective Resource
Lewis, Barbara A., and Pamela Espeland.
Kid’s Guide To Service Projects: Over 500 Service Learning
Ideas for Young People Who Want to Make a Difference (The). Free
Spirit Publishing, 1995. ISBN: 915793822
Guide for young people to more than 500 service projects and organizations.
Mazer, Ann (Editor). America
Street: A Multicultural Anthology of Stories. New York: Persea
Books, 1993. ISBN: 892551917
A collection of fourteen stories by American authors with different cultural
and ethnic perspectives. Inspirational ideals are depicted.
Order America Street: A Multicultural Anthology of Stories
African American Persepective Resource
Mochizuki, Ken. Passage
to Freedom: The Sugihara Story. Lee & Low Books, 1997. ISBN:
1880000490
In 1940, 5 year-old Hiroki's father was the Japanese consul to Lithuania. When
Nazi soldiers approached their town, he wrote life-saving visas for thousands
of Jews and Polish refugees. He put conscience and duty to God above duty to
his government, which had denied him permission to grant to visas. His family
supported him, though all spend 18 months in a Soviet internment camp and he
lost his post. He eventually became only Asian to receive the ""Righteous
Among the Nations"" Award from the Israel Holocaust Memorial.
Order
Passage to Freedom: The Sugihara Story
Rusesabagina, Paul. An Ordinary Man: An Autobiography. Penguin Books, 2007.
An Ordinary Man is the story of the real-life hero who inspired the film Hotel Rwanda. Rusesabagina, a hotel manager, turned the Hotel Milles Collines into a sanctuary for more than 1,200 Tutsis and Hutus, while keeping the attackers at bay long enough to save their lives. This story recounts his childhood, his role in saving the hotel guests, as well as his own life as a refugee and activist in the years that followed.
Silverstein, Shel. Giving
Tree (The). Harpercollins Juvenile Books, 1964. ISBN: 60256656
A child and a tree share a friendship and life’s changes.
Ung, Loung. First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers. Harper Perennial, 2001. ISBN: 978-0060856267
Loung Ung recounts her childhood as a refugee fleeing Pol Pot's regime. The daughter
of a high-ranking government official, Loung and her family were forced to flee and became separated. Loung worked as a child soldier while her siblings endured labor camps. Loung shows dedication to her family through sacrifice and hardship.
Washington, Booker T. Up
From Slavery. Oxford University Press, 2002. ISBN: 192835629
A recounting of Washington's background, from his childhood as a slave to becoming
the greatest spokesman for the Black community of that period. He worked tirelessly
to inspire black men to become educated, industrious and self-reliant.
African American Persepective Resource
