Showing results by publisher "Recorded Books" in Multicultural Stories

Before Josh and Jordan Bell were streaking up and down the court, their father was learning his own moves. In this prequel to Newbery Medal winner The Crossover, Chuck Bell takes center stage, as listeners get a glimpse of his childhood and how he became the jazz music worshiping basketball star his sons look up to. A novel in verse with all the impact and rhythm listeners have come to expect from Kwame Alexander, Rebound will go back in time to visit the childhood of Chuck "Da Man" Bell during one pivotal summer when young Charlie is sent to stay with his grandparents, where he discovers basketball and learns more about his family's past.

There are no shortcuts to surviving your first day at a new school - you can't fix it with duct tape like you would your Chuck Taylors. On day one, 12-year-old Malu (Maria Luisa, if you want to annoy her) inadvertently upsets Posada Middle School's queen bee, violates the school's dress code with her punk rock look, and disappoints her college-professor mom in the process. Her dad, who now lives a thousand miles away, says things will get better as long as she remembers the first rule of punk: Be yourself.

Although the mission school bans all that is Navajo, Ned secretly clings to his native language and culture. Proudly joining the U.S. Marines in 1943, he becomes a top-secret Navajo Code Talker. During bloody battles for Japanese islands, Ned and his brave band of code-talking brothers save thousands of lives using Navajo encryption the enemy never cracks.

It's 1942: Tomi Itano, 12, is a second-generation Japanese American who lives in California with her family on their strawberry farm. Although her parents came from Japan and her grandparents still live there, Tomi considers herself an American. She doesn't speak Japanese and has never been to Japan. But after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, things change. No Japs Allowed signs hang in store windows and Tomi's family is ostracized. Things get much worse.

With her inspired works, acclaimed author Grace Lin has earned a Geisel Honor and a Newbery Honor. In Dumpling Days, Pacy’s family travels to Taiwan for a month. This is Pacy’s first trip to Taiwan, so she’s extremely excited. But soon, she realizes that everything about this trip is difficult: speaking the language, following her art teacher’s directions—even making friends. Fortunately, it’s not long before Pacy sees that the trip isn’t all bad—and that the family bonding that occurs makes everything else worthwhile.

Unlike the majority of Logan County's residents, Missus Nedraw of the Rorrim Mirror Emporium remembers the time freeze from The Last Last-Day-of-Summer and how Otto and Sheed took her mirrors without permission in order to fix their mess. Usually that's an unforgivable offense, punishable by a million-year sentence. However, she's willing to overlook the cousins' misdeeds if they help her with a problem of her own. One of her worst prisoners has escaped, and only the Legendary Alston Boys of Logan County can help bring the fugitive to justice.

All Eddie wants is to find a way out of the dangerous life he's living, where his friends are lost in a world of drugs and violence. Even his aunt wants to give him a gun so he can avenge the death of her son. But no matter how hard he works, Eddie can't seem to pull himself away from the sweltering sadness of the city. It's as if giant onions had been buried beneath him, Eddie thinks, releasing shimmering vapors off the black asphalt all around.

When Lily's blind dog, Lucky, slips his collar and runs away across the wide-open blueberry barrens of Eastern Maine, it's Salma Santiago who manages to catch him. Salma, the daughter of migrant workers, is in the small town with her family for the blueberry-picking season.

In Never Say Die, 15-year-old Inuit hunter Nick Thrasher takes a trip downriver with his half-brother Ryan, who’s visiting Canada’s Arctic to photograph the caribou migration. But when disaster strikes, Nick is forced to survive alone in a landscape filled with dangerous predators. Most of all, he fears the terrifying “grolar bear”, the half-grizzly, half-polar-bear hybrid that isn’t supposed to exist - except Nick has seen it with his own eyes.

The Big Wander is a trip 14-year-old Clay Lancaster and his older brother Mike have planned for years. It’s Clay’s dream to find his ex-rodeo-star uncle, who quit the tour and disappeared somewhere in the vast and colorful Monument Valley. But Mike - heartbroken and unfocused after losing his girlfriend - soon heads for home. Clay, however, will not give up. He finds a job in a remote trading post, and follows a lead on his uncle’s whereabouts that takes him deep into Navajo country.

You gotta know the rules to play the game. Ball is life. Take it to the hoop. Soar. What can we imagine for ourselves? What if we were the star players, moving and grooving through the game of life? What if we had our own rules of the game to help us get what we want, what we aspire to, what will enrich our lives? The Playbook is intended to provide inspiration for kids ages 10 and up to help them succeed on and off the court.

It's 1932, and 12-year-old Cal Black and his pop have been riding the rails for years after losing their farm in the Great Depression. Cal likes being a "knight of the road" with Pop, even if they're broke. But then Pop has to go to Washington, DC - some of his fellow veterans are marching for their government checks, and Pop wants to make sure he gets his due - and Cal can't go with him. Pop tells Cal something he never knew before: Pop is actually a Creek Indian, which means Cal is, too. And Pop has decided to send Cal to a government boarding school for Native Americans in Oklahoma.

It’s time to pick a class president, and Mindy’s big campaign is all about: 1. Friendship! 2. Kindness! 3. Snacks! But there is one thing that Mindy is not sure she can do: Make a speech to her class about why they should vote for her.

Mindy is super excited to go to South Korea to visit her grandparents! She has never taken such a big trip before, and she can’t wait to see her family again. Plus, Dad’s girlfriend, Julie, is also going to meet the family for the first time. Mindy and Julie decide to make a traditional Korean meal for the family as a thank-you for hosting. But after a few mishaps, Mindy fears they are cooking up a big disaster in the kitchen! Can Mindy and Julie make sure their meal passes the most important taste test of them all?

Mindy Kim loves food - from her beloved Korean staples to pizza! When a local pizza place advertises a trivia competition, Mindy can’t believe that the big prize is unlimited pizza for a whole year! Mindy is confident she and her dad can take the top spot. But Dad is worried he might not understand all the cultural references. And he wants Mindy to know that the most important thing is to always try your best, even if you don’t win. Can Mindy and her dad have fun together, win or lose?

Jim & Me finds Stosh and his nemesis Bobby Fuller joining forces to help one of their heroes. Native American baseball legend Jim Thorpe was an Olympic champion - but then lost his medals due to scandal. Now only Stosh and Bobby have the power to change history and give Jim the legacy he deserved.

In this third Legendary Alston Boys adventure from Edgar Award-nominated author Lamar Giles, Otto and Sheed have to team up with the Ellison twins to take down a corporation obsessed with the weirdness of Logan County and that's turning its residents into Money-Zombies.

Mindy is excited to celebrate the Lunar New Year! Even though it’s the first one without her mom, Mindy is determined to enjoy the day. She decides to make traditional Korean New Year food, a rice cake soup that’s her favorite. But things aren’t going quite to plan, and the celebration doesn’t feel the same as it did before. With the help of her family and friends, can Mindy find a way to still enjoy her old holiday traditions, and create new ones along the way?

It's her birthday! Not only is she having a fun party with her friends, but she’s also getting the most perfect present from her dad: a puppy! Mindy has wanted a dog ever since she can remember. She knows that a dog will be just the thing to cheer her dad up, too.

Manuela “Mani” Semilla wants two things: To get her period, and to thwart her mom's plan of taking her to Guatemala, a place that has always been more of a mystery than an answer. Mani can’t imagine leaving behind Las Nerdas, her band of misfit friends, for the summer. But after she finds letters written between her mother and her disappeared-journalist aunt, Mani’s idea of what it means to be a woman takes flight. Reading the letters reveals both the beauty of Guatemala and its history of violence against women, and slowly transforms Mani from quiet bystander into budding activist.