Ben-Ezer, E. (1997). Hosni the dreamer: An Arabian tale. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux.
Hosni is a poor shepherd that works for a sheik. One day the sheik asks him to go to the city. While the others are buying valuables and baubles, Hosni buys a verse. The old man tells him not to cross the water until he knows the depth. While returning home there is a flash flood. Against Hosni’s warnings the sheik and others cross and are washed away. This book is a great read aloud that shows the different culture in the Middle East.
Hamanaka, S. (1990). The journey: Japanese Americans, racism, and renewal. New
York: Orchard Books.
This is a very powerful book that illustrates what happened to many Japanese Americans after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The author describes the life of the Japanese American through a time line that offers insight and perspective on how the Japanese Americans were treated. It discusses the use of concentration camps to hold these Japanese American families, while older sons were sent to war to fight for the freedom that they didn’t even possess. Even though the book is powerful, it is not graphic. I would use it with fourth graders and higher.
