A lyrical and unifying picture book that "will inspire young readers" and "magnificently showcases the immigrant experience" (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) in America from Newbery Honoree Margarita Engle and award-winning illustrator Raul Colon. Discover the myriad contributions that all immigrants have made as they come to join family or start their own lives together in a new country they call home. Coming with their hopes, dreams, and determination, generations of immigrants have made the fabric of this country diverse, vivid, and welcoming. This vibrant and timely celebration demonstrates the thousands of immigrants who built America and the importance of having acceptance and light for everyone.

On an island called Puerto Rico, there lived a little boy who wanted only to play baseball. Although he had no money, Roberto Clemente practiced and practiced until--eventually--he made it to the Major Leagues. America! As a right-fielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates, he fought tough opponents--and even tougher racism--but with his unreal catches and swift feet, he earned his nickname, "The Great One." He led the Pirates to two World Series, hit 3,000 hits, and was the first Latino to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. But it wasn't just baseball that made Clemente legendary--he was was also a humanitarian dedicated to improving the lives of others.

A Band of Angels is fiction, but it is based on real events and people. The character of Ella was inspired by Ella Sheppard Moore, who was born February 4, 1851, in Nashville, Tennessee. Her father was able to free himself and young Ella from slavery, but before he could buy freedom for Ella's mother she was sold away. Ella was raised in Cincinnati, where she took music lessons. At fifteen, she was left penniless when her father died. She arrived at Fisk School in 1868 with only six dollars.

Fisk was opened in 1866 as a school for former slaves and began offering college classes in 1871. That year, in a desperate attempt to save Fisk from closing, a music teacher named George White set out with a group of students on a singing tour to raise money. Although at first they only sang popular music of the day, they soon became famous for introducing spirituals to the world.

Ella Sheppard was the pianist for the Jubilee Singers on their historic concert tours, which raised enough money to save the school and build Jubilee Hall, the first permanent structure in the South for the education of black students. Ella later married George Moore, had three children, and located her mother and a sister. She died in 1914. Today her great-granddaughter is a librarian at Fisk University who shares the history of the Jubilee Singers with visitors.

Although none graduated from Fisk, the original Jubilee Singers were recognized with honorary degrees in 1978. Today, Jubilee Singers at Fisk University continue to keep alive a rich musical tradition that includes such songs as "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," "Many Thousand Gone," and "Go Down, Moses."

Jose! Born to Dance tells the story of a boy born in a small Mexican village who became one of the greatest dancers of all time--Jose Limon. Jose was a boy with a song in his heart and a dance in his step. Born in Mexico in 1908, he came into the world kicking like a steer, and grew up to love to draw, play the piano, and dream. Jose's dreaming took him to faraway places. He dreamed of bullfighters and the sounds of the cancan dancers that he saw with his father. Dance lit a fire in Jose's soul. With his heart to guide him, Jose left his family and went to New York to dance. He learned to flow and float and fly through space with steps like a Mexican breeze. When Jose danced, his spirit soared. From New York to lands afar, Jose Limon became known as the man who gave the world his own kind of dance. Susanna Reich's lyrical text and Raul Colon's shimmering artwork tell the story of a boy who was determined to make a difference in the world, and did. Jose! Born to Dance will inspire picture book readers to follow their hearts and live their dreams.

This picture-book biography of Gabriel Garcia Mrquez ("One Hundred Years of Solitude") traces the Nobel Prize-winning novelists life from his childhood in Colombia to today, using the imagery from his eclectic novels. Full color.

Award-winning picture-book author Tony Johnston presents the poignant story of a loving Mexican-American family in East L.A. in her first novel for young readers.
Los Angeles is a place of movie stars and fast cars and people who are too rich and people who are too poor. An area of freeway chases and drive-bys and death. But there's another L.A., one where warmth and humor and humanity pervade. Where a tacqueria sign declares: "One cause, one people, one taco."
This L.A. is a place where random acts of generosity and goodwill improve the lives of the community. Any Small Goodness is a novel filled with hope, love, and warmth.

In spring, summer, fall and winter, a mother leads her young daughter in dancing a celebratory ballet, a hymn to the season. When the girl is older, she is a ballerina and remembers that her mother gave her a dancing heart.... [An] exuberant celebration of dance. - School Library Journal, starred review