Hi Lori, I minored in Multicultural Literature in college, so sorry if I inundate you too many titles.....but off the top of my head, here goes.
Concerning multicultural relationships, there's Romiette and Julio: from the back of the book: "When Romiette Cappelle meets Julio Montague, she feels as though she has met the soul mate who can rescue her from her recurring nightmare about fire and water. But like the the Shakespearean characters whose names echo theirs, Romiette and Julio discover that not everyone approves of their budding romance. In their case, it is because Romiette is African American and Julio is Hispanic, and the Devildogs, a dangerous local gang, violently oppose their interracial relationship.....": this book is listed as appropriate for grades 6-12. I began to read it aloud to my seventh graders last year, without previewing it, and I think it did get a couple skickers and gasps, if I recall correcly. It might be a little racey, no pun intended:) A less controversial take on the Romeo and Juliette theme changed around to do with race is, of course, Westside Story. Another class of my seventh graders read the play last year and then watched the movie. It is kind of dated (from the 70's or something), but the themes are still relevant. Then there's the short poetry-infused book, Bronx Masquerade, by Nikki Grimes. This is about a class of students who are studying Harlem Renaissance poetry (Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen), and begin to write poetry themselves and read it aloud in class. It is told from eighteen different perspectives. Students could read some of the Harlem Renaissance poetry along with this novel......some of this poetry is some of the best poetry about race that I know of. Definitely check out the poem "Incident", about a child remembering being called the n word. One of my favorites is Bat 6. It is about a sixth-grade softball team right after World War II; the team members are struggling to deal with coming back together after their parents' generation was torn apart from the removal of the Japanese in their community to the internment camps. One of the girls harbors a secret hatred of the Japanese and ends up hurting a child from the other team. Great story! Addresses a lot of great issues. As far as integration stories, there's Warrriors Don't Cry, which is written at a low reading level, but many teachers are offended at the graphic description of rape at the beginning of the story. I guess the story doesn't mince words. A quote from the book: "Get her, get the nigger out of here. Hang her black ass!" I think I could use this book successfully with some censorship of certain words maybe....or not reading certain parts aloud, etc. It is a YA novel, but I think depending on the district and the teacher's personality, some teachers might prefer the Ruby Bridges story. I think there's a biography, Through My Eyes, I believe, of Ruby Bridges (also a movie)....that tells the integration story a little less graphically. Almost all of my girls read this last year and loved it. Zora Neale Hurston has an essay: "How it Feels to Be Colored Me" that might be appropriate for your students. I read it in college, but I think it would be accessible. It's been a while since I've read it. More advanced students might be able to approach Black Boy or Invisible Man. A couple of my most gifted and mature seventh graders read Ellison's Invisible Man last year and I think understood it. Black Boy is pretty graphic, but I think there might be a chapter excerpt that is commonly read with middle schoolers....the first chapter where he talks about writing a story for a newspaper, I believe. Then there's Mi Vida Loca, a movie about Latinas in gangs. Once again, I don't know if it would be suitable or not. We studied it in college, but you may be able to use excerpts. Sandra Cisneros, a Latina writer, also has an essay on why she writes, which could be appropriate. Zitkala-Sa in American Indian Stories writes about being taken from her Native American family and put in a racist white boarding school to be "acculturated" during the earliest part of last century. Fascinating! Not very graphic, at least the excerpts we read. Then there's Harriet Wilson's Our Nig, for females who are very interested in the lives of African American women during the 1800's, after slavery was abolished. I believe it is a little less graphic than Harriet Jacobs' autobiography and addresses similar issues. I'm going to stop there for now. Feel free to ask further questions. May _______________________________________________ The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive
