Read.gov presents a sampling of suggested books that will spark the imagination and transport readers to new and exciting places. Look for these books in your local library. The books supplement the online resources in the American Memory website. Following each list is a link to the corresponding online resources.

The Great Depression

American Life Histories, 1936-1940

  • Greenberg, Judith E. and Helen Carey McKeever. “A Pioneer Woman's Memoir.” Watts, 1995.
  • Murphy, Jim. “The Great Fire.” Scholastic, 1995.
  • Sandler, Martin W. “Pioneers: A Library of Congress Book.” HarperCollins, 1994.
  • Shelby, Anne. “Homeplace.” Orchard, 1995.
  • See also: Federal Writers' Project

New Deal Stage: Federal Theatre Project

  • Hakim, Joy. “War, Peace and All That Jazz.” Oxford University Press, 1994.
  • Stein, R. Conrad. “The Great Depression.” Children's Press, 1993.
  • See also: Federal Theatre Project

Posters from the Work Projects Administration (WPA)

  • Barnicoat, John. “Posters: A Concise History.” Thames and Hudson, 1985.
  • Henry, Sandi. “Kids' Arts Works! Creating With Color, Design, Texture & More.” Williamson, 1999.
  • Janson, H.W. “History of Art for Young People.” Harry N. Abrams, 1997.
  • See also: Posters from the WPA

The Dust Bowl

  • Andryszewski, Tricia. “The Dust Bowl: Disaster on the Plains.” The Millbrook Press, 1993.
  • Stanley, Jerry. “Children of the Dust Bowl.” Crown Publishers, 1992.
  • Stein, R. Conrad. “The Great Depression.” Children's Press, 1993.
  • See also: Voices from the Dust Bowl

The Great Depression in Photographs

  • Evans, Walker. “Something Permanent.” Poetry by Cynthia Rylant. Harcourt Brace & Co., 1994.
  • Farris, John. “The Dust Bowl.” Lucent Books, 1989.
  • Hesse, Karen. “Out of the Dust.” Scholastic Press, 1997.
  • Rylant, Cynthia. “Appalachia: The Voices of Sleeping Birds.” Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1991.
  • Turner, Robyn Montanna. “Dorothea Lange.” Little, Brown and Company, 1994.
  • See also: Photographs from the Great Depression

African-American History

The African-American Experience

  • Hamilton, Virginia. “Many Thousands Gone: African Americans from Slavery to Freedom.”  Knopf, 1993.
  • Hudson, Wade and Cheryl, eds. “How Sweet the Sound: African-American Songs for children.” Scholastic, 1995.
  • Medeavis, Angela Shelf. “This Far to Freedom: A History of African Americans.”  Atheneum, 1993.
  • Potter, Joan and Constance Claytor. “African Americans Who Were First.” Cobblehill Books, 1997.
  • See also: The African American Odyssey

Slavery

  • Diouf, Sylviane A. “Growing Up in Slavery.” Millbrook Press, 2001.
  • McPherson, Stephanie Sammartino. “Sisters Against Slavery: A Story About Sarah and Angelina Grimke.” Carolrhoda Books, 1999.
  • Meltzer, Milton. “The Black Americans: A History in Their Own Words, 1619-1983.” Harper & Row, 1984.
  • See also: Voices from the Days of Slavery and Born in Slavery

Frederick Douglass

  • Bennett, Evelyn. “Frederick Douglass and the War Against Slavery.” The Millbrook Press, 1993.
  • Keenan, Sheila. “Frederick Douglass: Portrait of a Freedom Fighter.” Scholastic Inc., 1995.
  • McCurdy, Michael, ed. “Escape from Slavery: The Boyhood of Frederick Douglass in His Own Words.” Alfred A. Knopf, 1994.
  • McKissack, Patricia, and Fredrick McKissack. “Frederick Douglass: The Black Lion.”  Children's Press, 1987.
  • Frederick Douglass Papers

Hispanic-American History

  • Cumpain, Carlos. “Latino Rainbow: Poems About Latino Americans.” Chicago: Children's Press, 1994.
  • Fradin, Judith Bloom. “New Mexico.” Children's Press, 1994.
  • Morey, Janet. “Famous Hispanic Americans.” Cobblehill Books, 1996.
  • Winchester, Faith. “Hispanic Holidays.” Bridgestone Books, 1996.
  • Collins, Mary. “The Spanish-American War.” Children's Press, 1998.
  • Davis, Lucile. “Puerto Rico.”  Children's Press, 2000.
  • George, Linda. “Luis Munoz Marin: Father of Modern Puerto Rico.”  Children's Press, 1999.
  • See also: Hispanic Music and Culture of the Northern Rio Grande and Puerto Rico at the Dawn of the Modern Age

Asian-American History

Native Americans

  • Anderson, Madelyn Klein. North American Indian Games. Franklin Watts, 2000.
  • Hakim, Joy. The First Americans. Second Edition. Oxford University Press, 1999.
  • Philip, Neil. ed. A Braid of Lives: Native American Childhood. Clarion Books, 2000.
  • Alexie, Sherman. “The Absolutely True Diary of a Native American Indian.” Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2007.
  • See also: American Indians of the Pacific Northwest

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