American Library

Fatima Khazi is excited for the weekend. Her family is headed to a local state park for their first camping trip! The school week might not have gone as planned, but outdoors, Fatima can achieve anything. She sets up a tent with her father, builds a fire with her mother, and survives an eight-legged mutant spider (a daddy longlegs with an impressive shadow) with her sister. At the end of an adventurous day, the family snuggles inside one big tent, serenaded by the sounds of the forest.

Historians still agree about the date of Columbus' voyage. But did this European adventurer discover America? We now know that certain explorers from other parts of the globe set foot on American shores long before 1492: and that others may have done so. And "discovery" takes on a different meaning when the new land already has people living in it.

Lamar can’t wait to start his filmmaking career like his idol Spike Lee. And leave behind his small town of Morton, Louisiana. But for now, Lamar has to learn how to be a filmmaker while getting to know his grandfather. When Gramps talks about his activism and Black history, Lamar doesn’t think much about it. Times have changed since the old Civil Rights days! Right? He has a white friend named Jeff who wants to be a filmmaker, too, even though Jeff’s parents never let him go to Lamar’s Black neighborhood. But there’s been progress in town. Right?

In the 15th century, four Mahu sail from Tahiti to Hawaii and share their gifts of science and healing with the people of Waikiki. The islanders return this gift with a monument of four boulders in their honor, which the Mahu imbue with healing powers before disappearing. As time passes, foreigners inhabit the island and the once-sacred stones are forgotten until the 1960s. Though the true story of these stones was not fully recovered, the power of the Mahu still calls out to those who pass by them at Waikiki Beach today.

Due to his wide range of musical talent and an incomparable career spanning forty-nine years, Johnny Cash has been inducted into the Country, Rock and Roll, Rockabilly, and Gospel Halls of Fame. He also won 18 Grammys and 9 Country Music Association Awards. Who Was Johnny Cash? lets young listeners learn about every step in Johnny Cash's groundbreaking musical career. As one of the best-selling American musicians of all time, Cash, born JR Carter, was known for his rich, deep voice and musical style that featured a chugging, train-like beat.

Georgia Gilmore was cooking when she heard the news Mrs. Rosa Parks had been arrested - pulled off a city bus and thrown in jail all because she wouldn't let a White man take her seat. To protest, the radio urged everyone to stay off city buses for one day: December 5, 1955. Throughout the boycott - at Holt Street Baptist Church meetings led by a young minister named Martin Luther King Jr. - and throughout the struggle for justice, Georgia served up her mouth-watering fried chicken, her spicy collard greens, and her sweet potato pie.

Shut the hatches. It's time to roll out. You'll find yourself behind enemy lines with Clarence Smoyer and the 3rd Armored Division, the workhorse unit know as "Spearhead", the best in the tank armor ranks. You'll feel as if you are right beside Clarence and his fellow crew members - all formerly strangers from across America who have now become family to each other. You will be jarred by enemy fire, and then explore the other side, stepping into the boots of German tanker soldier, Gustav Schaefer, and his crew.

This friendly, fun biography series focuses on the traits that made our heroes great - the traits that kids can aspire to in order to live heroically themselves. Each book tells the story of an icon in a lively, conversational way that works well for the youngest nonfiction audiences and that always includes the hero's childhood influences. This book features critically acclaimed talk-show host Oprah Winfrey, who used her struggles in childhood as motivation to become "Queen of All Media".

Starting in the 1960s, John Lewis began his activism alongside civil rights legend and good friend Martin Luther King Jr. He participated in many now-historic events, including the 1963 March of Washington, the Freedom Rides, and the Selma to Montgomery marches across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. John continued his impactful career when he was elected to the House of Representatives in 1986. He went on to serve seventeen terms until his death in 2020.

Evette is a nature-lover full of crafty ideas for reusing and upcycling clothes. When she finds a vintage swimsuit in Gran E’s closet, she also uncovers a family secret that could explain why her mother’s family, which is Black, and her father’s, which is White, don’t spend time together. When Evette visits the river where her grandmother used to swim, she realizes how polluted it’s become. She rallies her new friends Makena and Maritza along with her whole family for a cleanup day.

When Patsy Mink won her seat the House of Representatives as a Democrat from Hawaii, she became the first woman of color and the first Asian American woman elected to Congress. A co-author of the Title XI amendment of the Higher Education Act, she was a champion of rights for women, children, immigrants, and minorities throughout her twenty-four years in Congress. She helped paved the way for many other women to succeed.

Since it was first published in 1964, Whistle for Willie has delighted millions with the story of Peter, who longs to whistle for his dog.

China, 1937. When Japanese bombs begin falling on the city of Nanking, 19-year-old Hu Lian and her classmates at Minghua University are ordered to flee. Lian and a convoy of students, faculty, and staff must walk 1,000 miles to the safety of China's western provinces, a journey marred by the constant threat of aerial attack. And it is not just the refugees who are at risk; Lian and her classmates have been entrusted with a priceless treasure: a 500-year-old collection of myths and folklore known as the Library of Legends.

The Bill of Rights established the fundamental principles the nation was founded on including freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and a speedy public trial by jury. Students will learn the origins of these original 10 important amendments to the Constitution and their impact on American law and politics.

Barrio Logan, one of San Diego’s oldest Chicane neighborhoods, once brimmed with families and stretched all the way to the glorious San Diego Bay. But in the decades after WWII, the community lost their beach and bayfront to factories, junkyards, and an interstate that divided the neighborhood and forced around 5,000 people out of their homes. Then on April 22, 1970, residents discovered that the construction crew they believed was building a park—one the city had promised them years ago—was actually breaking ground for a police station.

In 2008, John McCain ran for president against Barack Obama, becoming a well-known national figure. But his presidential campaign was only one of the many inspirational things John accomplished in his lifetime! John was a decorated member of the US Navy who survived being a prisoner of war in Vietnam. He served as an Arizona senator for thirty years, right up until his passing in 2018. Learn all about John McCain and his life as politician who always tried to work across the aisle and to treat people fairly in this book about the maverick patriot.

Laila knows how clever, kind, and funny her Mama and Baba are—but sometimes they need her help translating things from English. With English classes being too expensive, Laila decides to become her parents’ teacher, even though she’s just learning the language too. There’s lots that Laila knows (like you don’t pronounce the t in ballet) but there’s so much she doesn’t know too. Together, they embrace the joy and struggles of learning a new language.

Discover how a young girl who was the star of her school's debate team became a federal jurist and the first Black woman to sit on the United States Supreme Court.

From the number one New York Times best-selling series comes the latest title in the Who HQ Now format for trending topics. It tells the history of a political and social movement that advocates for nonviolent civil disobedience and protests against incidents of police brutality - and all racially motivated violence - against Black people.

On June 19, 1865, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, a group of enslaved men, women, and children in Texas gathered. Order Number 3 was read, proclaiming that they were no longer enslaved—they were free. People danced, wept tears of joy, and began to plan their new lives. Juneteenth became an annual celebration that is observed by more and more Americans with parades, picnics, family gatherings, and reflection on the words of historical figures, to mark the day when freedom truly rang for all.