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If Bao Nguyen had to describe himself, he’d say he was a rock. If Linh Mai had to describe herself, she’d say she was a firecracker. For years, the Mais and the Nguyens have been at odds, having owned competing, neighboring pho restaurants. Bao and Linh, who’ve avoided each other for most of their lives, both suspect that the feud stems from feelings much deeper than friendly competition. But then a chance encounter brings Linh and Bao in the same vicinity despite their best efforts and sparks fly, leading them both to wonder what took so long for them to connect.

After World War II has ended, twelve-year-old Hanako feels lost.  America, the only home she's ever known, imprisoned then rejected her and her family, along with thousands of other innocent Americans, because of their Japanese heritage. Japan, the country they've been forced to move to, where they were supposed to start new and better lives, is in shambles because of America's bombs. And Hanako's grandparents live in a small village just outside the ravaged city.

This book, based on experiences of the author's mother and grandparents, tells the story of a Japanese American family relocated to an internment camp in Utah. Even in the harsh landscape of the desert, a young girl is able to find beauty in unlikely places, and to re-establish her identity through art, by drawing what she remembers of her life before coming to the camp. Historical notes included. Bilingual English and Japanese.

When her father died, Zettie and her mother left their warm and comfortable home in Jamaica for an uncertain future in the United States. Zettie's mother can't find a steady job so they are forced to live in their car. But her mother's unwavering love, support, and gutsy determination give Zettie the confidence that, together, she and her mother can meet all challenges. Monica Gunning's moving and authentic story about homelessness in an American city and Elaine Pedlar's strong and lively illustrations bring this moving story to life.

In his Cambodian village, Arn's home was filled with music and laughter. But when the Khmer Rouge arrived, Arn's world was turned upside down and he never saw his family again. Arn worked in a labor camp for children for four long years, where he was chosen to play the khim, a traditional wooden stringed instrument. Today, Arn is recognized around the world for his efforts to bring healing to Cambodia and his commitment to preserving the Cambodian songs and instruments that saved his life.

Young Yu is only four years old when she takes an airplane from Korea to California, feeling she is only "a step from Heaven." Her narration subtly matures as she grows into a capable young woman, ready to go off to college in this sophisticated, moving first novel.

Product Description: Gary Soto writes that when he was five "what I knew best was at ground level." In this lively collection of short essays, Soto takes his reader to a ground-level perspective, recreating in vivid detail the sights, sounds, smells, and textures he knew growing up in his Fresno, California, neighborhood. The "things" of his boyhood tie it all together: his Buddha "splotched with gold" and his worn tennies smelling of "summer grass, asphalt, the moist sock breathing the defeat of baseball."