Indian Chiefs by Russell Freeman

• ISBN-10: 0823409716
• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Holiday House (September 1992)

From Publishers Weekly

By now an esteemed expert on the West, the author of Cowboys of the Wild West moves on to Native Americans. What response should a tribal leader take to white expansion into his people's territories? How that question is answered by six chiefsincluding Red Cloud, Santana and Sitting Bullforms the crux of this book. Their biographies serve as guidelines for negotiation styles, reminders of our government's shame and mother lodes of historical information. Excellent reproduction of the photos gives this reference book a handsome coffee-table look. Ages 8-12.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal

Grade 6 Up Freedman presents six Indian leaders from western tribes, each of whom faced the challenge of dealing with the encroachment upon his land in his own way. Included are Red Cloud of the Oglala Sioux, Santanta of the Kiowas, Quanah Parker of the Comanches, Washakie of the Shoshonis, Joseph of the Nez Perces, and Sitting Bull of the Hunkpapa Sioux. With hindsight, it is apparent that none of these men could totally win against the white culture, but they each found a different compromise. Freedman does not romanticize the Indian viewpoint, nor is he judgmental against the whites. He presents a factual, human account of cultures in conflict. The black-and-white photographs and prints reinforce the well-written biographies. Because the coverage is limited to leaders of western tribes, only two of the men in this book are also included in Lynne Deur's more general Indian Chiefs (Lerner, 1972). Freedman's narrative, as in his Children of the Wild West (Clarion, 1983), flows smoothly. The bibliography and index add to the book's usefulness as a resource for research as well. Karen P. Zimmerman, I.D. Weeks Library, University of South Dakota, Vermillion
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

How I would use this in class
I would plan on using this in class to show the historical significance of the oppression of American Indians. I might read a story from the book, and then inform them that the story was very true. I think it would impact the students strongly.

American Eyes: New Asian-American Short Stories for Young Adults by Lori M. Carlson

ISBN-10: 0449704483
Pages: 160
Published: 1995

From Publishers Weekly

"There is no subject that is off-limits for an Asian writer, just as there is no subject that is off-limits to a writer of any race," writes Cynthia Kadohata in her hard-hitting introduction to this anthology. The 10 stories here, strikingly diverse in both form and content, prove her point. "Fortune Teller," by Nguyen Duc Minh, for example, affectingly measures the pain and frustration of an adolescent crush by examining the experiences of a Vietnamese American boy whose father has only recently returned from seven years in a "reeducation" camp. And in Kadohata's "Singing Apples," the 12-year-old daughter of migrant workers in California conveys the persistent meanness of her grandmother, as well as the guilt the grandmother inculcates in her. An absorbing excerpt from Fae Myenne Ng's novel Bone, set in San Francisco's Chinatown, focuses on characters struggling to make it financially and emotionally in a fragmented world where trust is dangerous. While common concerns-such as home, American pop culture and generational difference-link the themes of these stories, the volume as a whole celebrates differences and the beautifully multiple variables of American life. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 7 Up?Home?what does it mean to Asian-American adolescents growing up in a country that often regards them as aliens? This intriguing collection of short stories presents answers as individual as each writer's voice?answers that transcend the color of skin, hair, and eyes?and speak to the human heart. The search for identity sometimes leads back to Asian roots: in one selection, an adoptee journeys to her native Korea to find her biological parents. For others, the battle takes place on the home front. In the darkly funny, surreal, and painful "Knuckles," a Chinese-American girl stubbornly refuses to eat her mother's ethnic cooking. (You don't need to be Chinese to understand the issues of control and self-destruction depicted here.) Immigrants from Japan, Vietnam, and the Philippines tell their stories as well, and each selection is firmly anchored in a particular time and place. This collection surpasses Laurence Yep's American Dragons (HarperCollins, 1993) in the uniformly excellent quality of its writing, the acuteness of characterization, and the sophistication of its themes. American Eyes crackles and burns, warms and illuminates.?Margaret A. Chang, North Adams State College, MA
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

What I would do with this in a classroom
This is a book of short stories, which would switch it up for my students. Maybe we could read one every other day. It would be an interesting unit, and one I feel that isn't covered very often. There is some great poetry and short story out there by Asian-Americans.