This next generation of U.S. citizens has the opportunity to shape the nation and the world. With knowledge of the foundations of citizenship and society, readers can make informed decisions and actively participate in their community and wider government. This book teaches readers about the civics concept of taking civic action through engaging text and colorful photographs. In this book, readers will learn about civic action in the real-world setting of a town park. This nonfiction book is paired with the fiction book Kaya Cleans the Park (ISBN: 9781538364727). The instructional guide on the inside front and back covers provides: Vocabulary, Background knowledge, Text-dependent questions, Whole class activities, and Independent activities.

The brutal lynching of two young black men in Marion, Indiana, on August 7, 1930, cast a shadow over the town that still lingers. It is only one event in the long and complicated history of race relations in Marion, a history much ignored and considered by many to be best forgotten. But the lynching cannot be forgotten. It is too much a part of the fabric of Marion, too much ingrained even now in the minds of those who live there. In Our Town journalist Cynthia Carr explores the issues of race, loyalty, and memory in America through the lens of a specific hate crime that occurred in Marion but could have happened anywhere. Marion is our town, America’s town, and its legacy is our legacy. Like everyone in Marion, Carr knew the basic details of the lynching even as a child: three black men were arrested for attempted murder and rape, and two of them were hanged in the courthouse square, a fate the third miraculously escaped. Meeting James Cameron–the man who’d survived–led her to examine how the quiet Midwestern town she loved could harbor such dark secrets. Spurred by the realization that, like her, millions of white Americans are intimately connected to this hidden history, Carr began an investigation into the events of that night, racism in Marion, the presence of the Ku Klux Klan–past and present–in Indiana, and her own grandfather’s involvement. She uncovered a pattern of white guilt and indifference, of black anger and fear that are the hallmark of race relations across the country. In a sweeping narrative that takes her from the angry energy of a white supremacist rally to the peaceful fields of Weaver–once an all-black settlement neighboring Marion–in search of the good and the bad in the story of race in America, Carr returns to her roots to seek out the fascinating people and places that have shaped the town. Her intensely compelling account of the Marion lynching and of her own family’s secrets offers a fresh examination of the complex legacy of whiteness in America. Part mystery, part history, part true crime saga, Our Town is a riveting read that lays bare a raw and little-chronicled facet of our national memory and provides a starting point toward reconciliation with the past. On August 7, 1930, three black teenagers were dragged from their jail cells in Marion, Indiana, and beaten before a howling mob. Two of them were hanged; by fate the third escaped. A photo taken that night shows the bodies hanging from the tree but focuses on the faces in the crowd—some enraged, some laughing, and some subdued, perhaps already feeling the first pangs of regret. Sixty-three years later, journalist Cynthia Carr began searching the photo for her grandfather’s face.

With World War II raging throughout Europe, the United States knew it needed to produce magnesium—the “miracle metal”—in prodigious quantities. Thousands of souls from across the United States heeded the call and traveled to Southern Nevada to build the world’s largest magnesium production plant. Living conditions were harsh in the parched desert encampment that some called Tent City. But the iron-willed men and women who answered the call would break all records in magnesium production. When the war ended, however, a mass exodus from the settlement left it on the brink of becoming just another ghost town. In this book, the author offers readers a front-row seat to the development of Henderson, Nevada. In plain, straightforward language, she examines the forces that propelled the small community through the war and how it continued to thrive into the twenty-first century. Whether you’re interested in World War II, the history of Nevada, or the history of Henderson in particular, this book reveals the powerful impact of a small desert town.

With humor and grace, the memoir of a first-generation Chinese American in New York City Our Laundry, Our Town is a memoir that decodes and processes the fractured urban oracle bones of Alvin Eng's upbringing in Flushing, Queens in the 1970s. Back then, his family was one of the few immigrant Chinese families in a far-flung neighborhood in New York City. His parents had an arranged marriage and ran a Chinese Hand Laundry. From behind the counter of his parent’s laundry and within the confines of a household that was rooted in a different century and culture, he sought to reconcile this insular home life with the turbulent yet inspiring street life that was all around them––from the faux martial arts of tv’s Kung Fu to the burgeoning underworld of the punk rock scene. In the 1970s, NYC, like most of the world, was in the throes of regenerating itself in the wake of major social and cultural changes resulting from the Counterculture and Civil Rights movements. And by the 1980s, Flushing had become NYC’s second Chinatown. But Eng remained one of the neighborhood’s few Chinese citizens who could not speak fluent Chinese. Finding his way in the downtown theater and performance world of Manhattan, he discovered the under-chronicled Chinese influence on Thornton Wilder’s foundational Americana drama, Our Town. This discovery became the unlikely catalyst for a psyche-healing pilgrimage to Hong Kong and Guangzhou, China—his ancestral home in southern China—that led to writing and performing his successful autobiographical monologue, The Last Emperor of Flushing. Learning to tell his own story on stages around the world was what proudly made him whole. As cities, classrooms, cultures, and communities the world over continue to re-examine the parameters of diversity, equity, and inclusion, Our Laundry, Our Town will reverberate with a broad readership.

Comprehension is the key to reading success! Reading for Every Child: Comprehension encourages fourth-grade students to be stronger readers using a wide range of reading comprehension activities. Reading selections from across the disciplines encourages students to understand, evaluate, and interpret what they read. This 80-page book includes projects, worksheets, games, and graphic organizers. It supports Reading First and aligns with Common Core State Standards.

I had no more stepped off the last stair step when I heard the gun shots ring out and the franti c scream from my mother. I tripped over my own self twice as I raced back up the stairs, through the kitchen and out the back door. The fi rst thing I saw was my mother lying face down in the grass across the alley way. I ran straightaway across the back yard, screaming as I ran. Our Author takes us into the life of a small town Iowa family. Explosions of the oil fi eld regions of the Persian and Saudi Gulf coast means disaster for their town. Go along the journey with Michael Larson and his family as they encounter the good and evil of the people in their community and discover the new world they help create.