Zainab is a thirteen year old facing a LOT of problems that threaten to overwhelm her: manipulation, bullying, the sexual exploitation of a friend and eventually an attempted suicide. But when a teacher offers her the opportunity to direct a school house league play, Zainab thinks it might be the chance she's looking for. If she can bring the most popular bully in school, in line, maybe she can prove she fits in. Maybe... Winner of the 2001 Manitoba Young Reader's Choice Honor Award Nominated for the 2000 Ruth Schwartz Award Nominated for the 2000 Red Maple Award

Zainab, a young North American Muslim, has many difficulties making friends at school. When one of her teachers offers to let her direct the upcoming school play, Zainab's desire to fit in leads her to cast the school's most popular boy, Kevin, despite another student's incredible audition. The cast's success brings her respect and she learns to be more confident.

Understanding Diversity Through Novels and Picture Books goes beyond the usual multicultural lists and looks at the wide expanse of the diversity of cultures and lifestyles impacting children's lives in America today and identifies good books to have in library collections for them to read. Included are annotated titles with discussion questions from all of the identified cultures and subcultures and annotated teacher/librarian resources, print- and Web-based, as well as an excellent list of topical annotated journal articles. Grades 4-8. Knowles and Smith examine current research on diversity and multiculturalism. They move away from the traditional aspects of multicultural education (food, fashion, folktales, festivals, and famous people) to a focus on novels and pictures books, and realistic fiction to show children with diversity issues that there are others in similar positions. The issue of authenticity (whether the author of the book should be of that culture or merely familiar with the culture) is discussed. Topics include: Ethnicities (Asian, Latino/Hispanic, African/Black, Native American, White/European, Bi/Multiracial), Exceptionalities, Ageism, Socioeconomic Status, Sexual Orientation, Gender, and Religion. The authors provide this valuable resource for libraries, schools, and communities that wish to utilize literature to help diverse students walk in the shoes of others and to match books to children and young adults to heighten understanding and acceptance. Grades 4-8.

In these eleven original stories, characters bravely face the challenges of settling into a new life. In this wonderful new short story anthology, eleven of Canada's top children's authors contribute stories of immigration, displacement and change, exploring the frustration and uncertainty those changes can bring. Told in first-person narratives, this collection features a diverse cast of boys and girls, each one living at a different point in Canada's vast landscape and history. With unforgettable protagonists -- such as Miriam, a Warsaw-ghetto survivor, now reunited with her family in Montreal; Wong Joe-on, a young Chinese immigrant who faces racism in a small Saskatchewan town; and Insy, an Ojibwe girl who makes her first trip to a "white" town in Northern Ontario -- young readers will be moved by the opportunities and difficulties that these characters face, as each one ponders what it means to be Canadian, and struggles to fit in. Hoping for Home includes stories by Jean Little, Kit Pearson, Brian Dowle, Paul Yee, Irene N. Watts, Ruby Slipperjack, Afua Cooper, Rukhsana Khan, Marie--Andrée Clermont, Lillian Boraks--Nemetz and Shelley Tanaka.

Academic study of children's literature has explored various aspects of diversity; however, little research has examined Canadian books that portray characters with disabilities. This relevant and timely text addresses the significant dearth of research by exploring the treatment of disability in Canadian literature for young people. Engaging and highly accessible, this text will assist teachers, teacher educators, and teacher candidates in finding and using books about characters where disability is a part of their characterization, supporting the development of curricula that reflect critical literacy and social justice issues. Stories for Every Classroom explores the historical patterns and trends, theoretical frameworks, and critical literacy methods used to understand and teach children's literature and its portrayal of characters with disabilities. It provides educators with curriculum ideas and enriches the body of resources shared with children in K-12 settings for the purposes of developing imagination, empathy, and understanding of self and others. Featuring author portraits, comprehensive annotated bibliographies of contemporary Canadian children's books that depict characters with disabilities, and read-on bibliographies that provide connections with other books in the field, this unique text will be an invaluable resource for educators.

This edition of Multicultural and Ethnic Children’s Literature in the United States addresses both quantitative and more qualitative changes in this field over the last decade. Quantitative changes include more authors, books, and publishers; book review sources, booklists, and awards; organizations, institutions, and websites; and criticism and other scholarship. Qualitative changes include: More support for new and emerging writers and illustrators; Promotion of multicultural literature both in the U.S. and around the world, as well as developments in global literature; Developments in the literatures described throughout this book, as well as in research supporting this literature; The impact of technology; Characteristics and activities of four adult audiences that use and promote multicultural children’s literature, and Changes in leaders and their organizations. This is still a single reference source for busy and involved librarians, teachers, parents, scholars, publishers, distributors, and community leaders. Most books on multicultural children’s literature are written especially for teachers, librarians, and scholars. They may be introductions to the literature, selection tools, teaching guides, or very theoretical books on choosing, evaluating, and using these materials. Multicultural and Ethnic Children’s Literature in the United States focuses much more on the history of the development of this literature, from the nineteenth century to the present day. This book provides much more of a cultural and political context for the early development of this literature. It emphasizes the “self-determining” viewpoints and activities of diverse people as they produce materials for the young. Multicultural and Ethnic Children’s Literature… describes organizations, events, activities, and other contributions of diverse writers, illustrators, publishers, researchers, scholars, librarians, educators, and parents. It also describes trends in the research on the literature. It elaborates more on ways in which diversity is still an issue in publishing companies and an extended list of related industries. It describes related literature from outside of the U.S. and makes connections to traditional global literature. Last, Multicultural and Ethnic Children’s Literature, shows the impact of multiculturalism on education, libraries, and the mainstream culture, in general. While the other books on multiculturalism focus on how to find, evaluate, and use multicultural materials, especially in schools and libraries, this book is concerned over whether and how books are produced in the first place and how this material impact the broader society. In many ways, it supplements other books on multicultural children’s literature.

In a time when almost any gritty topic can be featured in a young adult novel, there is one subject that is avoided by writers and publishers. Faith and belief in God seldom appear in traditional form in novels for teens. The lack of such ideas in mainstream adolescent literature can be interpreted by teens to mean that these matters are not important. Yet a significant part of growing up is struggling with issues of spirituality. The underlying problem, of course, is that there are so few writers who are willing to talk to teenagers about God, even indirectly, or who themselves have the religious literacy for the task. Spirituality in Young Adult Literature: The Last Taboo tackles a subject rarely portrayed in fiction aimed at teens. In this volume, Patty Campbell examines not only realistic fiction, but young adult literature that deals with mysticism, apocalyptical end times, and even YA novels that depict the Divine Encounter. Campbell maintains that fantasy works are inherently spiritual, because the plots nearly always progress toward a showdown between good and evil. As such, the author surmises that the popularity of fantasy among teens may represent their interest in the mystical dimensions of faith and the otherworldly. In this study, Campbell examines works of fiction that express perspectives from Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Sikhism. Distinguished YA novelist Chris Crowe provides a chapter on Mormon values and Mormon YA authors and how their novels integrate those values into their books. By looking at how spirituality is represented in novels aimed at teens, this book asks what progress, if any, has been made in slaying the taboo. Although most of the books discussed in this study are recent, an appendix lists YA books from 1967 to the present that have dealt with issues of faith. A timely look at an important subject, Spirituality in Young Adult Literature will be of interest to young adult librarians, junior and senior high school teachers, and students and instructors of college courses in adolescent literature, as well as to parents of teens.