2005-2006 Selections

FMC - First Mennonite Church Shalom Reader's Collection

LCL - Available to borrow at Lincoln City Libraries  

CBD  - Available for purchase at ChristianBook.com  

AMZ - Available for purchase at Amazon.com 

Darby - FMC - CBD
by Jonathon Scott Fuqua. Candlewick Press, 2002. Darby stirs up strong emotions in her small South Carolina town when she writes a story for the local newspaper promoting racial equality.

Esperanza rising - FMC - LCL
by Pam Munoz Ryan. Scholastic, 2000. Esperanza and her mother are forced to leave their life of wealth and privilege in Mexico to go work in the labor camps of Southern California, where they must adapt to the harsh circumstances facing Mexican farm workers.

The Voice that Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the struggle for equal rights - LCL - CBD
by Russell Freedman. Clarion Books 2004. Tells the life story of singer Marian Anderson, describing her famous 1939 Lincoln Memorial performance.

Assassins in the Cathedral
by Dave and Neta Jackson. Bethany House, 1999. A young Ugandan Christian boy learns the strength of loving enemies through tragedy in his family and the love of his church leaders during the terrible reign of Idi Amin.

The Betrayer's Fortune
by Dave and Neta Jackson, Bethany House Publishers, 1994. In Antwerp, Belgium in 1543 after his mother is arrested as a heretic, 15 year old Adrien Wens flees with the Anabaptist preacher Menno Simons and must decide whether or not to turn Simons in to save his mother from death.

Blizzard's Wake
by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor; Atheneum, 2002. A survival story is combined with a teenage girl's struggle to overcome hatred and learn to forgive.

The Bronze Bow
by Elizabeth George Speare. Houghton Mifflin, 1961. This novel traces Daniel Bar Jamin's contact with Jesus and how it transforms his life.

Color Me Dark
by Patricia McKissack: Scholastic, 2000. Like many other African Americans, Nellie Lee's family moves north in search of a better life, hoping so escape the racism of the rural south and take advantage of opportunities in the city.

Crash
by Jerry Spinelli. Knopf Books for Young Readers: 1996. "Crash'' has always been comfortable with his aggressive behavior, until his relationship with an unusual Quaker boy and his grandfather's stroke make him consider the meaning of friendship.

The Fighting Ground
by Avi. Harper & Row, 1984. The reader follows one day in the life of Jonathan, a Revolutionary War 13 year old as his view of war changes.

Friends and Enemies
by Louann Gaeddert. Antheneum Books, 2000. In 1941 in Kansas, as America enters WW II, 14 year old William finds himself alienated from his friend Jim, a Mennonite who does not believe in fighting for any reason and refuses to support the war effort in any way.

Gideon's People
by Carolyn Meyer. Gulliver Books, 1996. Two boys, one Jewish, the other Amish, face youth-full rebellion against their traditional heritage and find similarities between the 2 religions.

Grab Hands and Run
by Frances Temple. Orchard Books, 1993. A boy, his younger sister, and their mother make the dangerous journey north to Canada from El Salvador after the boy's father disappears and is presumed murdered by government soldiers.

Henry's Red Sea
by Barbara Smucker. Herald Press, 1955. A contemporary Mennonite history story of people fleeing homes and villages in Russia for new beginnings. The story of MCC, Peter and Elfrieda Dyck and the miracle of deliverance to freedom.

How Many Days to America?
by Eve Bunting. Houghton Mifflin, 1990. A modern Thanksgiving story in which a boatload of Caribbean refugees wonder if they will make it to America and how they feel when they arrive.

Jim Thorpe, 20th Century Jock
by Robert Lipsyte. Harper Collins, 1993 A biography of an outstanding Native American athlete.

Journey to Jo'burg
by Beverly Naidoo. Harper & Row, 1986. 13 year old Naledi and her 9 year old brother, Tiro, travel by themselves through over 300 kilometers of South African countryside to save their baby sister.

The Land I Lost; Adventures of a Boy in Vietnam
Huynh Quang Nhuong. Harper Collins, 1982. The true story of a Vietnamese boy
describes the tragedy caused by conflict.

A Long Way From Home
by Maureen Crane Wartski. Westminster, 1982. A Holocaust survivor recounts her liberation from a Nazi Concentration camp, her search for surviving family members and her struggle to reach America.

Maniac McGee
by Jerry Spinelli. Little Brown & Co. 1990. After his parents died his life changed and he became a legend. Kids still talk about how fast he could run and his fame at untangling a knot.

Number the Star
by Lois Lawry. Dell, 1992. Somehow Annemarie must find strength and courage to save her best friend's life in 1943 as the Nazi soldiers march through towns and the war progresses. Life in Copenhagen, Denmark is experienced with food shortages and changes.

On Fire For Christ
by Dave and Neta Jackson. Herald Press, 1989. A collection of stories about Anabaptist martyrs.

The Ramsey Scallop
by Frances Temple. Orchard Books, 1994. A betrothed young girl and young man in the early 14th century are sent by the village priest on a mission for the village. They learn each other's strengths and how to work together.

Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry
by Mildred Taylor. Dial Books 1991. During the 1930's the Logan family children struggle to understand and do not accept the disparities they face in their school and everyday lives compared to the white school and community.

Runaway to Freedom, a Story of the Underground Railroad
by Barbara Smucker, Harper Collins, 1979. Two young slave girls escape from a plantation and wind a hazardous route toward freedom.

Running On Eggs
by Anna Levine. Front Street/Cricket Books, 1999. When Karen and Yasmine become friends while members of a mixed Arab and Jewish track team their family and friends disapprove. But the girls hold onto their friendship and the others learn from it.

Sara's Summer
by Naomi R. Stucky. Herald Press, 1990. A gentle story of everyday life in a Hutterite Colony.

The Second Bend in the River
by Ann Rinaldi. Scholastic Press, 1997. An historical romantic novel about a friendship between a white pioneer girl and a powerful Indian chief.

Shades of Gray
by Carolyn Reeder. Macmillan, 1989. Fiercely loyal to the Confederate cause, 12 year old Will has lost all his immediate family in the Civil War and goes to live with his aunt and her family where he learns that although Uncle Jed refused to fight, he is not a coward or a traitor.

Sounder
by William H. Armstrong. Harper & Row, 1969. This classic story tells what it is like to be poor, cold, and starving while your father is in jail.

The Storyteller's Beads
by Jane Kurtz. Harcourt Brace, 1998. Two Ethiopian girls face hardships and overcome prejudices in order to survive as they flee famine and war.

Summer of My German Soldier
by Bette Greene, Dial Press, 1973. The story of an unlikely friendship between a 12 year old Jewish girl and an escaped German POW from an Arkansas camp during the 1940's.

Taste of Salt: A Story of Modern Haiti
by Frances Temple. Orchard Books, 1992. Djo, a 17 year old boy, tells his life story from a hospital bed after being beaten by government thugs. Jeremie listens and also tells her story. They both worked for Father (and later President) Aristide.

To Life
by Ruth Minsky Sender. Puffin, 1990. A Holocaust survivor recounts her liberation from a Nazi Concentration camp, her search for surviving family members and her struggle to reach America.

Under the Same Sky
by Cynthia DeFelice. Farrar Straus & Girous: 2003. While trying to earn money, a teen-aged boy becomes involved with the Mexicans who work on his family's farm. A thought-provoking book on the role and rights of migrant workers in the U.S.

The War Game
by Michael Foreman. Arcade Publishing, 1993. Some soldiers form friendships with "the enemy" during WW I.

Waiting for the Rain : A Novel of South Africa
by Sheila Gordon. Orchard Books, 1987. The story covers 9 years in the lives of 2 friends, 1 black and 1 white and the conflicts imposed on them by their cultures.

The Well: David's Story
by Mildred Taylor. Dial Books, 1995. When the wells run dry an African American family shares their well with all neighbors including white ones who are not happy about the situation.

Winnie Mandela, the Soul of South Africa
by Milton Meltzer, Viking, 1986. Winnie Mandela has endured hardship and banishment to challenge her nation's racist policies.

The Witness
by Karen Hesse. Scholastic Press, 2001. In a series of poems, people in a small Vermont town tell their story of how the KKK came and went.

Words By Heart
by Ouida Sebestyan. Bantam Books, 1981. A young Black girl learns that winning a scripture memory contest may not overcome racial prejudices.

Zlata's Diary, A Child's Life in Sarajevo
by Zlata Filpovic. Viking, 1994. A teenage girl chronicles her life while there is a war in her country and city.