Independent Reading Suggested Books for Defining America: Poems, Essays, and Short Stories (2020)
Fiction Texts with Aligned Themes and Topics
- American Street by Ibi Zoboi **
- Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (940L) **
- Americanized: Rebel Without a Green Card by Sara Saedi (1030L) **
- Drita, My Homegirl by Jenny Lombard (630L) *
- Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan (750L) *
- Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhhà Lai (800L) *
- “Interpreter of Maladies” by Jhumpa Lahiri **
- Katerina's Wish by Jeannie Mobley (780L) *
- Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata (740L) *
- La Linea by Ann Jaramillo (650L) **
- Lowji Discovers America by Candace Fleming (510L) *
- Out of Nowhere by Maria Padian (670L) **
- Shooting Kabul by N.H. Senzai (800L) *
- Star in the Forest by Laura Resau (780L) *
- Sylvia & Aki by Winifred Conkling (760L) *
- The Border by Steve Schafer (540L) **
- The Good Braider by Terry Farish (630L) **
- The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri (1140L) **
- The Radius of Us by Marie Marquardt (710L) **
- “Who’s Irish?” by Gish Jen **
- You Bring the Distant Near by Mitali Perkins **
Non-Fiction Texts with Aligned Themes and Topics
- “Call Me American” by Abdi Nor Iftin (1200-1300L)
- Denied, Detained, Deported: Stories from the Dark Side of American Immigration by Ann Bausum (1170L)
- Enrique's Journey: The True Story of a Boy Determined to Reunite with his Mother, Adapted for Young People by Sonia Nazario (800L)
- Someone Like Me: How One Undocumented Girl Fought for Her American Dream by Julissa Arce
- Something in Between by Melissa de la Cruz (640L)
- The Devil's Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea (890L)
- The Distance Between Us by Reyna Grande (800L)
- This Land Is Our Land: A History of American Immigration by Linda Barrett Osborne (1080L)
- World of Our Fathers by Irving Howe
* lower Lexile or qualitative measures than core text.
** higher Lexile or qualitative measures than core text.
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