Human Relations Book Lists

A gentle introduction to the issue of poverty, On Our Street explores the realities of people living with inadequate resources. Using age-appropriate language, this book addresses mental illness, homelessness and refugee status as they are connected to this issue.

"When Carlitos's mother and the other cleaners go on strike for higher wages, Carlitos cannot think of a way to support his mother until he sees her on television making a speech, and then he gets his class to help him make a sign to show his pride."

This book is fully bilingual (text in both English and Spanish), and is shelved in our Spanish-language collection.

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child states that every child in the world has the right to play. Unfortunately, that universal right is not always respected. "I Like, I Don't Like" presents this reality to readers by showing how children in varying circumstances can see the same object very differently.

"Jeremy, who longs to have the black high tops that everyone at school seems to have but his grandmother cannot afford, is excited when he sees them for sale in a thrift shop and decides to buy them even though they are the wrong size."

When a family has to leave their house and move to a small apartment, it's hard to let go of things--but having one another is what counts.

"A hardworking family gets their own house at last by joining a community program that restores old houses."

"Vivi loves the color pink. She is working and saving her money in order to buy a pink doll from the store. How does she feel when the doll is sold to someone else?"

"Late at night after children have gone to bed, people who work the night shift, like street sweepers, window dressers, newspaper printers, road workers, and donut bakers, are doing their jobs."

"When two boys from different backgrounds become friends and sleep over at each other's homes, they exchange ideas about sleepwear as well as about family life."

"The whole community comes together to help Sharonda and Mama build their house!"

"Minna proudly wears her new coat made of clothing scraps to school, where the other children laugh at her until she tells them the stories behind the scraps."

"When Sonny's mother loses her job in New Orleans during the Depression, Smilin' Jack, a jazz musician, tells him how to organize a rent party to raise the money they need."

"Every day Jimmy takes 'Skinny Kid's' lunch at school. No way will he be caught dead standing in that FREE LUNCH line."

"Emma, the daughter of poor migrant workers, longs to own a real book, and when she turns eight and must attend a new school, she is amazed to discover a whole library in her classroom."

"Dyamonde Daniel is excited about the local library's poetry contest, and so is her friend Free. The prize is one hundred dollars--just think what they could buy with that much money! But when they find out that Damaris, one of their classmates, has been living in a homeless shelter, their ideas about what it means to be rich or poor start to change."

"This book explains what welfare is in non-threatening and non-judgmental language. It explores some of the stresses, feelings, and fallout involved in starting and using the welfare system."

"Jackson and his family have fallen on hard times. There's no more money for rent, and not much for food, either. His parents, his little sister, and their dog may have to live in their minivan. Again. Crenshaw is a cat. He's large, he's outspoken, and he's imaginary. He's been gone for four years, but has come back into Jackson's life to help him."

"Georgina Hayes is desperate. Ever since her father left and they were evicted from their apartment, her family has been living in their car. With her mama juggling two jobs and trying to make enough money to find a place to live, Georgina is stuck looking after her younger brother, Toby. And she has her heart set on improving their situation. When Georgina spots a missing-dog poster with a reward of five hundred dollars, the solution to all her problems suddenly seems within reach."

"A guide to unemployment, what it is, what it may mean for your family, and how you can help."

"Teenaged Raspberry Hill tries to sort out her confused feelings of disgust, shame, and love for her homeless, drug addicted father and worries that she may have inherited his lying and stealing ways."

"Tells of a young, poor mom with a simple dream: She wants to go to college."

"Manny relates his coming of age experiences as a member of a poor Mexican American family in which the alcoholic father only adds to everyone's struggle."

"Living in the inner city amidst guns and poverty, fifteen-year-old LaVaughn learns from old and new friends, and inspiring mentors, that life is what you make it--an occasion to rise to."

"Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the rez to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot."

"A history of Cesar Chavez and the farm workers movement."

"Iggy Corso, who lives in city public housing, is caught physically and spiritually between good and bad when he is kicked out of high school, goes searching for his missing mother, and causes his friend to get involved with the same dangerous drug dealer who deals to his parents."