Brooks, Gwendolyn. Maud Martha. Chicago: Third World Press, 1993. A short novel
that describes the life and family of an African American woman growing up and
seeking fulfillment as an adult..
Cameron, Dan. Dancing at The Louvre; Faith Ringgold’s French Collection and Other
Story Quilts. University of California Press, 1998. A beautiful collection of Faith
Ringgold’s quilts, connecting fine art to the African American slave quilt tradition.
Carnes, Jim. “Home Was a Horse Stall.” US and THEM: A History of Intolerance in
America. Montgomery: Southern Poverty Law Center, 1995. 92-101. This article
provides information about mail order brides and historical information about how
first generation Japanese Americans were placed into internment camps in the wake
of WWII.
Chopra, Joyce, Director. Smooth Talk. Nepenhthe Productions, 1986. A winner of
Sundance Film Festival awards, this is a film adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates’s
“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”
Cofer, Judith Ortiz. “The Story of My Body.”
Boricuas: Influential Puerto Rican
Writings – An Anthology. Ed. Roberto Santiago. New York: Ballantine Books,
1995. 132-142. This story describes one young girl’s experience coming from
Puerto Rico to live in the United States and how she deals with issues like color,
ethnicity, body size, and language differences.
Mohr, Nicholasa. “An Awakening… Summer 1956
.” Multicultural Literature
Collection: Latino Caribbean Literature. New Jersey: Globe Fearon, 1994. 50-60.
A compelling story about a life-changing event for a young Puerto Rican woman
who comes to the United States to seek a new future.
Mohr, Nicholasa. “The Wrong Lunch Line.”
Puerto Rican Writers at Home in the USA: An Anthology
. Seattle, Washington: Open Hand Publishing, Inc., 1991. 153-
156. This story is about two young girls who are best friends. One is Puerto Rican
and the other is Jewish. When the Puerto Rican girl tries to go with her friend into
the lunch line that serves Kosher food, she confronts prejudice that she never
expects.
Moorhouse, Jocelyn, Director. How to Make an American Quilt. Universal City
Studios, 1995. A film about a young woman who is about to be married. As her
mother, aunts, and their friend work on a wedding quilt for her, they tell their own
stories about love and relationships.
Morales, Aurora Levins. “Child of the Americas.”
Boricuas: Influential
Puerto Rican Writings – An Anthology. Ed. Roberto Santiago. New York:
Ballantine Books, 1995. 79. This is a wonderful poem that speaks to the issues
of identity, self-esteem, and cultural heritage.
Oates, Joyce Carol. “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”
Fictions
.
2nd ed. Ed. Joseph F. Trimmer and C. Wade Jennings. Orlando: Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich, Inc., 1989. 902-915. This story describes a young teenage girl’s
alienation from her family and how it leads to her loss of innocence at the hands
of an evil stranger.
Uchida, Yashiko. Picture Bride and Related Readings. Evanston: McDougal Littell
Inc., 1997. A novel that describes the life of a mail order bride who leaves her
native Japan to begin a new life in America.
Walker, Alice. “Everyday Use.”
Fictions.
2nd ed. Ed. Joseph F. Trimmer and C.
Wade Jennings. Orlando: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1989. 1139-1146. The
story an African American family and the conflict between contemporary life and
traditional values, as a sister visits home to stake her claim on the family quilts.
