Hit:Elem Books on Interracial Families

[Mary Marguerite Ludwick <ludwick@TENET.EDU>]

Thanks to all who responded on this.  Here are the suggestions I
received:

Barbara Ann ? Porte (I know that's the last name, am not sure of the
first)-*I Only Made Up the Roses* probably about 8 years ago
 and then I think she did one last year too about a girl who visited her
dying grandmother in Arizona--- get back to me if you need the title of
that one-the first is very good.

There's a cute trade book...not too easy...called

I Taught My Parents How to Eat (au?)

It's about a little girl explaining how her Japanese mother and American (US
Navy sailor) dad met in Japan and were married.  Very cute.


Try *Black is brown is tan* by Arnold Adoff.  IT's really more
of a poem in book format.

Try Rosen Publishers.  They publish a series of books called "Coping
with..." on subjects like adoption, abusive parents, interracial dating,
etc.  I think I remember one on interracial families.  Check their catalog.

Park's Quest by Katherine Paterson
Scrambled Eggs by Jamie Gilson

In my middle school collection, I have a number of fiction books, but they
mostly are girl oriented:  Paula Danziger's two, "The Divorce Express" and
its sequel, "It's an Aardvark-eat-turtle world".  I just bought Virginia
Hamilton"s "Plain City", although the portrayal there is not a very
positive one--the biracial protagonist hasn't been told from the beginning
that her dad is Black and he has left the family, so when she meets up
with him she's thrown for a loop.  Then when you read Arnold Adoff's book
of poems about his middle-school aged daughter, "All the Colors of the
Race", you sort of wonder how he and she could have been the parents of
the same children.  Anyway, I find the poems to be a very positive
expression of the values of a multi-racial heritage.

From the Chinese-Caucasian viewpoint, there's Lawrence Yep's "Child of the
Owl" and he's just done a sequel to it which is wonderful, but I've
forgotten the title.

In non-fiction, the "Facts About..." series published by Crestwood House
includes "The Facts about Interracial Marriages".  I also own "Interracial
Dating and Marriage" by Elaine Landau (Messner).

Oh, two more black/white fiction titles:  Sharon Wyeth"s "The World of
Daughter McGuire" and Walter Dean Myers' "Crystal", but again both central
characters are girls.

Virginia Hamilton's *Plain City* is the only one I can think of.

An old book for primary students is Black is brown is tan, by Arnold
Adoff.  The publication date is '73.  There is an organization here in
Washington, D.C called Interracial Family Circle.  In its newsletters
are featured books about interracial families.  Also there is a
wonderful children's book store in DC called The Cheshire Cat.  The
telephone number there is 202-244-3956.  The address is 5512
Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20015.  They should be able to
provide you with titles.  I will try to send you an address for the
group.

I have a couple of titles, neither of which I have read, first, Sharon
Dennis Wyeth's THE WORLD OF DAUGHTER MCGUIRE, (fiction), and
Rosenberg's, LIVING IN TWO WORLDS  (nonfiction.)  good luck from Helen

Virginia Hamilton wrote one (at least, she's in an interracial marriage) and
for the life of me, I can't think of the title. ARilla Sundaown!  That's it!
Dad is Native American, Mom is Black.

Whatever else you find, don't miss Arnold Adoff's *All the colors of the
race*. He's married to Virginia Hamilton.  Not exactly interracial, but
cross-cultural family is Tomi DePaola's *Nana Upstairs, Nana Downstairs*.

Virginia Hamilton's Plain City deals with a child who is the product
of an interracial marriage. (It does not show a "happy family"
however.)
     As to books about interracial families, It's an Aardvark Eat Turtle
World is about a blended family in which one girl is white and the other
is black.  This is appropriate for fifth through eighth grade.
Unfortunately, it does not have a "happy" ending.
     For younger children, of course, there is the Caldecott winner,
More, More, More said the Baby, by Williams.  For Asian and Caucasian,
there is How My Parents Learned to Eat.


Mary Ludwick         Ludwick@tenet.edu