A Hope in the Unseen: An American Odyssey from the Inner City to the Ivy League, by Ron Suskind. This book follows Cedric through his last two years of high school and his first two years of college, charting the highs and lows—and ultimately, successes—of a low-income Black male at an upper-class college.

American Dragons: Twenty-Five Asian American Voices, edited by Laurence Yep. This collection of short stories, poems, and excerpts from plays vividly shows what it is like growing up Asian American. American Indian Ballerinas, by Lili Cockerville Livingston. Four Native American women from Oklahoma share the struggles and triumphs of their dance careers and personal lives.

And Still We Rise: The Trials and Triumphs of Twelve Gifted Inner-City High School Students, by Miles Corwin. Twelve Los Angeles seniors from Crenshaw High School’s Advanced Placement English class dream of going to college, but the harsh realities of their lives threaten to derail their plans.

Barefoot Heart, A Memoir, by Elva Treviño Hart. A compelling autobiographical account of growing up in a family of migrant farm workers. It brings to life the daily work in the fields—and tells how the author discovered her true talents and found herself.

Breaking Through, by Francisco Jimenez. Having come from Mexico to California ten years ago, 14-year-old Francisco is still working in the fields but fighting to improve his life and complete his education. He finds his first real friend, a treasure, and a new sense of himself.

Counting Coup: A True Story of Basketball and Honor on the Little Big Horn, by Larry Coulton. Working through racism, alcoholism, and domestic violence, the players on Hardin High School’s girls basketball team come out winners in life and on the court.

Every Shut Eye Ain’t Asleep: An Anthology of Poetry by African-Americans Since 1945, edited by Michael S. Harper and Anthony Walton. This collection presents the best African-American poets on the modern scene.

First in the Family: Your High School Years, by Kathleen Cushman. Written with students who are the first in their families to go to college, this handbook contains their stories, advice, and planning tools for students in grades 9 through 12.

First in the Family: Your College Years, by Kathleen Cushman. Once you get to college, this book by the same first-generation students helps you stay in and graduate. Here they describe their college experiences, giving tips on keeping your academic, social, and emotional balance.

Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho, by John Katz. Eric and Jesse, poor students and online geeks, find their obsession with computers and technology is their ticket to college and success.

Hip Deep: Opinion, Essays, and Vision from American Teenagers, edited by Abe Louise Young. This collection of youth writing asks hard questions and shares real stories.

Homecoming, by Cynthia Voigt. Abandoned by their father and then their mother, four children begin a search for a home and an identity. Dicey finds school to be a place where she can rest and find her own voice.

Little X: Growing Up in the Nation of Islam, by Sonsyrea Tate. Offers useful insights into life inside a little-understood movement. Tate describes her education at the University of Islam, the Nation’s elementary school in Washington, D.C.

Oh, The Places You’ll Go!, by Dr. Seuss. This rhyming book with psychedelic pictures is a wonderful story about new beginnings and the courage it takes to go unfamiliar places.

Poetic Justice, by Amanda Cross. This novel is set during turbulent student uprisings at University College, a school primarily for adults returning to finish their education. Kate is charged with saving the school, but the authorities do not want it to continue.

Push, by Sapphire. Precious Jones is a survivor. She had a baby at 12 and at 16 she is pregnant again. But an alternative school, a dedicated teacher, and classmates who understand help her fight back and find her voice through writing in her journal.

Sugar’s Life in the Hood: The Story of a Former Welfare Mother, by Sugar Turner and Tracy Bachrach Ehlers. An anthropologist who befriends a welfare mother learns about her world and the strategies she uses to get off welfare and into college.

The Gatekeepers: Inside the Admissions Process of a Premier College, by Jacques Steinberg. Who and what determines whether you get into college A behind-the-scenes look at Wesleyan University as it admits the class of 2004.

The Road from Coorain, by Jill Ker Conway. This autobiography tells of Conway’s journey from the rural Australian outback to Smith College in Massachusetts—then to Harvard University. She describes her intellectual development each step of the way.

Yo!, by Julia Alvarez. A thoughtful, entertaining novel by the acclaimed Latina writer about the immigrant experience and the impact that writers have on their peers.

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