​Yes! We Are Latinos:  Poems and Prose About the Latino Experience (by Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy, illustrated by David Diaz. 2016)  shows different racial, religious,  time periods, and national backgrounds of young Latinos  in free verse and prose.  Indigenous, African, and Spanish influences are celebrated, as are Asian influences in Latin America.  This book is also valuable for its list of resources and inspirational Latinos.  Grades 4-8.

​Drum Dream Girl by Margarita Engle and Rafael López 201 is a story based on Millo Castro Zaldarriaga, a Chinese/African Cuban girl who broke Cuba's taboo against female drummers.  The poetic text and colorful illustrations show both African and Chinese cultural influences in Cuba.  Grades K-2.

Mama and Papa Have a Store by Amelia Lau Carling  
Mama and Papa Have a Store is a beloved book that was reprinted in 2016.  It shows a Chinese family in Guatemala City, based on the author/illustrator’s memories .  Many of the details are familiar to Chinese Americans:  food, siblings, memories of China, using an abacus, and running a store.  Others are related to Guatemala:  selling thread to Mayan weavers, interacting with Spanish speaking clientele, and Guatemalan foods.  Grades 1-3.

​Lion Island: Cuba's Warrior of Words
Lion Island:  Cuba’s Warrior of Words by Margarita Engle is set in the 1870s.
This is a powerful historical fiction based on the early years of Cuban activist Antonio Chuffat who protested the slave/near-slave conditions of both sides of his African/Chinese family.   The author created two friends, Wing and his sister Fan, to show how refugees fled to Cuba from the anti-Chinese riots and lynching in Los Angeles.  Despite its somber subject matter, the book is uplifting and addresses questions of multi-racial identity.  Grades 6-8. 

​El Chino by Allen Say.  The book begins with Billy Wong’s childhood in Arizona and depicts his subsequent journey to become a bullfighter in Spain.  The writing and watercolor illustrations are beautiful, but there is controversy over bullfighting, both in Spain and Latin American countries.  Grades 1-3.

​Sylvia and Aki by Winfred Conkling. This is a chapter book based on the young life of Sylvia Mendez whose court case Mendez v Westminster challenged segregation of Mexican American students in the 1940s.  It also tells the story of Aki, a Japanese American girl who is sent away to a relocation camp, and later becomes Sylvia’s friend.  Grades 4-6.

God of Luck by Ruthanne Lum McCunn is the story of a young Chinese man who was captured and sent on a slave ship to Peru in the 1800s. The details are grim and draw parallels to the African slave trade. The grief and marginal survival of his wife and family in China are also told.  About 100,000 Chinese men were kidnapped and ultimately perished in Peru in large numbers (almost 75%) due to brutal treatment in the harvest of guano deposits.  Few ever found their way home.  This short book is bleak, but important for its historical facts.  Teachers may choose to use one chapter from it.  High School.

On display will also be a brilliant Lego model of Chinatown.  High school students from the Chinatown Alleyway Project used different colors of Legos in a block-by-block rendition of housing, commercial and other (i.e. non profits, churches, hospitals).  It is a stunning reminder of how much housing is crammed into those Chinatown blocks.  The largest block of housing, the four Ping Yuen Public Housing Complexes, were originally built in the 1950s to house WWII Chinese veterans and their families.

Also possibly available at a discount will be Exploring Chinatown:  A Children's Guide to Chinese Culture by Carol Stepanchuk.  The book is illustrated by local artist Leland Wong, who created some of TACT's most beloved t-shirt designs.  The book can be used in Grades 4-8 and describes food, reading and writing, celebrations, families, religion (good for 6th Grade), art, and performing arts.

Last but not least, go across the street into the fortune cookie factory and see the mural of Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors.  He came to Chinatown a few years ago to promote their game in which the team wore Lunar New Year t-shirts.

​A beautifully written picture book to use about immigration is Faith Ringgold’s  We Came to America.  All arrivals to our shores, no matter when or how or with whatever religious beliefs, some with hope, some in chains, they are all part of our country.

​Paper Son:  Lee's Journey to America by Helen Foster James and Virginia Shin-Mui Loh, illustrated by Wilson Ong 2013.  Although there are many books on Angel Island, this book specifically shows how many of us had to use false identities to enter the country.