A Different Mirror for Young People: A History of Multicultural America

From Jamestown’s tobacco fields to Angel Island’s guard towers, A Different Mirror for Young People carries readers through America’s many doorways—Indigenous homelands, colonial ports, Chinese railroad camps, Irish tenements on the Lower East Side, Mexican bracero camps, and Japanese-American internment barracks—by weaving together letters, diaries, and poems penned by the very teenagers who lived these chapters. Adapted from Ronald Takaki’s groundbreaking multicultural classic by Rebecca Stefoff, this vibrant narrative spotlights voices too long silenced: enslaved Africans singing beneath Southern pines; immigrant schoolchildren learning English in crowded San Francisco classrooms; Dust Bowl families chasing storms across the Plains; civil-rights activists marching from Selma to Washington. Each startling firsthand account brings Racial Justice, Immigrant Rights, and Education Equity into sharp focus, challenging students and faith groups to reconsider who “built” America—and at what cost. With its “people’s view” approach echoing Howard Zinn’s legacy, this updated edition transforms dry dates into beating hearts and urgent debates. Equip your classroom, library, or youth group with a mirror that reflects every face in America’s story—ask your school or local library to bring this essential history home today.