Heroes and Ordinary People

Gold, Alison Leslie. A special fate : Chiune Sugihara, hero of the Holocaust / Alison Leslie Gold. New York : Scholastic Press, 2000. Ages 10+.

Against orders, Chiune Sugihara wrote visas that save the lives of thousands of European Jews during WWII. A Special Fate Book Report .

McGinty, Alice B. Meet Laurence Yep / Alice B. McGinty. New York : PowerKids Press, 2003. 0823964108 (lib. bdg.) Ages 6-12.

Basic introduction to the life and writings of Laurence Yep. Dr. Yep has a PhD, writes books for young people, and teaches English.

Mochizuki, Ken. Passage to freedom : the Sugihara story / written by Ken Mochizuki ; illustrated by Dom Lee ; afterword by Hiroki Sugihara. New York : Lee & Low Books, c1997. Ages 6-10.

Chiune Sugihara saved thousand of Jews during WWII by giving them visas.

Ray, Deborah Koagan. Hokusai : the man who painted a mountain / Deborah Kogan Ray. New York : Frances Foster Books, 2001. Ages 6-10.

Informative look at the life of an orphaned peasant boy who became a world famous artist. Contains several pages of Hokusai drawings and paintings, chronology, and selected bibliography.

Say, Allen. El Chino. Houghton Mifflin. 1990. Ages 4-8.

Billy Wong from Arizona was a well-known bullfighter in Spain. Billy's father had always told him, he could be anything he wanted. On a trip to Spain, Billy saw a bullfight. He quit his job and began training. The early illustrations look like old sepia photographs but become quite vivid in Spain.

Smith, Jeremy. The last Emperor / written by Jeremy Smith ; illustrated by Anthony Lewis. Columbus, OH : Peter Bedrick Books, c2002, 2003. Ages 6-10.

Chatty and entertaining introduction to Pu Yi, China's last emperor, includes a glossary, index, timeline, and map.

Yoo, Paula. Sixteen years in sixteen seconds : the Sammy Lee story / by Paula Yoo ; illustrations by Dom Lee. New York : Lee & Low Books, c2005. 158430247X Ages 6-12.

Sammy Lee, the son of Korean immigrants, had many firsts. He was the first nonwhite student body president of his high school, the first Asian American to win an Olympic medal, and the first male diver to win consecutive gold medals. He also became a medical doctor in the Army during WWII and served in the Korean War. Sammy over came many prejudices. As a youth, he was only allowed to use the public pool one day a week, when it was open to people of color. Dom Lee's realistic illustrations look like old photographs.

Zhang, Song Nan. A little tiger in the Chinese night : an autobiography in art / Song Nan Zhang. Montreal, Quebec ; Plattsburgh, N.Y. : Tundra Books, c1993. Ages 10+.

An autobiography of a mainland Chinese artist. Born during the Japanese occupation, he survived the cultural revolution and after Tiananmen brought his family to Canada.