In the Spirit of a Dream: 13 Stories of American Immigrants of Color

by Aida Salazar (Author) Alina Chau (Illustrator)

In the Spirit of a Dream: 13 Stories of American Immigrants of Color
Reading Level: 2nd − 3rd Grade

Celebratory, triumphant, and inspiring, In the Spirit of a Dream is a tribute to American immigrants of color, written in poems and illustrated by 13 first- and second-generation immigrant artists.

In the spirit of a dream, many immigrants of color set out across continents, oceans, and borders, travelling to the United States in pursuit of opportunity. This book is a celebration of 13 American immigrants of color, from world-famous to local heroes, politicians, surgeons, athletes, activists and more.

The biographies include engineer and astronaut Anousheh Ansari; Paralympic athlete and entrepreneur Alejandro Albor; surgeon Ayub Khan Ommaya; jazz musician Candido Camero; dancer Conceiçao Damasceno; Sriracha inventor and businessman David Tran; basketball player Dikembe Mutombo; author Edwidge Danticat; politician Ilhan Omar; comic artist Jim Lee; environmental activist Juana Guttierez; cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and the Undocupoets, a group of undocumented poets.

These stories are told in poems by Aida Salazar and artwork by Alina Chau, Bianca Diaz, Dion MBD, Fahmida Azim, Gaby D'Alessandro, Jose Ramirez, Ken Daley, Nicole Xu, Paulo D. Campos, Rahele Jomepour Bell, Tracy Guiteau, Vanessa Flores, and Yasmin Imamura.

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Hardcover
$18.99

Kirkus

A lyrical look at challenges faced by immigrants of color and how they’ve flourished.

Publishers Weekly

This encouraging free verse poetry collection written by Salazar and illustrated by 13 artists--all of whom are "first- and second-generation immigrants of color"--profiles as many people of color who have emigrated to America. Framing poems serve as introduction and conclusion to biographies that cover figures with accomplishments in sports, music, literature, STEM, politics, and more. In a spread profiling Sriracha sauce creator David Tran, the Vietnamese entrepreneur is described in moving conversational verse, as art by Chau portrays a warm painted collage of Tran and his journey: "Everyone raved about Sriracha's yumminess/ as word moved from happy mouth to happy mouth." The spreads present each figure in a distinctive, varied style as Salazar gamely shares their challenges and successes. Back matter includes extended biographies, an anthologist note by Chau, and an author's note by Salazar. Ages 5-7. (Dec.)

Copyright 2021 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.
Aida Salazar
Aida Salazar is an award-winning author and arts activist whose writings for adults and children explore issues of identity and social justice. She is the author of the middle-grade verse novels The Moon Within (International Latino Book Award Winner), Land of the Cranes (Americas Award Winner), the picture book anthology, In the Spirit of a Dream, and the picture book biography Jovita Wore Pants: The Story of a Mexican Freedom Fighter. She is a founding member of Las Musas, a Latinx kidlit debut author collective. Her short story "By the Light of the Moon" was adapted into a ballet production by the Sonoma Conservatory of Dance and is the first Xicana-themed ballet in history. She lives with her family of artists in Oakland, California.
Classification
Non-fiction
ISBN-13
9781338552874
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Orchard Books
Publication date
December 07, 2021
Series
-
BISAC categories
JNF053240 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Social Topics | Emigration & Immigration
JNF038100 - Juvenile Nonfiction | People & Places | United States
JNF007050 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Biography & Autobiography | Cultural Heritage
JNF042000 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Poetry | General
JNF069000 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Diversity & Multicultural
Library of Congress categories
Immigrants
United States
Emigration and immigration
Immigrant families

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