*Across a Hundred Mountains
By Reyna Grande
(Simon & Schuster, 2006)
259 pp. $23 hardback
In this gripping novel for 7th grade and up, readers learn about life on both sides of the Mexican border through the lives of two young women — Adeline and Juana. The chapters alternate with each woman's story, leading to their chance and fateful meeting. It is easy to read, yet deals with complex themes of the economic pressures to travel north, the trauma of family separation, the risks of crossing the border, and the challenges of immigrant life in the United States. This first novel by Reyna Grande is drawn from her own experiences and the many immigrant families she works with in Los Angeles.

*Landmark Cases Left Out of Your Textbooks
(Herein Restored by the Original Lawyers and Litigants and by Meiklejohn Legal Interns)
Edited by Ann Fagan Ginger
(Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute, 2006)
84 pp. $10
Just as the title suggests, this compact booklet describes numerous important legal cases that don't often make it into the textbooks. Each of the cases — involving activists like Big Bill Haywood, Tom Mooney, Harry Bridges, Huey Newton, Pete Seeger, Dolores Huerta, Judi Bari, and lesser-known individuals and organizations — is described in accessible, jargon-free language, supplemented by full legal citations. This volume will enrich U.S. history, government, and law classes.

Learning Under the Influence of Language and Literature: Making the Most of Read-Alouds Across the Day
By Lester L. Laminack and Reba M. Wadsworth
(Heinemann, 2006)
234 pp. $25
As educators, a primary goal for our students is reading comprehension. Reading aloud to children is where this begins and then continues throughout their schooling. This paperback provides primary-grade educators with six clearly defined times throughout the day to bring read-alouds into the classroom. Included are over 400 recommended titles (each with an annotation) categorized in these groups: Building Community, Putting Language in the Air, Poetry, Supporting Writing Workshop, Building Bridges Across the Curriculum, and Chapter Books.

Nurturing the Peacemakers in Our Students: A Guide to Writing and Speaking Out About Issues of War and of Peace
By Chris Weber, foreword by Susan Ohanian
(Heinemann, 2006)
217 pp. $23
Chris Weber, a teacher from Portland, Ore., has edited a fine collection of classroom articles and curriculum materials that confront issues of war, refugees, nuclear weapons, terrorism, and peace activism. The book offers lots of practical teaching ideas and especially website, film, book, and song resources.

*Through the Lens of Social Justice: Using the Change Agent in Adult Education
Edited by Andy Nash
(New England Literacy Resource Center, 2006)
www.nelrc.org
186 pp. $18
For some reason, the worlds of K-12 critical teaching and adult literacy have more or less ignored one another. It's a pity, because as this volume shows, we have plenty to learn from and teach each other. Through the Lens of Social Justice celebrates 10 years of The Change Agent, an excellent publication that describes itself as "an adult education newspaper for social justice." This is a varied collection, with articles on immigration issues, minimum wage, mathematics and housing, media literacy, health care, income inequality, taxes, and homophobia.