America Street: A Multicultural Anthology of Stories

by Anne Mazer (Editor), Duane Big Eagle (Contributor), Robert Cormier (Contributor)

Welcome to America Street, where every story is as vital and unique as
the friends, neighbors, and relatives we encounter every day. Here are
fourteen stories about young people told by some of America's best
storytellers: Duane Big Eagle, Toni Cade Bambara, Robert Cormier,
Langston Hughes, Gish Jen, Francisco Jiménez, Mary K. Mazotti, Nicholasa
Mohr, Toshio Mori, Leslie Namioka, Naomi Shihab Nye, Grace Paley, Gary
Soto, and Michele Wallace.

The journey / Duane Big Eagle
Raymond's run / Toni Cade Bambara
The circuit / Francisco Jimenez
The wrong lunch line / Nicholasa Mohr
The loudest voice / Grace Paley
Thank you m'am / Langston Hughes
The all-American slurp / Lensey Namioka
The no-guitar blues / Gary Soto
Sixth grade / Michele Wallace
President Cleveland, where are you / Robert Cormier
Business at eleven / Toshio Mori
La ciramella / Mary K. Mazotti
The white umbrella / Gish Jen
Hamadi / Naomi Shihab Nye

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Young Adult, Anthologies, Middle Grade, School, Childrens

152 pages, Paperback

First published January 17, 1993

About the author

Quite a lot of Anne Mazer’s writing education took place while she was unconscious. Her parents wanted desperately to become writers and made themselves get up at 4:00 a.m. Every morning in order to have writing time before their three young children awoke. The first thing Anne heard every day was two big, noisy electric typewriters. The furious sound of typing was her childhood wake-up music. During the day, her parents endlessly discussed ideas, plot, and character, and before she was seven years old, Anne knew about revisions, first and second drafts, and rejection slips. It was like growing up in a twenty four hour, seven day a week writer’s boot camp.

In order to escape from her parents’ obsession with writing, Anne turned to books. She was an avid reader from an early age and credits her love of reading for her writing career. Her favorite works were fantasy, fairy tales, historical fiction, humor, realistic fiction, and adventure. Her other interests were language, art, history, and science. At the age of twelve, she wanted to be an actress, a ballerina and a nuclear physicist. These careers were rapidly eliminated as she realized that a) she couldn’t dance, b) she couldn’t act; and c) she hated math.

Although at the time Anne thought writing was nothing but a nuisance, she now considers herself very lucky to have grown up with two aspiring writers. She learned a lot about discipline, perseverance and dedication to a craft from witnessing her parents’ struggle. They eventually became successful and award-winning young adult novelists.

It took Anne a long time to figure out that she, too, wanted to be a writer. During early adulthood, she worked as an au pair, a bank teller, a pill bottle labeler, a receptionist, an English tutor, and an administrative assistant, as well as other jobs that she was ill-suited for. She attended three universities, spent several years in Paris, traveled throughout Europe, and worked in Boston and New York City.

Anne’s “eureka” moment about writing came while she prepared a research report for one of her bosses. As she lovingly polished each sentence, and meticulously organized the paragraphs, she realized that no one really cared how beautifully she wrote about the latest models of air-conditioners. Except her, of course.

Using her parents’ model of daily writing and discipline, she began to write. It took her seven years to publish her first book, a picture book inspired by her then two year old son, Max.

Anne is the mother of an adult son and daughter. Over the last twenty years, she has written over forty-five books for young readers. She has enough ideas to last for another quarter century and hopes that she will be writing for a very long time.

Fun Facts About Anne Mazer

Her favorite foods are popcorn, rice pudding and blueberries.
When she was a kid, she would sometimes read up to ten books a day.
If she had magic powers, she'd choose invisibility.
She painted the rooms in her house yellow, orange, and violet.
One of her favorite childhood books was The Twilight of Magic, by Hugh Lofting.
When Anne was a teenager, her room was so messy that she needed a map to get from the door to the bed. (sort of)
In school Anne often flunked her favorite creative subjects, like writing and art.

Reviews

[Nancy]

This book is a book that has a lot of diversity and cultural fusion into it. For example, it has many stories such as The All American Slurp, Sixth Grade, The Wrong Lunch Line, etc ... This book talks a lot about the past and what happened in the mid 1900's. These stories were made up but they were influenced by the authors lives. The stories there are hilarious and entertaining. You would laugh your pants off reading it. Some stories aren't like the other stories. There are mini stories about racism or segregation. They might not be the most entertaining but they are really interesting to read. Thats because you feel like you're in the story and it gets into you. Thats a good thing. This book brings you to many different cultures that you might not have thought of or knew about. Theres no background information about the cultures but they hint it to you by telling these stories.

I really enjoyed this book. I could read this book over and over again. There was just that spice in the book that made it so different from the other books. For instance, every story in the book had a different meaning to it. Like every time you read the stories over and over again there was something new that you discover about it. It's diverse and I like that since everybody can be able to relate to it no matter who you are or where you come from. Theres so many parts that are similar to your life. I would highly recommend this book to so many people that are diverse.

[Shelby]

America Street: A Multicultural Anthology of Stories is a book comprised of 14 stories about young people. This book celebrates uniqueness, and opens readers’ eyes to different perspectives.
I think this would be awesome to use with middle schoolers because sometimes they can be so concerned with themselves and the immediate world around them that they forget to try to see things from different perspectives.
I would use this book to talk about Voice. Because there are so many perspectives represented, there are many voices shining through the text. There are patterns present in each story that serve the author’s voice. That pattern may include humor, sarcasm, etc. I would challenge students to find the patterns of voice in the stories, and identify what they are. Then, using this book as a mentor text, I would have students write a kind of “America Street” story from their own perspective, focusing on trying to use their own voice.

[Kate Shanks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, this is a good collection of multicultural short stories that could be used in a middle school classroom. Some are stronger than others, but there are definitely a few gems in the mix. Ironically, many of these stories have appeared in textbooks that were previously used in our school district. "The No-Guitar Blues" by Gary Soto was in the 7th grade Holt series before we went to Prentice Hall. It will be helpful to go back to old textbooks to find questions, activities, and projects which coincide with certain pieces. Clearly the two strongest and most meaningful stories are "Thank You Ma'm" by Langston Hughes and "President Cleveland, Where Are You?" by Robert Cormier. Hughes' story is about a young boy who tries to steal Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones' purse. Instead of turning him over to the police, she takes him home, washes his face, feeds him, and teaches a valuable lesson. Cormier's story is about a boy who collects cowboy trading cards from gum packs with his friends. When the gum company switches from cowboys to Presidents, the boys are bound and determined to find each one in order to earn the prize of a signed baseball glove. The boy learns a valuable lesson when it comes to putting his father's needs before his own wants. My biggest complaint about the collection is all the stories are so different and the only over-arching connection between them is multiculturalism. I would have liked some organization by theme to tie some stories together further.

[Zhuoyao Wen]

good

[Madeline Tomasik · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5✨ some of the short stories were good, some of them felt like they ended too abruptly, but some good messages spread throughout. It also represented a few different groups of people and what they go through

[Rusty · Rating 3 out of 5]

When one picks up anthology I believe one is in for a reading treat. This group of short stories about young people from different cultures is quite interesting. The Journey by Duane Big Eagle is the first and one of my favorites. Traveling from Mexico, a sick youngster comes to the U.S. to visit his aunt who he hopes will help cure him. It includes some of the myth and beliefs of Native American culture. The All-American Slurp features a Chinese family adapting to American ways. It's poignant and funny. In No-Guitar Blues, Fausto wants a guitar in the worst way. Sixth Grade gives the reader a glimpse into the life of the young whose families follow the harvests to make a living. The stories are short and give the reader a brief view of what young people from different cultures face in our society.

[Erin Reilly-Sanders · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this multicultural collection of stories to be mostly dated and uninteresting. Some of them became more interesting with discussion and seemed to hold more interest/have more meat to them than others. I also thought that the selection didn't seem broad or multicultural enough focusing on a few ethnic groups but not others. I also thought that the book would have held up more if it had focused on urban stories, but instead it includes urban and rural but neglects the suburban, where many young folks live these days. While it's nice to experience different perspectives from ones own, a book such as this should do a better job of being inclusive or representing a more specific subject.

[Cordell Henley]

Cordell Henley
Book Review
1/19/10

Title:America Street
Author:Anne Mazer

This book is a book about the old days such as the 1900s
and it talks about how a Chinese American girl discovers
that the way to eat celery in china is as mysterious
to her friend Meg as the American way of drinking a milkshake
is to her and the author made this book to show how it was during
the old days and the author of this book who is Anne Mazer was also
raised in the American Streets and is 35 years old and she grew up learning how to take care of herself and eat properly and also this
book tells how hard it was in the streets during this time.

[Gretchen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The larger works of most of these authors count as some of my favorites, so it was not hard to enjoy this collection of stories. Each tale gives a glimpse of another culture and another view of the term "American" aside from the most-commonly-held one: "White American." By the end, one realizes that Americans, as all humans, share the same emotions when confronted by adversity. In understanding each other, we understand ourselves. This anthology is intended for young adults, but only in its presentation and selection of protagonists (teenagers or children) does that fact become clear.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was required reading for my son at school. I decided to read it as well because I could immediately tell it was a book that could raise some interesting issues that we could discuss together. I was not disappointed! It is a really terrific book of short stories that depict different aspects of multicultural life in the city. The stories are generally bittersweet (although a few are funny) and definitely force the reader to think about some nuanced issues. Probably best for a 6th-8th grader. I think my son would highly recommend it as well.

[Aubsome Dude · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you like learning about the hardships of different races or religions this is the book definitely for you. I found it a little confusing at times, but it was fun to dig into the many layers of each story. Each story was different and special, but with differences comes likes and dislikes. You will find ones you like and don't like for sure. Over all this book was interesting but bland at the same time. This was a pretty good read.

[Jonathan Brammer · Rating 3 out of 5]

_America Street_'s stories depict adolescents from various American subcultures. This anthology is great if you are looking for short, accessible texts with which to frame a discussion of culture in your English class. There are a few stories, however, such as "Business at 11" where the culture represented is a little more ambiguous.

[Rana · Rating 2 out of 5]

i help to run a fourth grade book club at my kids school through learning leaders using this book. i think everytime i read it again and experience it through their disscussions i like it a little bit more.

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

what i read on this book was about a boy that he was about to stole a womens purse. but the women caught him he just wanted money so h was going to stole the womens purse i think he has no education but then the women took him home and gave him food. this a great book.

[Betsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anthology of YA short stories.

This was assigned reading for a grad class, but I will keep it because there were a few short stories that I might use in teaching. Many of the stories seemed too young for my juniors; many also appear in other anthologies I have.

[Ilovereading · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought it could have been better, but it was a very ethnically strong book. To see my full review of it, visit:

http://icysweetness.webs.com/apps/blo...

I review preteen, teen, young adult, and adult fiction. Looking forward to seeing you there!

[Anne-Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poignant short stories by Toni Cade Bambara, Gary Soto, Langston Hughes, Duane Big Eagle, Naomi Shihab Nye, Gish Gen, and others. Great for a multicultural literature unit.

[Patrick]

I like how the different people tell about some of their life and the made up stories. it is a very good book to read.

[Carmela · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a very intresting book.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting collection of stories from a variety of authors about a variety of things that children deal with everyday. I didn't like all of the stories, but I did like most, and some were just gems.

[Karen Arendt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of multicultural stores written by various authors. Great for starting discussion on tolerance and acceptance of others.

[Jules Brugel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read for middle schoolers.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are some gems in here, including two of my favorite short stories for children: "Yes, Ma'am" by Langston Hughes, and "The No Guitar Blues" by Gary Soto.

[Angel · Rating 1 out of 5]

hate it

[Angie Dickerson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great coming-of-age journey!!!!
One of my favorite books to teach in school.

[C.Matthes · Rating 3 out of 5]

okay

[Evan Hays · Rating 4 out of 5]

An eclectic collection of stories of American assimilation and diversity. Just something random I picked up from my school, but I really enjoyed it. Not every story is gold, but several will stick with me for years. America is a unique place because of its immigrants who should be welcomed through each new successive generation.

[Betty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this collection of short stories. Experiencing America through the lens of these authors was eye opening and really enjoyable. A few of the stories hit me easily, while others needed a bit of pondering to grasp the message.

[Ted Manahan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Middle school reader, a collection of multi cultural short stories. Old fashioned feel, very mid-century. Stories about good kids.

Little free library book. My copy is stamped "Laredo Middle School English".

[Cheryl]

I only had time to read a few stories in the revised edition. I don't know from the original, but I do recommend this one. Especially the one about the Jewish girl in Oklahoma, and not just because I, too, am living in OK but do not at all belong here.