Books with author Jane Cutler

Gary has so many problems, it's hard to tell where one ends and the next begins. He can't seem to make friends, and no matter how hard he tries in school, he never catches up. He "spaces out" sometimes when things just seem too difficult. One day, while his brain is on a break, he accidentally hurts another student. After that, he is sent to a special school for students with learning disabilities. The very gifted teacher there and friends he makes help the Spaceman come back to Earth.

When ten-year-old Susan Marcus discovers a world of prejudice right in her own back yard she makes a small but courageous stand in this irresistibly appealing historical novel set in 1943.You wouldn't even know there was a war on, thinks Susan Marcus as she surveys her new neighborhood in Clayton, Missouri. There are no air raid wardens, no blackout curtains. It's so different from her old home in New York City: no tall apartment buildings, no bustling city streets. Susan can barely understand people, their accents are so thick, and of course eveyone in Clayton is a St. Louis Cardinals fan and sworn enemy of Susan's beloved New York Yankees. Worst of all, for the first time in her life, ten-year-old Susan encounters prejudice -- against New Yorkers, Jews, blacks, and the Japanese. She must be circumspect about her friendship with Loretta (the daughter of the black janitor), for Jim Crow laws still exist in 1943 Missouri. Outraged, Susan decides to strike a blow against them. She's not going to break the rules exactly; she's just going to bend them.A great book for highlighting the struggle for social justice and sparking family discussions about the history of racism and Jim Crow laws in America.Published in hardcover as Susan Marcus Bends the Rules.A PJ Our Way selection.

When ten-year-old Susan Marcus discovers a world of prejudice right in her own back yard she makes a small but courageous stand in this irresistibly appealing historical novel set in 1943. You wouldn't even know there was a war on, thinks Susan Marcus as she surveys her new neighborhood in Clayton, Missouri. There are no air raid wardens, no blackout curtains. It's so different from her old home in New York City: no tall apartment buildings, no bustling city streets. Susan can barely understand people, their accents are so thick, and of course eveyone in Clayton is a St. Louis Cardinals fan and sworn enemy of Susan's beloved New York Yankees. Worst of all, for the first time in her life, ten-year-old Susan encounters prejudice -- against New Yorkers, Jews, blacks, and the Japanese. She must be circumspect about her friendship with Loretta (the daughter of the black janitor), for Jim Crow laws still exist in 1943 Missouri. Outraged, Susan decides to strike a blow against them. She's not going to break the rules exactly; she's just going to bend them.

You wouldn't even know there was a war on, thinks Susan Marcus as she surveys her new neighborhood in Clayton, Missouri. There are no air raid wardens, no blackout curtains. It's so different from her old home in New York City: no tall apartment buildings, no bustling city streets. Susan can barely understand people, their accents are so thick, and of course eveyone in Clayton is a St. Louis Cardinals fan and sworn enemy of Susan's beloved New York Yankees. Worst of all, for the first time in her life, ten-year-old Susan encounters prejudice -- against New Yorkers, Jews, blacks, and the Japanese. She must be circumspect about her friendship with Loretta (the daughter of the black janitor), for Jim Crow laws still exist in 1943 Missouri. Outraged, Susan decides to strike a blow against them. She's not going to break the rules exactly; she's just going to bend them.

"Open ye gates! Swing wide ye portals! . . . Behold the achievements of your race . . . " - David Francis, president, Louisiana Purchase ExpositionIt is 1904 and twelve-year-old Harry has traveled all the way from Kansas to spend six weeks visiting the World's Fair in St. Louis. And although he doesn't know exactly what to expect when he steps off the train onto the platform, it certainly is not to see his older cousin Frederick in the company of five African Pygmies. Frederick, an anthropologist, has come to the station to pick up Harry and ends up being put in charge of the Pygmies, who have also just arrived, but to be exhibited at the fair. Harry couldn't care less about Frederick or his Pygmies and makes himself an ambitious agenda for sightseeing. Yet, over the next days, one thing or another keeps bringing him back to the Pygmies. It is through a friendship with one in particular - Ota Benga - and a growing respect for his cousin that Harry begins to challenge his own ideas about race and evolution. Filled with vivid characters, The Song of the Molimo is a picturesque, action-packed novel.