and AHC’s Community Book Discussions
AHC has identified book titles that fit the following We the People themes: constitutional values/civil rights, ethnic diversity, immigration experiences, religious tolerance, and western expansion. These are suggested programs; you may find other programs in our catalog which are appropriate for a We the People program. We encourage local communities to develop a community book discussion series that explores American institutions, history and culture from these and other perspectives. AHC staff are available to assist with program planning.
To apply for a community book discussion, please consult the Book Discussion Guidelines for eligibility and instructions. Please note on your application that this will be a We the People program.
We the People Book Discussion Themes:
- Constitutional Values/Civil Rights
- Ethnic Diversity
- Immigration Experiences
- Religious Tolerance
- Western Expansion
Constitutional Values/Civil Rights
The Crucible by Arthur Miller
This classic by America’s foremost playwright, The Crucible dramatizes the Salem witch hunts and trials while commenting on modern society.
Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston
When she was seven years old, Houston and her family were sent to live at the Manzanar internment camp. Her memoir describes their experience.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
This classic coming-of-age story in a Southern town rocked by a crisis of conscience won the Pulitzer Prize in 1961.
The Ox-Bow Incident by Walter Van Tilburg Clark
A classic study of Old West mob "justice," which serves as a parable for modern times.
Ethnic Diversity
Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros
Young Celaya Reyes gathers and retells the stories that reinforce her family’s, and subsequently her own, identity as they travel between the U.S.–Mexican border and within the United States.
Diné: A History of the Navajos by Peter Iverson
This comprehensive narrative traces the history of the Navajos from their origins to the beginning of the 21st century.
Going To Meet the Man by James Baldwin
In this first collection of short stories by Baldwin, he explores reality in Harlem through first-hand experience.
The Names: A Memoir by N. Scott Momaday
Arizona author Momaday recollects his boyhood on the Oklahoma Plains and among the Navajo and Pueblo people.
No-No Boy by John Okada
A reluctant Japanese American "no-no boy" tries to find his place in a hostile, post-war America.
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Arguably Hurston’s best-known work of fiction, this is the story of an independent and articulate African American woman on a search for her own identity.
Immigration Experiences
Enrique’s Journey: The Story of a Boy’s Dangerous Odyssey To Reunite with His Mother by Sonia Nazario
Based on the Los Angeles Times Pulitzer Prize-winning series about a 17-year-old Honduran boy’s harrowing attempt to find his mother in America, this story viscerally conveys the experience of illegal immigration from Central America and its devastating impact on children.
Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez by Richard Rodriguez
The controversial memoir of a Mexican American who, in successful pursuit of higher education, unwittingly lost a critical connection with his past.
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
A poignant tale of two motherless boys growing up in Kabul, Afghanistan, at the dawn of the Soviet invasion, life as an immigrant in the U.S., and one man’s confrontation with and reconciliation of his past.
Thousand Pieces of Gold by Ruthanne L. McCunn
This novel recounts the life of a 19th-century Chinese American woman, from her childhood in slavery to her struggle for survival and freedom in the United States.
What the Scarecrow Said by Stewart David Ikeda
This epic novel of a Japanese American family opens with the protagonist’s birth aboard a ship to the United States and closes amid the aftermath of internment and World War II.
Religious Tolerance
Black Elk Speaks by John Neihardt
Neihardt records the life story and world view of Black Elk, an Ogalala Sioux holy man who claimed to have been present at the Battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876.
Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko
Tayo, a Japanese prisoner-of-war survivor and Native American in Anglo society, seeks self-reliance and a place in the world.
The Chosen by Chaim Potok
An examination of contemporary Jewish American life through Danny Saunders and Reuven Malter, two boys of Hasidic and Orthodox traditions growing up in Brooklyn.
Western Expansion
Arizona: A History by Thomas E. Sheridan
Considered by many to be the best, most comprehensive history of Arizona available today.
Fool’s Crow by James Welch
This novel follows a group of Blackfeet Indians in Montana in 1870, a pivotal period as settlement threatened traditional lifestyle.
Lazy B: Growing Up on a Cattle Ranch in the American Southwest by Sandra Day O'Connor and H. Alan Day
In this affectionate joint memoir, retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and her brother Alan recall their youth on the Lazy B Ranch, founded by H.C. Day in 1880, deep in the granite hills of eastern Arizona.
The Sea of Grass by Conrad Richter
Originally published in 1936 and set in New Mexico, this novel explores the conflicts in the settling of the American Southwest, primarily between the pioneering ranchers and farmers.
These Is My Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine, 1881-1901 by Nancy E. Turner
Inspired by her own family memoirs, Turner has created pioneer Sarah Prine’s authentic and dramatic tale of survival in the Arizona Territory of the late 1880s.
Winter Brothers: A Season at the Edge of America by Ivan Doig
Doig explores the pioneer impulse that drew settlers to the Pacific Northwest through the diaries of settler James Gilchrist Swan, and fuses parts of Swan’s diaries with his own journal.
