Frank Carlson Library

Relates an incident from the childhood of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., when his best friend's father said they could no longer play together because "colored and white can't mix!"

A television movie event based on the inspiring true story of living legend Dolly Parton's remarkable upbringing in rural Tennessee. This once-in-a-lifetime special takes place inside the tight-knit Parton family as they struggle to overcome devastating tragedy and discover the healing power of love, faith and a raggedy patchwork coat, vividly described in the well-known song of the film's title that helped make Parton who she is today. Set in the...

Recalls what it was like to travel from Alaska to Texas as part of a military family in the 1940s and some of the differences in how people got around then and now.

Once upon a time (but not too long ago), girls only wore dresses. And only boys wore pants. Until one day, a young girl named Mary had a bold idea: She would wear whatever she wanted. And she wanted to wear pants! Inspired by the true story of Mary Edwards Walker, a trailblazing doctor who was arrested many times for wearing pants, this fresh, charming picture book encourages readers to think for themselves while gently challenging gender and societal...

When Mrs. Wheatley bought the thin, frightened little black girl at the Boston slave market, she could not guess that the child would become a celebrated poet renowned throughout the colonies.

The son of a North Carolina sharecropper recalls the hard times faced by his family and other African Americans in the first half of the twentieth century and the changes that the civil rights movement helped bring about.

"You only think you know this story. In 1991, Jeffrey Dahmer, the most notorious serial killer since Jack the Ripper, seared himself into the American consciousness. To the public, Dahmer was a monster who committed unthinkable atrocities. To Derf Backderf, 'Jeff' was a much more complex figure: a high school friend with whom he had shared classrooms, hallways, and car rides. In [this story], a haunting and original graphic novel, writer-artist Backderf...

During the hard and bitter years of his youth in England, Harry Bernstein's selfless mother never stops dreaming of a better life in America. Then, one miraculous day when Harry is twelve, steamship tickets arrive anonymously in the mail. Suddenly, a new life full of the promise of prosperity seems possible--and the family sets sail for America, meeting relatives in Chicago. For a time, they get a taste of the good life, but soon the harsh realities...

"A bilingual story, inspired by the childhood of Valentina Cruz, whose family was one of the first permanent inhabitants of the Galapagos islands. Valentina makes a promise to protect the islands and her animal friends"--