Annotated Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography

Chalifant, Henry and James Prigoff. Spraycan Art. (1987). New York: Thames & Hudson. 0-500-27469-X

This non-fiction book, complete with hundreds of photographs, depicts the evolution of graffiti. Starting in New York City, the book chronicles the evolutionary roots and influences that affect the styles of cities across the States and the world. Giving brief histories about the b-bop era giving birth to illegal tagging of subways, the book discusses how some local governments have tried to harness the potential community growth that planned graffiti and murals can give. It is a split within the art community, and the artists interviewed discuss the dilemmas.

Hesse, Karen. Out of the Dust. (1997). New York: Scholastic. 0-590-37125-8.

As a novel told through poetry, this book about the Dust Bowl is a realistic but sad look at such a difficult time period of American history. The book focuses on a family, with the young daughter as the central character. Crop failures and poverty effect the family, but when the girl accidentally burns her mother and baby brother, things grow worse. Eventually, she makes her way to California and hope.

Hoch, Danny. (1998). Jails, Hospitals, & Hip-Hop and  Some People. New York: Random House. 978-0-307-78919-8.

This book is a scripted version of some of his monologues. The stories he tells deal with many societal aspects such as the prison complex, poverty, and living in an ever diverse community in New York City. Using humor, he critically pokes at some very real problems and asks questions. Never losing that humor, he plays around, acting through code-switching, often changing languages and dialects.

Osa, Nancy. (2003). Cuba 15. New York: Delacorte Press. 0-385-73021-7.

Violet, who just turned 15, is a girl growing up in the Chicago area to a Cuban-American father and a Polish-American mother. It is a story about cultural identity, that is centralized around her quintecera. In many Latin American cultures, this is a celebration of an entering into womanhood for fifteen year old girls. Through the planning and organizing of her party, Violet learns more about her Cuban heritage, an aspect that angers her father, who has tried to distance himself from the island, due to the negative associations with communism.