A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America

• Genre: Nonfiction; history, cultural studies
• Originally Published: 1993
• Reading Level/Interest: Grades 9-12; college/adult
• Structure/Length: 17 chapters; approx. 508 pages; approx. 18 hours, 35 minutes on audio
• Central Concern: This account of American history, commended by critics on its first publication in 1993, provides a detailed view of the US as a country populated and built by diverse peoples of the world. A new edition in 2008 features new content, including the role of Black Civil War soldiers, Chinese Americans in the first half of the 20th century, and immigration in modern times.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Racism; racial conflict; discrimination; prejudice; discussion of enslaved people; discussion of Indigenous relations and genocide

Ronald Takaki, Author

• Bio: 1939-2009; born in Hawaii; American writer, historian, and ethnographer; attended the College of Wooster in Ohio on the recommendation of a motivating high school teacher; inspired as an undergraduate to pursue the study of ethnic identity and history; earned a Ph.D. at University of California, Berkeley in 1967; later taught at UCLA and UC Berkeley; helped to establish UC Berkeley’s ethnic studies programs; published several works that analyze history and point out the historical presence, perspective, and importance of many cultural groups; earned a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Asian Pacific Council (2002) and the Association of Asian American Studies (2009)
• Other Works: A Pro-slavery Crusade: The Agitation to Reopen the African Slave Trade (1971); Iron Cages: Race and Culture in Nineteenth-Century America (1979); From Different Shores: Perspectives on Race and Ethnicity in America (1987); Strangers from a Different Shore: A History of Asian-Americans (1989); Ethnic Islands: The Emergence of Urban Chinese America (1994); A Different Mirror for Young People (2012)
• Awards: Anisfield-Wolf Book Award (1994)