A Different Mirror for Young People

A longtime professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of California at Berkeley, Ronald Takaki wasandrecognized as one of the foremost scholars of American ethnic history and diversity. When the first edition ofandAandDifferent Mirrorandwas published in 1993,andPublishers Weeklyandcalled it "a brilliant revisionist history of Americaandthat is likely to become a classic of multicultural studies" and named it one of the ten best books of the year.andNow Rebecca Stefoff, who adapted Howard Zinn's best-sellingandA People's History of the United Statesandforandyounger readers, turns the updated 2008 edition of Takaki's multicultural masterwork intoandA Different Mirror forandYoung People.Drawing on Takaki's vast array of primary sources, and staying true to his own words whenever possible,andAandDifferent Mirror for Young Peopleandbrings ethnic history alive through the words of people, including teenagers,andwho recorded their experiences in letters, diaries, and poems. Like Zinn'sandA People's History, Takaki'sandAandDifferent Mirrorandoffers a rich and rewarding "people's view" perspective on the American story.

RONALD TAKAKI (1939-2009) was recognized as one of the foremost scholars of American ethnic history and diversity. He is the author of the multiple award-winning books Strangers from a Distant Shore: A History of Asian Americans and A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America.

REBECCA STEFOFF specializes in writing nonfiction for young readers, with a focus on scientific, historical, and literary subjects. She previously explored the subject of evolution in Charles Darwin and the Evolution Revolution(Oxford University Press, 1996) and the four-volume series Humans: An Evolutionary History (Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, 2010). Stefoff has also written on exploration, forensic investigation, and archaeology, among other topics. In addition to writing her own books, Stefoff has adapted several important nonfiction works for young audiences: A Young People's History of the United States, based on Howard Zinn's bestselling classic of progressive history; Before Columbus: The Americas in 1491, based on Charles C. Mann's ground-breaking new look at the archaeology of the pre-Columbian Americas; and A Different Mirror for Young People, based on a major work of scholarship by ethnic historian Ronald Takaki.