New York City

The Secret Subway

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Copies: 6

From an acclaimed author and a New York Times Best Illustrated artist comes the fascinating, little-known—and true!—story of New York City’s first subway.

Author:

Shana Corey

Lexile:

AD810L

New York, 1842: The docks along South Street bustle with activity. Packet ships are constantly arriving and departing. There are so many packet ships waiting along the docks that the area has become known as the "Packet Row".

Grade Level:

Middle

High

Content Area:

Social Studies

Play Time:

60 min.

New York 1901

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Relive the dawn of modern New York City, the historic years that made it what it is today. Build bigger and higher skyscrapers on some of Lower Manhattan's most iconic streets.

Grade Level:

Middle

High

Content Area:

Social Studies

Play Time:

45 min.

The Dutch & New Amsterdam (1999)

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These engaging presentations view the traditions of early colonial life through contemporary insights into the men, women and children who carried their dreams of a new life to the New World. Follow along as colonial life experts tour the modern-day sites of these settlements to learn the history of the people who settled them and discover what daily life was really like.

Grade Level:

Elementary

Middle

Length:

00:23

Peppe the Lamplighter

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Copies: 1

In the tradition of Lois Lowry and Paul Fleischman, Elisa Bartone's Caldecott Honor-winning book gives children a glimpse into American history and the immigrant experience.

This is the story of Peppe, who becomes a lamplighter to help support his immigrant family in turn-of-the-century New York City, despite his papa's disapproval. Peppe's family is very poor, and though he is just a boy he needs to find work. Being a lamplighter is not the job his father had dreamed of for Peppe, but when Peppe's job helps save his little sister, he earns the respect of his entire family.

Author:

Elisa Bartone

Lexile:

AD570L

Liberty's Kids Disc Two (2002)

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Caught on opposite sides of the revolution, Benjamin Franklin’s teenage reporters—American colonist James and young Englishwoman Sarah—confront the real, physical dangers of combat. Forced to choose between their friendship and allegiance to their countries, the kids find that their understanding of good and evil is challenged by the moral dilemmas of war.

Grade Level:

Primary

Elementary

Length:

02:41

City of Bones: The Mortal Instruments, Book 1 (Unabridged)

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When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder — much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air.

Author:

Cassandra Clare

Grade Level:

High

Length:

14:11

City of Bones: The Mortal Instruments, Book 1 (Unabridged)

The Cricket in Times Square

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Copies: 30

After Chester, a cricket, arrives in the Times Square subway station via a picnic basket from his native Connecticut, he takes up residence in the Bellinis' newsstand. There, the tiny creature is lucky enough to find three good friends: a little boy named Mario whose parents run the unsuccessful newsstand, a fast-talking Broadway mouse named Tucker and his pal, Harry the Cat. Throughout their escapades and their ups and downs in New York City, together they somehow manage to bring success to the almost bankrupt newsstand.

Author:

George Selden

Lexile:

780L

Brighton Beach Memoirs

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In Neil Simon's darkly funny memoir of his family in 1930s Brooklyn, 14-year-old Eugene is preoccupied by his passion for the Yankees and his lust for his beautiful cousin, Nora. Eugene's comic growing pains contrast with the darker issues troubling his family: poverty, illness, long-held sibling resentment, and the growing Nazi threat to relatives in Europe.

Author:

Neil Simon

Grade Level:

High

Length:

01:55

Brooklyn Bridge (Unabridged)

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On that day in 1903, 14-year-old Joseph Michtom's life changed irrevocably when his parents - Russian immigrants - created the first teddy bear. No longer did the Michtom's gather family and friends around the kitchen table to talk. No longer was Joseph at leisure to play stickball with the guys.

Author:

Karen Hesse

Grade Level:

Middle

Lexile:

NC680L

Length:

04:41

New York City

The Dutch & New Amsterdam (1999)

Liberty's Kids Disc Two (2002)

Pages