The fluid design of this instructional guide requires that educators and students constantly (re) negotiate six domains (Connection, Character, Community, Culture, Content and Critical Consciousness) in ways that encourage a continuous state of nurturing and building. The book’s introduction provides an overview of each of the six domains and how the central idea of acknowledging student culture and personal interest are crucial to genuinely connecting with students where they are and using this knowledge as a building block to content area instruction and social justice education. The chapters that follow examine both children’s and young adult literature exploring the Asian American, African American and Latino American experiences. There are four sections in each chapter. Section 1 – Introduction (Provides fundamental information about the cultural experience); Section 2 – Connection (Provides a critical literacy context for the chapter); Section 3 – Reflection (Provides teacher reflection exercises and recommendations for additional reading); Section 4 – Application (Provides interactive lessons for the classroom using the Before, During and After Reading Model). Each Application section also includes a Core Curriculum State Standard guide and a recommended readings list, which is grade appropriate. The three chapters exploring literature include information on research-based teaching methods, teacher reflection exercises, recommended readings for teachers, recommended book lists, interactive lessons with a Core Curriculum State Standard guide, and an appendix with lesson guides that teachers can reproduce for educational purposes.