The following collection of thematically related readings is available in Farewell to Manzanar and Related Readings in McDougal Littell's Literature Connections series.

"The Legend of Superman"
"The Legend of Home" by Lawson Fusao Inada
(from Legends from Camp, © 1993)
Summary: These two poems illuminate the experiences of a boy in an internment camp in Colorado.

"Sleep in the Mojave Desert" by Sylvia Plath
from Crossing the Water, ©1962)
Summary: The poet describes nighttime in the still and inhospitable desert near Manzanar.

"I Remember Pearl Harbor: Dealing with the 'Problem Race'" by Charles Shiro Inouye
(from The Nation, December 12, 1988)
Summary: In this essay, Inouye reflects on the unjust internment of Japanese Americans in the U.S. during World War II, and on the government's gesture of apology, made almost 50 years later.

"Wilshire Bus" by Hisaye Yamamoto
(from Seventeen Syllables and Other Stories, © 1988)
Summary: How will Esther, a Japanese-American woman, respond to the harassment of the Chinese-American couple behind her on the bus? This short story explores some effects of decades of anti-Asian sentiment in the United States.

"Trains at Night" by Alberto Alvaro Rios
(from Pig Cookies, © 1995)
Summary: When the Mexican government abruptly rounds up the Chinese for deportation, Mr. Lee manages to elude the soldiers. For years afterward, he can be seen only in corners and shadows. This short story is based on historical events.

"Visiting Home" by Kevin Young
(from Most Way Home, © 1995)
Summary: A poem framed as a conversation examines an African-American family's loss of their home and land in Louisiana.

Excerpt from Unto the Sons by Gay Talese, © 1992)
Summary: Talese's memoir recalls his Italian-American childhood, and his father's struggles, on the East Coast during World War II.

"Lectures on How You Never Lived Back Home" by M. Evelina Galang
(from Her Wild American Self, © 1996)
Summary: In a short story, Galang explores conflicts faced by a first-generation Filipino-American growing up in the 1980s.