Students will need to have a physical, digital, or audio copy of the following novels:

Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
Chasing Secrets by Gennifer Choldenko
The Giver by Lois Lowry

I will provide a pdf of the study guide.

Esperanza Rising discusses the racism that Mexican farm workers faced in 1930s United States and also includes the death of the main character's father. 

When You Reach Me includes the death of a character when he is hit by a vehicle. There is also brief racism, prejudice, and there is a scene in which a character is punched in the stomach. 

Chasing Secrets includes racism towards the Chinese-American population of San Francisco in 1900. There are also scenes dealing with the plague that is devastating the community. 

The Giver is a dystopian novel and takes on issues like death and genocide in a way that, at first glance, looks very casual but by the end of the novel works to convince the reader that a future like the one in the book would be inhumane and wrong. There are scenes involving the death of babies and the elderly, as well as the mention of "stirrings" which are feelings associated with the onset of puberty and the character take pills to subdue those feelings.