For Grace Valenzuela and the staff at the Multilingual Multicultural Center of Maine's Portland Public Schools who daily build bridges for children to cross from one world to another Acknowledgments I express my heartfelt thanks to the people who provided crucial information and personal and technical support throughout the development of this book Marty Braun Kirsten Cappy Mohammed Dinni Shamso Farah Mahmoud Hassan Margy Burns Knight Judy Lowell Riley and her Ocean Avenue third graders O B O Brien Virginia Marie Rincon Taz Sibley and Linda Ward And to the collaborative team at Charlesbridge my editor Julie Bliven and designer Whitney Leader Picone with support from Yolanda Scott and Susan Sherman This book wouldn't have been possible without you
I am new here Class this is Maria
I am new here Boys and girls please welcome Jin
I am new here We have a new student everyone Her name is Fatimah
