Smoky Night by Eve Bunting

This book tells the story of a riot and fire through the eyes of a young boy. It is written for middle-elementary readers and mostly consists of the boy watching a riot on the streets below through his apartment window and asking his mother questions about it.
The main merit of this book besides the beautiful, unique illustrations is the way it shows how people are brought together through tragedy. Both the boy and his chinese neighbor's cats are lost in the fire, and both experience the fear of losing them as well as joy when they are found and safe. Because of the tragic experience of a local riot and a fire in their apartment building the boy and his mother make a new friend in the Chinese woman, who until previously they had viewed as too different from themselves to talk to.
Some may consider this book controversial because it contains references to riots and race-based prejudice, but considering that the main message in the story is one of acceptance and it is not by any means overly violent or crude, I think reading it in the classroom would be appropriate and for the benefit of the students.