Persea has published poetry, fiction, and memoir of the highest order. Many of these titles have been used with great success in middle schools, high schools, colleges.
A note to Educators
Persea Books was founded with goal of publishing the finest literature possible. Many of our titles are adopted for use in college and university courses in literature, American studies, women’s studies, and creative writing classes of all levels. We also publish a select number of books for middle and high schools.
Individual authors, such as Anzia Yezierska, Paul Celan, and Carl Friedman, have educated generations of students. Our ongoing series of literary anthologies, including America Street, Short, The Eloquent Essay, Sudden Flash Youth, From the Fishouse, and Imagining America are timely and essential.
Persea titles are refreshingly unpedantic while maintaining the highest standards.
—Michael Braziller, Publisher & Karen Braziller, Editorial Director
Books by Educational Level
College
College, university, and graduate school classrooms are where the majority of Persea’s books are adopted, semester after semester. Most of these books were published first for the general reader, but merit inclusion into college curricula, from fifteenth-century feminist Christine de Pizan to the anthology Short, an irresistible gathering of the world's most imaginative word artists in all genres, showing both the present flowering and the deep roots of this popular form.
High School
We offer a range of books by single authors (fiction, nonfiction, poetry) and multicultural anthologies on universal themes (bicultural, city, rural, outsiders, work, and more). All of these books have young protagonists. Most are written by well-known authors of books for adults. Many of these titles are also adopted in community colleges and beyond.
Middle School
Many of our titles are perfect for middle school. Their language is simple, the subject matter is universal and age-appropriate but retains complexity and subtlety. They cover aspects of family life, friends, and identity (bicultural, adopted, activism) and include works of poetry, fiction, and biography. The books in this category are also read in upper grades.
Books by subject
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Desk and examination copies
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Teaching Resources
Download our latest classroom flyer here
Below are downloadable Teacher's Guides. They are written by the books’ editor(s) unless stated otherwise.
America Street (Revised Edition) by co-editor Brice Particelli
Big City Cool: Short Stories About Urban Youth edited by M. Jerry Weiss and Helen S. Weiss (Guide by Lisa K. Winkler)
The Eloquent Essay: An Anthology of Classic and Creative Nonfiction edited by John Loughery
The Eloquent Short Story: Varieties of Narration, An Anthology edited by Lucy Rosenthal (Guide by Dave King)
The Girl in the Mirror by Meg Kearney
Outside Rules: Short Stories about Nonconformist Youth edited by Claire Robson
The Secret of Me by Meg Kearney
Short edited by Alan Ziegler
Starting with 'I': Personal Essays by Teenagers edited by Andrea Estepa and Philip Kay
A lesson plan for "Currents" by Hannah Bottomy Voskuil, from Sudden Flash Youth, edited by Christine Perkins-Hazuka, Tom Hazuka, & Mark Budman
When You Never Said Goodbye by Meg Kearney
A Guide to the Poetics of When You Never Said Goodbye by Meg Kearney