Reviewed by Deborah Menkart Review Source: Rethinking Schools Book Author: This picture book tells the true story of a fight for access to public education by an 8-year-old Chinese American girl, Mamie Tape, and her parents. There were no public schools for Chinese Americans in 1884 in San Francisco when Mamie tried to attend the white […]
When Stars Are Scattered
Reviewed by Lidwien Kapteijns Book Source: African Access Book Author: This graphic novel for 9-12 year-old readers is a real masterpiece. It is based on the life of a Somali boy called Omar, who had to flee his rural village in Somalia in 1991 when he was four, and, together with his mentally challenged younger […]
The Arabic Quilt: An Immigrant Story
Reviewed by Karen Leggett Abouraya Book Source: African Access Book Author: Egyptian-born author Aya Khalil has focused her picture book on immigrant children who may love the traditions of their family and homeland, but seek desperately to fit into their American world. On her first day in third grade in a new school, Kanzi hears […]
That Flag
Reviewed by Brad Manker Review Source: Teaching for Change Book Author: Author Tameka Fryer Brown and illustrator Nikkolas Smith have written the first book of its kind for young readers about the meaning of the battle flag of the Confederacy — and indirectly — about the “Lost Cause” narrative and its impact today. Keira, who is […]
That Flag
Reviewed by Erin Green Review Source: Rethinking Schools Book Author: I read the powerful picture book That Flag, written by Tameka Fryer Brown, aloud to my preservice teachers last week. (Thanks to the recommendation of Social Justice Books and the Zinn Education Project.) Our class session was about how to address race and racism in elementary social studies, and this […]
Abdul’s Story
Reviewed by Brad Manker Review Source: Teaching for Change Book Author: Young Abdul loves storytelling, and his tales are inspired by the people who live in his neighborhood. But when it comes to writing those stories, Abdul feels his handwriting is messy and he has difficulty forming letters and spelling words. He questions the value of […]