Reviewed by: Cindy L. Rodriguez Review Source: Latinxs in Kid Lit Book Author: Although Before We Were Free and Return to Sender are set in different countries, they have similarities. In Return to Sender, Mari and her family are migrant workers on a Vermont dairy farm. She encounters a mix of acceptance and scorn from her […]
César: ¡Sí, Se Puede! Yes, We Can!
Reviewed by Beverly Slapin Review Source: De Colores Book Author: In a powerful collection of lyrical, free verse poems rich in farmworker idiom, Bernier-Grand has reconstructed the life and work of the founder and organizer of the United Farm Workers. What makes these poems remarkable is that they not only chronicle the life of a […]
Silver People: Voices from the Panama Canal
Reviewed by: Deborah Menkart Reviewed Source: Zinn Education Project Book Author: Using her trademark style—multiple voices in free verse to share untold historical events —Margarita Engle introduces young readers to the builders of the Panama Canal. The protagonist is Mateo, a young boy from the Caribbean, lured with promises of good pay and work. Instead, […]
Rad Women Worldwide: Artists and Athletes, Pirates and Punks, and Other Revolutionaries Who Shaped History
Reviewed by Rethinking Schools Review Source: Rethinking Schools Book Author: From the authors of Rad American Women A-Z, Rad Women Worldwide has a similarly defiant and playful approach, featuring a few women students may have heard of, but mostly introducing little-known “rad” women who are “passionate, purposeful, and totally powerful.” It’s hard not to fall in […]
Fannie Never Flinched: One Woman’s Courage in the Struggle for American Labor Rights
Reviewed by Rethinking Schools Review Source: Rethinking Schools Book Author: This beautiful book about early 20th-century labor organizer Fannie Sellins begins with her murder by sheriff’s deputies, in broad daylight, at the age of 47. No one is prosecuted. Mary Cronk Farrell then jumps back 20 years to trace Sellins’ life organizing garment and mine […]
Joelito’s Big Decision / La Gran Decisión de Joelito
Reviewed by Beverly Slapin Review Source: DeColores Book Author: On April 15, 2015—little more than three months ago—about one million people across the country pulled off the largest demonstration of its kind in US history. The struggle, known as the “Fight for 15,” involved Walmart workers, fast-food workers, child care workers, home health workers, janitorial […]