Reviewed by Brad Manker Review Source: Teaching for Change Book Author: If your ears can’t hear the strum, or hum, or thrum of a melody, can music still swirl and whirl? Talented Evelyn Glennie embraced music from a young age but gradually grew deaf. Her audiologist, and others around her, predicted that she would have to […]
Build a House
Reviewed by Rethinking Schools Book Author: Build a House is based on the moving song that Rhiannon Giddens wrote and performed with cellist Yo-Yo Ma on the 155th anniversary of Juneteenth in 2020. Giddens’ lovely, poignant new book illustrates the song, telling the story of enslavement and freedom: “You brought me here/ To build your house/ To […]
Yellow Dog Blues
Reviewed by Zapoura Newton-Calvert Review Source: Teaching for Change Book Author: Yellow Dog moved to Memphis! He followed the city lights. He sings the blues on Beale Street now. He sings all day and night. — From Yellow Dog Blues When Bo Willie sees his front gate swinging open, he knows Yellow Dog is gone. And so […]
Bravo, Anjali!
Reviewed by Paige Pagan Review Source: Teaching for Change Book Author: Anjali is the only girl in a boy-dominated tabla class. When she rises to the top, her friend Deepak accuses her of standing out not for her talent, but for being a girl playing a man’s instrument. Although Anjali is used to people assuming that […]
Sing a Song: How “Lift Every Voice and Sing” Inspired Generations
Reviewed by Deborah Menkart Review Source: Rethinking Schools Book Author: We should all know the story and words of the Black National Anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” and now thanks to this picture book, we can. Author Kelly Starling Lyons tells the 120-year history of the song through generations of her family who have […]
Which Side Are You On?
Reviewed by Chris Eboch Review Source: New York Journal of Books Book Author: Which Side Are You On? tells a slice of labor union history. In 1931 miners in Harlan County, Kentucky, went on strike for better pay, safer working conditions, and better healthcare. The company retaliated by hiring thugs to attack organizers like miner Sam Reese. […]
