Reviewed by Deborah Menkart Review Source: Teaching for Change Book Author: “Where is our historian to give us our side? To teach our people our own history?” asks Afro-Puerto Rican Arturo Schomburg on the first page of this beautifully illustrated picture book. Schomburg’s 5th-grade teacher had told him “Africa’s sons and daughters had no history, […]
Mumbet’s Declaration of Independence
Teaching Stories Reviewed by Allyson Criner Brown Review Source: Zinn Education Project Book Author: Mumbet’s Declaration of Independence gives young readers a slavery-to-freedom narrative that is clever, honest, and age appropriate. Gretchen Woelfle’s recounting of Elizabeth Freeman’s true story of resistance and liberation is smartly written and beautifully illustrated. Readers are introduced to Mumbet, a Black […]
The Peace Tree from Hiroshima: The Little Bonsai with a Big Story
Reviewed by Maria Brescia-Weiler Review Source: Teaching for Change Book Author: The Peace Tree from Hiroshima is narrated by the titular tree, a nearly four hundred year old bonsai that now resides in the National Arboretum. Throughout its long lifetime, the tree is passed down from generation to generation, and it witnesses many important events […]
Chains
Reviewed by Kirkus Reviews Review Source: Kirkus Reviews Book Author: “‘Freedom and liberty’ has many meanings,” but enslaved Isabel knows that while Loyalists and Patriots battle for their own versions of freedom, she is “chained between two nations” that uphold slavery. She wonders, “If an entire nation could seek its freedom, why not a girl?” […]
Unbound: A Novel in Verse
Reviewed by Deborah Menkart Review Source: Rethinking Schools Book Author: When Grace, the enslaved protagonist of this beautiful novel-length poem, turns 9, she is sent to live and work in the big house, forcing a heart-wrenching separation from her family. Then Grace hears that her mother and younger brothers will be placed on the auction […]
Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation
Reviewed by Crystal Brunelle Review Source: Rich in Color Book Author: Kindred is not generally tagged as young adult, but it will likely be a cross-over title and it was one I wanted to read for our focus on women in graphic novels this month. Dana, the main character, has just turned twenty-six when the main […]