Reviewed by Deborah Menkart Review Source: Teaching for Change Book Author: This novel for ages 12+ lives up to its dedication to Fannie Lou Hamer. Two storylines sweep readers along — one about contemporary challenges of voting on election day and the other a budding love story. High school student protagonist Marva Sheridan has been […]
Race to the Sun
Reviewed by Michael Thompson Review Source: American Indians in Children’s Literature Book Author: When Rebecca Roanhorse published her dystopian fantasy novel Trail of Lightning, I wrote at length about my grave concerns for her appropriation and distortions of Dine’ cultural narratives. I noted, as a Native educator and a Navajo in-law, that numerous Navajo writers were voicing […]
Steamboat School
Reviewed by Kirkus Reviews Review Source: Kirkus Reviews Book Author: A passion for education and freedom brings subversive ingenuity to life in 1847 St. Louis. Hopkinson reveals Rev. John Barry Meachum’s true history through the stories he tells the children of being born a slave (in 1789 in Virginia) and working in the saltpeter mines […]
Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow
Reviewed by Julie Smolinski Review Source: Independent Book Author: Though the title would suggest otherwise, Satchel Paige: Striking out Jim Crow isn’t exactly a biography of the famous Negro League pitcher, Satchel Paige. The story is not told from his perspective and for the most part we don’t get too much information about Paige’s personal […]
Grace for President
Reviewed by Katie Seitz Review Source: Teaching for Change Book Author: Grace for President by author Kelly DiPucchio and illustrator LeUyen Pham rchronicles the political campaign of Grace Campbell, a smart and ambitious elementary school student who, when she learns that not a single U.S. president has been a woman, decides to be the first. Her […]