Reviewed by: Megan Schliesman Review Source: Reading While White Book Author: During the first part of the 20th century, immigrants from India were not allowed to become citizens of the United States (the law changed in 1946). Restrictions on immigration also meant many Indian men came alone to the California area, and a number of […]
Sparkle Boy
Reviewed by Maria Brescia-Weiler Review Source: Teaching for Change Book Author: Sparkle Boy by Leslie Newman starts with a common sibling interaction: Casey wants something his older sister has. In this case, it is a sparkly skirt. It becomes a pattern, with Casey drawing inspiration from his sister Jessie’s skirts, nail polish, and jewelry. Each […]
A Movie in My Pillow / Una película en mi almohada
Teaching Ideas Reviewed by María Cárdenas Review Source: DeColores Book Author: During the bloody Salvadoran Civil War (1979-1992) between the military government representing the 12-family oligarchy of wealthy landowners, and leftist forces representing mostly impoverished peasants, US-supported government death squads terrorized, tortured, murdered and disappeared thousands of civilians, especially targeting students, intellectuals, and Indian people in […]
Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty
Reviewed by Lyn Miller Lachman Review Source: The Pirate Tree Book Author: We think of war as happening to children in other places. In doing so, we fail to think about young people in the United States whose everyday lives mirror the lives of young people in the world’s combat zones. For children who experience […]
Wolf Mark
Reviewed by Beverly Slapin Review Source: American Indians in Children’s Literature Book Author: Joe Bruchac is not yet known for his YA werewolf/vampire/espionage novels, but this talented writer can sure pull off the genre(s). Middle readers who have the ability to suspend disbelief will relate to the teen protagonist, an Abenaki wolf-boy with multiple challenges. Such […]
The Mangrove Tree: Planting Trees to Feed Families
Reviewed by Deborah Menkart Review Source: Teaching for Change Book Author: The collage illustrations in The Mangrove Tree are stunning — each page invites the reader to take in the creativity and details created through the multicolored, textured cloth. The story itself is an important one, describing a community that was once ecologically devastated and poverty-stricken […]