Reviewed by Rethinking Schools Book Author: This historical novel for middle school readers is based on the true stories of Sylvia Mendez and Aki Munemitsu Nakauchi, who were 3rd graders during World War II. When Aki’s family is forced to leave their home in Westminster, Calif., for a Japanese American internment camp in Arizona, the Mendez […]
Hurricane Dancers: The First Caribbean Pirate Shipwreck
Reviewed by Deborah Menkart Book Author: Cuban American novelist Margarita Engle’s award-winning book of young adult historical fiction takes the form of poetry about the conquest and resistance. The main character is a young man whose mother is Taíno and father is Spanish. Pirates hold him captive and use him as a translator. After a […]
Crow
Reviewed by Deborah Menkart Author: With voter disenfranchisement in the news today, here is a historical novel about the brutal repression of African-American voters that brought an end to the short-lived Reconstruction era. Shining a light on the seldom-told story of the 1898 Wilmington Massacre, Wright creates the character of 5th grader Moses Thomas, whose […]
