Rosa
by Nikki Giovanni
Published 2005 by Henry Holt & Company

Hardcover, English. ISBN: 0805071067

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Fifty years after her refusal to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus, Mrs. Rosa Parks is still one of the most important figures in the American civil rights movement. This picture-book tribute to Mrs. Parks is a celebration of her courageous action and the events that followed. Illustrations.

REVIEW: Publisher's Weekly 08/29/2005

Giovanni (The Sun Is So Quiet) and Collier (Uptown) offer a moving interpretation of Rosa Parks's momentous refusal to give up her bus seat. The author brings her heroine very much to life as she convincingly imagines Parks's thoughts and words while she rode the bus on December 1, 1955 ("She was not frightened. She was not going to give in to that which was wrong"), pointing out that Mrs. Parks was in the neutral section of the bus and (as some fellow riders observe) "She had a right to be there." The author and poet lyrically rephrases what the heroine herself has frequently said, "She had not sought this moment, but she was ready for it." After Mrs. Parks's arrest, the narrative's focus shifts to the 25 members of the Women's Political Council, who met secretly to stage the bus boycott. Inventively juxtaposing textures, patterns, geometric shapes and angles, Collier's watercolor and collage art presents a fitting graphic accompaniment to the poetic text. After viewing an image of Martin Luther King, Jr., encouraging a crowd to walk rather than ride the buses, readers open a dramatic double-page foldout of the Montgomery masses walking for nearly a year before the Supreme Court finally ruled that segregation on buses was illegal. A fresh take on a remarkable historic event and on Mrs. Parks's extraordinary integrity and resolve. Ages 5-up. (Sept.)

Growing Up King: An Intimate Memoir
by Dexter Scott King
Published 2004 by Warner Books

Paperback, English. ISBN: 0446692379

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Dexter King's courageous efforts, amid widespread skepticism, to investigate what really happened in his father's slaying resulted in a civil jury trial proving there was a conspiracy involving governmental agencies to murder his father.

The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.
by Martin Luther, Jr. King
Published 1998 by Warner Books

Hardcover, English. ISBN: 0446524123

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Destined to become a classic, this powerful and inspirational autobiography of America's greatest civil rights leader calls upon Stanford University's voluminous collection of archival material, including Dr. King's previously unpublished writings, public and private interviews, audio and video recordings, and personal correspondence.

REVIEW: Publisher's Weekly 11/16/1998

Carson, director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Papers Project and author of A Knock at Midnight: Inspiration from the Great Sermons of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., has pieced together an incomplete study of King's life by supplementing his extant autobiographies (e.g., Stride Toward Freedom and Where Do We Go from Here) with previously unpublished and published writings, interviews and speeches. If King's rhetorical flourishes and use of the word "negro" sometimes seem outdated, the compilation still offers a concise first-person account of his life from his birth in Atlanta in 1929 to his awakening social consciousness and discovery of the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. History propelled King to center stage in the struggle for black liberation. When Rosa Parks refused to surrender her bus seat in 1955, the "once dormant and quiescent Negro community was now fully awake" and King, along with many others in Montgomery's black community, organized the bus boycott that would launch King into his leadership role in the civil rights movement. The book offers glimpses of King's family life as well a view of famous Americans such as Stokely Carmichael, Malcolm X and JFK. (In 1960, King did not feel "there was much difference between Kennedy and Nixon." He writes, "I felt at points that he was so concerned about being President of the United States that he would compromise basic principles.") But what is most evident throughout Carson's study is the moral courage that sustained King and allowed him to inspire a largely peaceful mass movement against segregation in the face of bloody reprisals. (Dec.) FYI: In November, Carol Publishing will release Seventh Child: A Family Memoir of Malcolm X, by his nephew Rodnell P. Collins. ($21.95 230p ISBN 1-55972-491-9)

The African-American Century: How Black Americans Have Shaped Our Country
by Henry Louis Gates
Published 2000 by Free Press

Hardcover, English. ISBN: 0684864142

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REVIEW: Publisher's Weekly 10/16/2000

"At the dawn of the 21st century... we cannot imagine a truly American culture that has not, in profound ways, been shaped by the contributions of African Americans," write scholars and popular social commentators West and Gates in the introduction to this elegant, fact-filled compendium of nearly 100 short biographies of distinguished thinkers, artists, politicians, entrepreneurs and athletes (one quarter of them women). While many of the figures highlighted here are obvious choices--such as W.E.B. Du Bois, Ida B. Wells Barnett, Jackie Robinson, Jessye Norman and Spike Lee--there are numerous others who are more obscure, including Bessie Colman, the first black woman aviator; Dorothy Height, who organized black women through the YWCA; and sculptor Martin Puryear. Maintaining an upbeat tone, the authors, Harvard professors both, attempt to address the complexity of their subjects' lives (e.g., Tupac Shakur's indictment on charges of sexual abuse), although they occasionally play down such thorny issues as Louis Farrakhan's anti-Semitic statements or Josephine Baker's support of Mussolini's invasion of Ethiopia. The concept behind this book is not new (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's Profiles in Black Courage, among others, has covered similar territory), but the authors' strong reputations and clear prose make this not only an ideal gift book for younger readers but a good educational resource. 100 b&w photos. (Nov.)

Leadership
by Time-Life Books
Published 1999 by Time-Life Books

Hardcover, English. ISBN: 0783522541

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09/01/1994 REVIEW: School Library Journal

Gr 6 Up-This companion to Perseverence (1993) and Creative Fire (1994, both Time-Life) discusses African-Americans who have excelled in science, business, religion, education, and politics. It is immensely informative, well organized, and clearly written. The book begins by placing 20th-century achievements in the context of the rich heritage passed from Africa to America. The accomplishments of leaders such as Queen Nzingha of what is now Angola; Okomfo Anokye, a 17th-century West African priest; and the legendary Queen of Sheba are detailed. The next chapter moves on to the 19th and 20th centuries and introduces pioneers in science and black women who became physicians against great social and economic odds. There is a section on the Tuskegee Experiment, a government medical program in the 1930s that allowed syphilitic men to go untreated so that the course of the disease could be observed. African-American business enterprise is historically traced through men and women like William Johnson, a 19th-century barber; Madame C.J. Walker; John H. Johnson; and Maggie Lena Walker. The book speaks of centuries of obstacles, trials, and ultimate triumphs. Many of the people discussed are still active in their respective fields. The text is illustrated with numerous black-and-white and full-color photographs. A fine addition to any collection.-Carol Jones Collins, Montclair Kimberley Academy, NJ

Bound for the Promised Land: Harriet Tubman, Portrait of an American Hero
by Kate Clifford Larson
Published 2003 by Ballantine Books

Hardcover, English. ISBN: 0345456270

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REVIEW: Publisher's Weekly 11/10/2003

Few American historical figures are as familiar in legend as Tubman (1822?-1913), and as little known in fact. Although at least 30 juvenile biographies have treated her, Larson's is the first adult biography to appear since Earl Conrad's Harriet Tubman (1943). This pedestrian (in the neutral sense) account presents new investigative sources, utilizing court records and contemporary local newspapers, wills and letters, along with legal and illegal transactions. Larson directs tangled traffic as Tubman and her relatives are "passed down through several generations"; she traces the lives of the white owners as well the black "blended community of free and enslaved people" on Maryland's Eastern Shore, where Tubman grew up in slavery and where she returned time and again to spirit slaves to freedom. In recounting Tubman's routes and ruses, as the figure known as "Moses," Larson freshly identifies many of the escapees as she delineates the solid role of free and enslaved blacks in the Underground Railroad. She identifies Tubman's "sleeping spells, periods of semi-consciousness," as temporal lobe epilepsy. With Tubman's support of John Brown and her activities during the Civil War, Larson arrives where the Tubman legend usually ends with Tubman immortalized "forever as an Underground Railroad Agent and Civil War spy." As in the only other adult biography, Sarah Bradford's Scenes in the Life of Harriet Tubman (1869), Larson follows her subject into her post-Civil War life supporting freedmen in the South and tending to a large household, including a young woman Larson speculates may have been Tubman's daughter. While this history is well done, competition will arrive in February, when Little, Brown publishes Catherine Clinton's Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom. (Nov.)

09/01/2004 REVIEW: School Library Journal

Adult/High School -Araminta Ross, better known as Harriet Tubman, was born a slave in 1822 on Maryland's Eastern Shore. In 1849, after hearing that she might be sold to settle her late master's debt, she escaped and began a life of sacrifice to help others escape as well. But Tubman's efforts didn't stop there. She played a vital role in the events of the Civil War and, in her later years, supported the fight for women's rights. Until the end of her life, she fought against the bigotry and injustice faced daily by African Americans. Using a clear writing style, Larson does an excellent job of placing Tubman in the context of her times. After finishing this book, readers will feel a greater appreciation for this woman's accomplishments and awareness that one person really can make a difference.-Peggy Bercher, Fairfax County Public Library, VA

The Story of Harriet Tubman
by Rachel A. Koestler-Grack
Published 2004 by Chelsea Clubhouse

Library Binding, English. ISBN: 0791073149

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The BREAKTHROUGH BIOGRAPHIES series introduces the lives of well-known people. Through easy-to-read text, captioned photographs, and primary captioned photographs, and primary source quotations, students will explore the subjects' early years and the accomplishments that made them famous. Harriet Tubman was born a slave, but she was determined to be free. Facing great danger, she escaped to the North. Tubman danger, she escaped to the North. Tubman made this trip again and again, bringing more than 300 slaves to freedom on the Underground Railroad.

04/01/2004 REVIEW: School Library Journal

Gr 2-4-Interesting and readable accounts of courageous individuals. Chapters are written in a clear manner and accompanied by photographs, reproductions, and quotations. In the first book, the author focuses on Anne Frank's hope and optimism during her hiding and captivity. Harriet Tubman relates the amazing bravery of a remarkable woman. Helen Keller provides information about sign language and Braille and includes a Web site where readers can view the Braille alphabet and type in a name to read it in Braille. These volumes are carefully researched, presenting good and respectful coverage.-Rebecca Sheridan, Easttown Library & Information Center, Berwyn, PA

There Comes a Time: The Struggle for Civil Rights
by Milton Meltzer
Published 2001 by Random House Books for Young Readers

Hardcover, English. ISBN: 0375804072

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01/01/2001 REVIEW: School Library Journal

Gr 5 Up-This concise, informational overview of the civil rights movement in America opens with four brave young men sitting at a Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, NC, on January 31, 1960, and then goes back more than 300 years to the roots of slavery. Meltzer details centuries of African-American history with an immediacy that keeps readers turning the pages. The writing is clear and straightforward, making it accessible and appealing. For today's students who did not live through the `50s and `60s, some of the events that dramatically unfold will seem like fiction, but the lengthy bibliography attests to its accuracy. This is nonfiction at its best. Meltzer examines all facets of the civil rights struggle and the history of racism in this country. His perceptive account will cause readers to think critically about where we have been and where we are going as a nation. Well-captioned black-and-white photos appear throughout. A must for all collections, and a fine companion to Mary Turck's The Civil Rights Movement for Kids (Chicago Review, 2000).-Eunice Weech, M. L. King Elementary School, Urbana, IL

African-American Facts
by Marcus Williamson
Published 2000 by Gramercy Books

Hardcover, English. ISBN: 051716308X

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Emancipation Proclamation: Hope of Freedom for the Slaves
by Michael J. Martin
Published 2002 by Bridgestone Books

Library Binding, English. ISBN: 073681339X

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This series on the U.S. Civil War provides the basic facts and details of pivotal events in a way that creates a sense of what it was like to be living at that time. The tension and the tumult of the period are evident in the text and images. These books provide solid information in a visually engaging way. This series explores and supports the standards "Era 4: Expansion and Reform (1801-1861)," and "Era 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)," as required by the National Standards for History.

03/01/2003 REVIEW: School Library Journal

Gr 4-6-While these slim books offer historical perspective on aspects of the Civil War period, they also share a dry, pedestrian voice. However, the real flaws rest in the design and use of the illustrations. Most of the pictorial material is generic, some is blurry, and almost all of it is poorly captioned. Many of the etchings have been tinted, which may be an attempt to punch up the books graphically, but they lose their historical authenticity. The maps are adequate if uninspiring, and the decorative element that signals captions and sidebars-torn-edged paper-is mysterious. These sources represent part of a growing trend of publishing high-interest, low-reading level historical material and should be considered supplemental at best.-Dona Ratterree, New York City Public Schools

The Black Experience: In the Caribbean and the USA
by Bob Rees
Published 1995 by Bedrick

Hardcover, English. ISBN: 0872261174

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The Voice That Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights
by Russell Freedman
Published 2004 by Clarion Books

Hardcover, English. ISBN: 0618159762

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This insightful account of the great African-American vocalist considers her life and musical career in the context of the history of civil rights in America. Drawing on Anderson's own writings and other contemporary accounts, Freedman shows how she came to stand for all black artists--and for all Americans of color.

REVIEW: Publisher's Weekly 03/22/2004

Newbery medalist Freedman (Lincoln: A Photobiography) succinctly traces the career of renowned contralto Marian Anderson (1897-1993) from her Philadelphia childhood, when she first revealed her extraordinary voice in church choirs. Throughout, the author describes the racial discrimination Anderson frequently encountered as an African-American artist, as well as her role in the struggle for civil rights, a role defined by her dignified yet determined response to racism. The gifted singer felt the sting of discrimination as a teen, when she tried to apply to a music conservatory and was told, "We don't take colored." Later, as she and her accompanist toured America, they were barred from hotels and restaurants and relegated to the Jim Crow cars of trains. Freedman provides thrilling accounts of Anderson's success and soaring reputation in Europe, where she performed for royalty, often singing in the native language of her audiences and eliciting the highest praise from maestro Arturo Toscanini, who told Anderson hers was a voice "heard once in a hundred years." Perhaps most poignant is Freedman's re-creation of Anderson's 1939 performance before 75,000 fans at the Lincoln Memorial, a concert precipitated by the DAR's refusal to allow a black singer to appear at its Constitutional Hall and accomplished largely through the efforts of Eleanor Roosevelt. Copious quotes from Anderson's autobiography, papers and interviews allow her resonant voice-and personal grace-to animate these pages. Also included are abundant photos, newspaper clippings and reproductions of concert programs. An engrossing biography. Ages 9-12. (Mar.)

07/01/2004 REVIEW: School Library Journal

Gr 5-9 -In the initial chapter, Freedman movingly and dramatically sets the stage for the performer's historic 1939 Easter concert at the Lincoln Memorial. In less than two pages, he captures the huge crowd's eager anticipation, briefly describes the controversy sparked by the Daughters of the American Revolution's refusal to allow Anderson to appear at Constitution Hall, and mentions the significance of the concert. He leaves readers at the moment when "A profound hush settled over the crowd.--¦ she closed her eyes, lifted her head, clasped her hands before her, and began to sing." The author then switches to a chronological account of Anderson's life from her childhood in Philadelphia through her acclaimed U.S. and European concert tours in the 1920s and 1930s. He then gives a fuller account of the famous outdoor concert, which he refers to as a milestone in both musical and civil rights history. Freedman acknowledges that the singer did not set out to be a political activist or a crusader for civil rights. Numerous archival photographs, thorough chapter notes, a selected bibliography of works for both adult and younger readers, and a selected discography of currently available Anderson CDs are included. This inspiring work once again demonstrates Freedman's talent for showing how a person's life is molded by its historical and cultural context. Readers of Pam Muoz Ryan's When Marian Sang (Scholastic, 2002) will appreciate this lengthier account of Anderson's life, as will all readers of biography, U.S. history, and musical history.-Ginny Gustin, Sonoma County Library System, Santa Rosa, CA

Follow in Their Footsteps
by Glennette Tilley Turner
Published 1998 by Puffin Books

Paperback, English. ISBN: 0140383638

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Children of the Emancipation     
by Wilma King
Published 2000 by Carolrhoda Books

Hardcover, English. ISBN: 1575053969

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07/01/2000 REVIEW: School Library Journal

Gr 3-5-Taking a highly visual approach, King allows young readers the opportunity to learn about the painstaking steps involved in transforming lives from slavery to freedom. The focus is on the children, their work, their families, and their treatment before and after emancipation. One sepia photo per page is accompanied by one or two paragraphs of text. While the pairing of text and photos is a strength of the volume, a few statements are simplistic: "All kinds of `let's pretend' games allowed slave children to use their imagination and creativity," and "Brer Rabbit tales taught them how to avoid danger." The appendix offers an explanation of the Emancipation Proclamation, a description of the Freedmen's Bureau, and an annotated list of further reading. Immigrant Children explores the lives of those who arrived "hungry, bruised, and hopeful" at the turn of the century; many found work in the mines, others farmed or worked in factories, but all struggled to improve their lives under often difficult conditions. The sepia photographs on each page focus on scenes of children and families arriving in this country, and at work and home. These pictures and the informative text offer a view of the past that will provide students with an awareness and appreciation of our cultural diversity. The appendix provides suggestions on how to explore family history through interview, research, and photographs.-Patricia Mahoney Brown, Benjamin Franklin Elementary School, Kenmore, NY

A Multicultural Portrait of the Civil War
by Carol A. Piggins
Published 1993 by Benchmark Books (NY)

Hardcover, English. ISBN: 1854356607

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04/01/1994 REVIEW: School Library Journal

Gr 7 Up-Students who aren't put off by this rather daunting title will find a wealth of information here. Piggins covers the events leading up to, during, and after the Civil War, trying to give fair and balanced coverage to the tumultuous and controversial era in American history. For the most part, she succeeds, showing the participation and importance of all ethnic groups, as well as the role of women. She includes some interesting and unusual facts, particularly about the demographics of pre-1865 America. The section on the war itself is covered rather summarily, although information on this topic is readily available in numerous other sources. The author then covers the Reconstruction era, and concludes with a very brief overview of the years leading up to the early civil rights movement. If the author is guilty of anything, it is of being perhaps too ambitious in what she covers, for at times this reads like a multicultural history of the U.S. Despite this drawback, the book will be an excellent addition to most collections. It is balanced and well written, includes black-and-white and full-color illustrations and reproductions, and is a treasure trove of information.-Elizabeth M. Reardon, McCallie School, Chattanooga, TN

Black Light: The African American Hero
by Paul Carter Harrison
Published 1999 by Thunder's Mouth Press

Paperback, English. ISBN: 1560250607

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