A rich, compelling story of the many people who stood up to racial inequality, risking significant danger and hardship for...
This behind-the-scenes story of the people and events leading to the landmark Brown v. Board of Education's Supreme Court decision shows that even if the justice sought may be simple, getting it is long and complicated.
Rubin begins with the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court decision and the legally sanctioned lie of “separate but equal” that, along with Jim Crow, established a long era of American apartheid. The hero of the story is, of course, Thurgood Marshall, but Rubin gives other significant players their due, including NAACP attorneys Robert L. Carter and Spotswood Robinson and psychologist Kenneth Clark (all three African-American). Rubin explains that, although known as Brown v. Board of Education, the case applied not just to that of Linda Brown, a black third-grader refused entry to an all-white Topeka, Kansas, school, but to cases involving children in South Carolina, Delaware, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. This clear and concise chronicle explains each of these cases, the plaintiffs involved, and how, through the careful strategizing by the NAACP, they culminated in the Brown decision. She includes a complete text of the 14th Amendment and summaries of the cases and notes that the long, painful struggle for integration to ensure equality continues to this day.
A rich, compelling story of the many people who stood up to racial inequality, risking significant danger and hardship for the cause of justice. (photos, timeline, bibliography, source notes, index) (Nonfiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-8234-3646-0
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: July 25, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2016
In her first book for young readers, personal-finance expert Chatzky offers straight talk on all things related to money—where it came from, how it’s made, how to earn it and how to save it, everything from gross domestic product to gross viruses on paper money. Having spent three months traveling the country and talking with kids, the author presents questions and answers in a volume attractively designed in a kid-friendly manner, with plenty of illustrations, charts, lists and sidebars for fun facts and kids’ questions. One thing not learned on the trip, apparently, was not to take all middle-school students’ answers at face value, as readers will see wise-guy responses, illogical explanations and self-centered comments mixed in with the mostly thoughtful and sincere questions and statements. Still, the clear and conversational text, coupled with the inviting format, will appeal to young readers, who should enjoy learning about a subject important to them. (appendices, map, glossary, web resources, index) (Nonfiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: Sept. 14, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4169-9472-5
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
If only Benedict Arnold had died sooner. Had he been killed at the Battle of Saratoga, he’d be one of the greatest heroes of American history, and “we’d celebrate his life as one of the best action stories we have.” Instead, he survived and went on to betray the colonies and die in shame. Sheinkin sees Arnold as America’s “original action hero” and succeeds in writing a brilliant, fast-paced biography that reads like an adventure novel. Opening with the hanging of Major Andre, the British officer who plotted with Arnold to turn West Point over to the British, the story sticks to the exciting illustrative scenes of Arnold’s career—the invasion of Canada, assembling America’s first naval fleet, the Battle of Valcour Island, the Battle of Saratoga and the plot with Andre, whose parallel narrative ends in a bungled mission, his execution and Arnold’s dishonor. The author’s obvious mastery of his material, lively prose and abundant use of eyewitness accounts make this one of the most exciting biographies young readers will find. (source notes, quotation notes, maps [not seen]) (Biography. 11-14)
Pub Date: Nov. 9, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-59643-486-8
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2010
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