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Illuminating Jim Crow

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Cover art for LEON'S STORY
CHILDREN'S
Released: Oct. 29, 1997
LEON'S STORY
by Leon Walter Tillage, illustrated by Susan L. Roth

 Tillage, a black custodian in a Baltimore private school, reminisces about his childhood as a sharecropper's son in the South, and his youth as a civil-rights protester. Read full book review >
Cover art for FORTY ACRES AND MAYBE A MULE
CHILDREN'S
Released: Nov. 1, 1998
FORTY ACRES AND MAYBE A MULE
by Harriette Gillem Robinet
"Pascal, who has a withered arm and leg, is an inveterate punster, which adds levity to an otherwise grim story. (bibliography) (Fiction. 9-12)"
From Robinet (The Twins, the Pirates, and the Battle of New Orleans, 1997, etc.), an earnest look at the human face and the human cost of Reconstruction in the South. Read full book review >
Cover art for THE JOURNAL OF BIDDY OWENS
CHILDREN'S
Released: April 1, 2001
THE JOURNAL OF BIDDY OWENS: THE NEGRO LEAGUES
by Walter Dean Myers
"Rich historical context, fully realized characters, great baseball action, and trademark Myers humor combine to make this one a homerun. (Fiction. 9-14)"
Biddy Owens, 17, "equipment manager, scorekeeper, errand boy, and sometimes right fielder" for the Birmingham Black Barons, narrates in diary form the twilight time of the Negro Leagues. Read full book review >
Cover art for THE LAND
CHILDREN'S
Released: Sept. 1, 2001
THE LAND
by Mildred D. Taylor
"They will root for him, as they have for his children and grandchildren, to overcome. (Fiction. 12 )"
"Some white men took care of their colored children; most didn't. My daddy was one who did." Read full book review >
Cover art for THE VOICE THAT CHALLENGED A NATION
CHILDREN'S
Released: April 19, 2004
Kirkus Star THE VOICE THAT CHALLENGED A NATION: MARIAN ANDERSON AND THE STRUGGLE FOR EQUAL RIGHTS
by Russell Freedman
"Freedman at his best. (Nonfiction. 9+)"
She had played the major cities in Europe, appeared before filled-to-capacity halls throughout the US, and been welcomed at the White House, but famous contralto Marian Anderson was turned down by Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. The Daughters of the American Revolution, headquartered there, stood by their "white artists only" policy and wouldn't let her perform. Read full book review >
Cover art for TAKE-OFF
CHILDREN'S
Released: May 8, 2007
TAKE-OFF: AMERICAN ALL-GIRL BANDS DURING WORLD WAR II
by Tonya Bolden

In the argot of the times, Bolden offers a fascinating study of the girl bands of the Swing era during WWII. Read full book review >