Better used as a browsable research resource than an account to read straight through.
Beginning in 1536 with Spanish explorer Cabeza de Vaca and ending with March 2, 2019’s Texas Independence Day, this boils down some 45 significant moments to dispatches from fictional newspaper correspondents.
An “agriculture correspondent” writes in 1887 about the windmill revolution changing farming, for instance, while the “space correspondent” reports in 1969 about the moon landing. Along the way are short informational boxes adding brief context, additional events taking place around the same time, or counterpoints to those stories. In their brevity, they often raise more questions than they answer, such as a brief paragraph about unspecified Native Americans that concludes, “Their artifacts are evidence of complex cultures.” The volume feels both dense, with lots and lots of text in tight columns, and selective in content, given the whole book is 42 pages long. Made in partnership with the Bullock Texas State History Museum, it’s a handsome hardback with lots of artwork and photos, but if its target audience is middle graders, the choice to present history in the form of a print-newspaper format seems questionably dated. Much more successfully executed is a large fold-out timeline of Texas history, a map, a showcase of notable spots to visit, the flags of Texas, and a Texas “honor roll” that has room for both Alamo defender Davy Crockett and Houston native Beyoncé.
Better used as a browsable research resource than an account to read straight through. (Nonfiction. 9-14)Pub Date: July 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-9998028-7-5
Page Count: 42
Publisher: What on Earth Books
Review Posted Online: April 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2019
Deftly written and informative; a call for vigilance and equality.
An examination of the history of Chinese American experiences.
Blackburn opens with a note to readers about growing up feeling invisible as a multicultural, biracial Chinese American. She notes the tremendous diversity of Chinese American history and writes that this book is a starting point for learning more. The evenly paced narrative starts with the earliest recorded arrival of the Chinese in America in 1834. A teenage girl, whose real name is unknown, arrived in New York Harbor with the Carnes brothers, merchants who imported Chinese goods and put her on display “like an animal in a circus.” The author then examines shifting laws, U.S. and global political and economic climates, and changing societal attitudes. The book introduces the highlighted people—including Yee Ah Tye, Wong Kim Ark, Mabel Ping-Hua Lee, and Vincent Chen—in relation to lawsuits or other transformative events; they also stand as examples for explaining concepts such as racial hierarchy and the model minority myth. Maps, photos, and documents are interspersed throughout. Chapters close with questions that encourage readers to think critically about systems of oppression, actively engage with the material, and draw connections to their own lives. Although the book covers a wide span of history, from the Gold Rush to the rise in anti-Asian hate during the Covid-19 pandemic, it thoroughly explains the various events. Blackburn doesn’t shy away from describing terrible setbacks, but she balances them with examples of solidarity and progress.
Deftly written and informative; a call for vigilance and equality. (resources, bibliography, image credits) (Nonfiction. 10-14)Pub Date: March 26, 2024
ISBN: 9780593567630
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
Ultimately adds little to conversations about race.
A popular YouTube series on race, “Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man,” turns how-to manual and history lesson for young readers.
Acho is a former NFL player and second-generation Nigerian American who cites his upbringing in predominantly White spaces as well as his tenure on largely Black football teams as qualifications for facilitating the titular conversations about anti-Black racism. The broad range of subjects covered here includes implicit bias, cultural appropriation, and systemic racism. Each chapter features brief overviews of American history, personal anecdotes of Acho’s struggles with his own anti-Black biases, and sections titled “Let’s Get Uncomfortable.” The book’s centering of Whiteness and White readers seems to show up, to the detriment of its subject matter, both in Acho’s accounts of his upbringing and his thought processes regarding race. The overall tone unfortunately conveys a sense of expecting little from a younger generation who may have a greater awareness than he did at the same age and who, therefore, may already be uncomfortable with racial injustice itself. The attempt at an avuncular tone disappointingly reads as condescending, revealing that, despite his online success with adults, the author is ill-equipped to be writing for middle-grade readers. Chapters dedicated to explaining to White readers why they shouldn’t use the N-word and how valuable White allyship is may make readers of color (and many White readers) bristle with indignation and discomfort despite Acho’s positive intentions.
Ultimately adds little to conversations about race. (glossary, FAQ, recommended reading, references) (Nonfiction. 10-14)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-80106-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2021
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