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
The most reluctant of readers will find it difficult to resist this consistently disgusting chronicle of the gruesome deaths of 19 famous people. Bragg opens with King Tut, discussing in gory details the embalming and mummification processes of the ancient Egyptians. Among the many macabre details is an explanation for why mummy eye sockets look empty: "Eyeballs shrink to almost nothing during the drying process" (the author notes that if mummy eyeballs are rehydrated, they return to almost normal size). Among the other famous figures profiled are Henry VIII, whose corpse exploded in its coffin while lying in state; George Washington, who was drained of 80 ounces of his blood by doctors before dying; and Marie Curie, who did herself in with constant radiation exposure. The accounts of how ill or injured people were treated by doctors through the 19th century reveal that medical practices were usually more lethal than the maladies. Between each chapter, there is a page or two of related and gleefully gross facts. Bragg's informal, conversational style and O'Malley's cartoon illustrations complement the flippant approach to the subject; the energetically icky design includes little skulls and crossbones to contain page numbers. Engaging, informative and downright disgusting. (sources, further reading, websites, index) (Nonfiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: March 15, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-8027-9817-6
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Walker
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2011
Hank Greenberg was an anomaly who challenged the stereotypes of his era. He was a Jewish boy from New York City who was neither weak nor small nor academically inclined. He was well over 6 feet tall, strong and healthy, and he could hit a baseball as well as or better than most major leaguers. He played with the Detroit Tigers, leading his team to several pennants and World Series. Throughout his career there were cheers, but he also had to endure endless, vitriolic anti-Semitic curses. His decision to miss a season-ending game in a tight pennant race in order to observe Yom Kippur became a national issue. At the end of his own career, with customary grace and integrity, he openly empathized with rookie Jackie Robinson, encouraging him to persevere. In many ways this is a typical baseball biography, covering Greenberg’s accomplishments season by season, as well as his family life and military service in World War II. Sommer ably puts it all in perspective for young readers. Employing straightforward, accessible language, she carefully incorporates historic events, well illustrated with personal and archival photographs and laced with copious quotes from Greenberg and his contemporaries. The result is a multilayered portrait of a man who was content being remembered as a great Jewish ballplayer. (source notes, bibliography, resources) (Biography. 10-14)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-59078-452-5
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Calkins Creek/Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2011
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