Gene was never interested in sports, but when he suffers from writer's block and everyone at school is talking about the basketball team, he senses a story. By the time he is done he's immersed himself in the history of basketball as a sport and the specifics of its history at his school. His school really does have a remarkable team with players destined for greatness. Gene was always interested in superheroes and comics, but he never imagined the epic stories of heroes right under his nose and how big a fan he'd become.

This is a great comic for basketball fans and the sports-shy alike. The human stories explored in the comic are universal and I feel lucky that Gene recorded their story to share with all of us. Especially considering its local setting. I'm a fan of Gene's work so I enjoyed the behind-the-scenes glimpse I got into his life as a comics creator. 

Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang
7th & 8th grades
​tags:

In the early days of football, no one wore helmets, forward passes weren't allowed, and the "Big Four" had a stranglehold on championships. But when a high number of deaths made some college deans threaten to ban football, Teddy Roosevelt stepped in to save it and institute new rule changes that would make it safer, break up gridlock on the field, and make it more fun for spectators. No one made it more fun to watch than Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indians. They invented the spiral, created innovative plays, and outplayed teams twice their size while maintaining a gruelling schedule of away games. Jim Thorpe was their breakout star with a speed and style that couldn't be touched. To find out more about the history of football, the life of Jim Thorpe, and life at Indian Boarding Schools, read Undefeated.

I am not a sports fan, but I absolutely loved this book! As always, Sheinkin's writing has all the emotion and fast pacing of a novel and the fact that it's all true only adds to the fascination. There's a wide variety of topics covered but it all feels cohesive. I particularly appreciate the way Sheinkin addresses injustices without sounding preachy and while engaging the reader. A sure-fit hit with fans of history and sports.

Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team by Steve Sheinkin
Erica's Picks
6th - 8th grade
Tags: history, nonfiction, people of color, sports

Ona Judge was born into slavery, the property of George and Martha Washington. Her mother was an enslaved seamstress owned by Martha Washington and her father was a white indentured servant who would eventually leave them both behind. When she was twenty two, Martha decided to give Ona to her granddaughter as a wedding gift, tearing Ona away from her family and putting her at the mercy of people Ona knew to be cruel. Before she could be handed over like a piece of china, Ona took matters into her own hands and boldy planned her escape.

"Like her mother, Betty, Ona learned how to persevere in the face of extreme hardship. Like her father, Ona would eventually free herself no matter who she left behind. Finally, like America itself, Ona would risk everything so that she, too, could achieve those rights written in the Declaration of Independence: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

This is a much-needed perspective on American history, and I'm so glad that it came out in an edition for young readers. While the subject matter is by nature difficult, it is accessible and told in an engaging style. I strongly recommend it.

Never Caught, the Story of Ona Judge by Erica Armstrong Dunbar & Kathleen Van Cleve
Erica's Picks
5th - 8th
​tags: biography, history, nonfiction, people of color

Teaching for Black Lives grows directly out of the movement for Black lives. We recognize that anti-Black racism constructs Black people, and Blackness generally, as not counting as human life. Throughout this book, we provide resources and demonstrate how teachers connect curriculum to young people's lives and root their concerns and daily experiences in what is taught and how classrooms are set up. We also highlight the hope and beauty of student activism and collective action. ​

The indispensable resource for social justice elementary educators in six parts:
Part 1: Building Classroom Community
Part 2: Reading and Writing Toward a More Just World
Part 3: Minding Media
Part 4: Math is More than Numbers
 Part 5: Laboratory for Justice: Science Across the Curriculum
 Part 6: The Classroom, The School, The World

Tessa"s Picks. Social Justice, People of Color, Global Perspectives, History

​This early tale of biomimicry is based on historical fact. The Gobukson (or turtle ships) were known for their powerful design that included ironclad covering long before any western ships did. The story follows a young boy who observes a turtle in nature and then takes him to the emperor to illustrate his idea. This is a great book for budding inventors and could easily be paired with a maker's activity on boat building. The illustrations are intricate collages that lend the book a sense of warmth and solidity; you can almost feel the textures beneath your fingers. This really helps showcase the various design elements of the ship. 

Erica's Picks
Grades K - 3
​Tags: History, Nonfiction, Picture Books

A city of millions cut off from the rest of the world and left to starve. People killing for ration cards, which provide a mere 125 grams of bread made with sawdust mixed in to the flour. Desperate people resorting to cannibalizing the plentiful corpses lining the street. It sounds like the premise for a YA dystopian novel, but it really happened. In 1941 Nazi forces blockaded the city of Leningrad in a siege that would last two and a half years and result in the deaths of over a million people. One of the people trapped in the city was composer Dmitri Shostakovitch. When he escaped the city, he wrote a symphony that would commemorate those lost and give hope to those still trapped. This is his true story.

This thick, nonfiction tome should have taken me ages to slog through, but instead I tore through it like it was the latest sci-fi thriller. The story is at turns moving, disturbing, and triumphant. It is a prime example of the power of narrative nonfiction.

Symphony for the City of the Dead by M.T. Anderson

Erica's Picks
8th & up
​Tags: biography, dystopian, global perspectives, history, nonfiction

When Hitler invaded Denmark, the adults reluctantly accepted the occupation, too terrified of the overwhelming Nazi forces to fight back. But teenagers rose up to spark a resistance. Knud Pedersen founded the Churchill club with other students and together they started to sabotage the occupying Nazi forces. When the members were finally caught and it was revealed that the brave resistance fighters were teens, it sparked the Dutch resistance among adults. Read the history of the Churchill Club in their own words in this thrilling nonfiction account.


This is an inspiring true story of teenagers organizing themselves in a fight against overwhelming evil. The book is meticulously researched and quotes extensively from interviews the author conducted. A great choice for narrative nonfiction.

The Boys Who Challenged Hitler by Phillip Hoose

Erica's Picks
7th & up
​Tags: biography, history, nonfiction

A Change of Heart
By Alice Walsh
Growing up in the 1930s in Georgia, young African American Lanier Phillips lived in fear of the Ku Klux Klan. When he grew up, Phillips joined the Navy looking for a more just atmosphere. Instead he faced more racism and discrimination as the black sailors were made to do menial tasks. Tragedy took no note of skin color when the USS Truxtun was shipwrecked off the coast of Newfoundland with few survivors. Phillips was the only black man rescued and taken into the home of good Samaritans.  Never having seen a black man, they thought that the oil from the ship had seeped into his pores. When he tells them that his skin is that color he expects their treatment of him to change.  The community’s kindness and care remain constant and their affirmation of his humanity changes his outlook on life forever. He says, “I was wounded in mind and soul, but I was healed in St. Lawrence, Newfoundland .”  He went on to march for civil rights with Martin Luther King, Jr.  This remarkable true story celebrates the healing power of love and kindness.



Tessa's Picks, 2nd-5th grade, Biography, History, People if Color, Social Justice

During the Nazi invasion of France, thousands of Jewish people found sanctuary in the Grand Mosque of Paris. This book describes how Muslims in Paris helped their Jewish brothers and sisters during World War II. They saved lives in a myriad of ways ranging from writing false papers identifying Jews as Muslims, to secreting Jewish people and resistance fighters through hidden tunnels and out of Paris in emptied wine barrels.

There are so many fascinating vignettes of courage and defiance in this book. The actions described were secretive by nature and never officially documented, but the authors have hunted down the scraps of information they could find to present these stories. Full-page oil paintings throughout illustrate the story. There's a glossary, bibliography, index and further information in the back.

The Grand Mosque of Paris: A story of how Muslims rescued Jews during the Holocaust by Karen Gray Ruelle and Deborah Durland DeSaix

Erica's Picks
3rd - 5th grade
Tags: Nonfiction, Picture Books, History

 
The book shares the story of Fred Korematsu, a second-generation Japanese American living on the West Coast during World War II, when the United States forced immigrants and citizens alike into internment camps. Fred resisted the order, and was jailed. The ACLU took up his case, which he eventually lost. He lost more than just the case. Many Japanese Americans turned on him, and he was officially considered a convicted felon. More than 40 years later, the ACLU decided to try his case again after finding new documents showing that the government had lied in his original case… and this time they won, setting an important precedent going forward. Fred knew what was happening was wrong and stood up against it. He was a changemaker.
Here’s an excerpt from the main text:
"Fred challenged something
he thought was unfair.
                                                                               He spoke up–
                                                                               for himself
                                                                              and for all Japanese Americans,
                                                                              even when no one stood with him.
                                                                              It was not easy.
                                                                              But Fred fought
                                                                              to make the United States–
                                                                              his country–
                                                                              a fairer place.
                                                                              And he won.
                                                                              We all won."
I love the lyrical, spare text of the book. I love the engaging layout and design featuring illustrations, full-color photos, definitions of terms, and historical timelines. There are also sidebars and pullout boxes that explain concepts in greater detail and add context. In addition to nonfiction text features such source notes, bibliography, photo and text credits, and an index, the book also includes a fantastic section about how readers can stand up for social justice themselves.
I urge you to check this one out for the children in your life, for yourself, for our country, and for ALL of its citizens.
(Review by L. Thompson)

Tessa's Picks
3rd through 8th grade, History, People of Color, Social Justice.