She Loved Baseball: The Effa Manley Story is beautifully written by Audrey Vernick and illustrated by Don Tate. The book tells several stories: the Negro baseball leagues and their contributions to major league baseball, a woman brave enough to organize boycotts of white-owned businesses in New York's Harlem that employed no people of color, and the first woman to be honored by the National Baseball Hall of Fame for her contributions and hard work to have great players from the Negro baseball leagues honored.

Intended for the 5- to 10-year-old age range, this is a brief biography that could easily interest older readers and motivate them to learn more about Effa Manley and her work--not only in baseball, but in civil rights movements as well. Although Effa serves as a great role model for girls, it is more a story about how one person can help change the way many people think. Effa made people question what is right rather than drift along with the status quo. Don Tate's illustrations complement the prose, and add emotional charge to Vernick's words.

Whether for Black History Month or just for fun, She Loved Baseball is a great little book that concentrates on a woman involved with America's national sport. However, in just a few pages, it also covers a lifetime of achievement by one woman. Everyone can enjoy this book.
















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She Loved Baseball: The Effa Manley Story is beautifully written by Audrey Vernick and illustrated by Don Tate. The book tells several stories: the Negro baseball leagues and their contributions to major league baseball, a woman brave enough to organize boycotts of white-owned businesses in New York's Harlem that employed no people of color, and the first woman to be honored by the National Baseball Hall of Fame for her contributions and hard work to have great players from the Negro baseball leagues honored.

Intended for the 5- to 10-year-old age range, this is a brief biography that could easily interest older readers and motivate them to learn more about Effa Manley and her work--not only in baseball, but in civil rights movements as well. Although Effa serves as a great role model for girls, it is more a story about how one person can help change the way many people think. Effa made people question what is right rather than drift along with the status quo. Don Tate's illustrations complement the prose, and add emotional charge to Vernick's words.

Whether for Black History Month or just for fun, She Loved Baseball is a great little book that concentrates on a woman involved with America's national sport. However, in just a few pages, it also covers a lifetime of achievement by one woman. Everyone can enjoy this book.
















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Most books about slavery seem to deal with slavery in the southern colonies/states. Thus, many people believe that slavery was not an issue in the northern states around the time of the American Revolution. Chains, by Laurie Halse Anderson, is told from the point of view of Isabel, a young Negro 'tween, and gives 'tweens and teens a personalized trip into the life of a girl who experienced slavery under kindly owners and under more abusive owners in the North.  It is a book that deals with separation from family in Rhode Island and life as a slave in New York City.  It deals with the death of a mother, and the sale of a sister.  It also deals with the politics of the time--especially how both the rebels and the British military used American slaves to further their own aims.  Even Isabel became embroiled in the politics, despite a vow to stay away from them.  But Chains is also a story of caring, which sometimes came from unlikely sources.

Chains, aside from being an interesting fictionalized historical journal, is narrated by Isabel in the language of the times.  The story spans about eight months of the revolutionary period, from May of 1776 through January of 1777.  During this period, British soldiers in New York took over homes of wealthier colonial rebels after reestablishing British control, and allowed less affluent Tories (British sympathizers) to do the same.  This period was a time of heavy American losses in the fight for freedom--but freedom can mean more than political separation from a country far across the seas.

In Chains, each chapter is introduced with an important quotation from patriots, newspaper items, and the Declaration of Independence, or an excerpt from actual letters found in historical archives.  These sources range from familiar names such as Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and King George, to unknown British and American soldiers, Tories, and unknown Londoners.  Despite the colloquialisms of the time, the language is easy to understand.  Many readers will be interested in how American English has both changed and endured.

Of particular interest to me was the descriptions of life in revolutionary New York City.  Some of the sites mentioned by Isabel exist today only as plaques, but the names of neighborhoods in lower Manhattan remain the same.  It is difficult for modern New Yorkers and visitors to imagine parts of Manhattan--especially upper Manhattan--s wilderness, but large cities during this period were not what large cities are today, and the author reminds us of this.

Chains is an excellent book for readers 10 and older, and is good enough to hold the interest of adults. Whether Chains is read during Black History Month or another part of the year, it is an great read.  But adults should be warned--you might learn something new!
















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Most books about slavery seem to deal with slavery in the southern colonies/states. Thus, many people believe that slavery was not an issue in the northern states around the time of the American Revolution. Chains, by Laurie Halse Anderson, is told from the point of view of Isabel, a young Negro 'tween, and gives 'tweens and teens a personalized trip into the life of a girl who experienced slavery under kindly owners and under more abusive owners in the North.  It is a book that deals with separation from family in Rhode Island and life as a slave in New York City.  It deals with the death of a mother, and the sale of a sister.  It also deals with the politics of the time--especially how both the rebels and the British military used American slaves to further their own aims.  Even Isabel became embroiled in the politics, despite a vow to stay away from them.  But Chains is also a story of caring, which sometimes came from unlikely sources.

Chains, aside from being an interesting fictionalized historical journal, is narrated by Isabel in the language of the times.  The story spans about eight months of the revolutionary period, from May of 1776 through January of 1777.  During this period, British soldiers in New York took over homes of wealthier colonial rebels after reestablishing British control, and allowed less affluent Tories (British sympathizers) to do the same.  This period was a time of heavy American losses in the fight for freedom--but freedom can mean more than political separation from a country far across the seas.

In Chains, each chapter is introduced with an important quotation from patriots, newspaper items, and the Declaration of Independence, or an excerpt from actual letters found in historical archives.  These sources range from familiar names such as Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and King George, to unknown British and American soldiers, Tories, and unknown Londoners.  Despite the colloquialisms of the time, the language is easy to understand.  Many readers will be interested in how American English has both changed and endured.

Of particular interest to me was the descriptions of life in revolutionary New York City.  Some of the sites mentioned by Isabel exist today only as plaques, but the names of neighborhoods in lower Manhattan remain the same.  It is difficult for modern New Yorkers and visitors to imagine parts of Manhattan--especially upper Manhattan--s wilderness, but large cities during this period were not what large cities are today, and the author reminds us of this.

Chains is an excellent book for readers 10 and older, and is good enough to hold the interest of adults. Whether Chains is read during Black History Month or another part of the year, it is an great read.  But adults should be warned--you might learn something new!
















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Ruby Bridges Goes to School: My True Story

The year is 1961.  Ruby Bridges attended the school for black children as a kindergartener.  Today she is starting first grade in a school much closer to home, one that used to be only for white children. For months, it was only Ruby and her teacher, Mrs. Henry, were the only ones in the school because white parents would not let their children attend a school that had been integrated. Finally, some students began coming back to the school, and Ruby had children to play with.

Ruby Bridges Goes to School: My True Story, by Ruby Bridges, is a wonderful little biography written for children aged 4 to 8 years. With beautiful photograph collages, the short book takes on a world of meaning that shows how one brave little girl could change the attitudes of an entire neighborhood during the racial tensions of the early 1960s.

Ruby Bridges Goes to School: My True Story

The year is 1961.  Ruby Bridges attended the school for black children as a kindergartener.  Today she is starting first grade in a school much closer to home, one that used to be only for white children. For months, it was only Ruby and her teacher, Mrs. Henry, were the only ones in the school because white parents would not let their children attend a school that had been integrated. Finally, some students began coming back to the school, and Ruby had children to play with.

Ruby Bridges Goes to School: My True Story, by Ruby Bridges, is a wonderful little biography written for children aged 4 to 8 years. With beautiful photograph collages, the short book takes on a world of meaning that shows how one brave little girl could change the attitudes of an entire neighborhood during the racial tensions of the early 1960s.

Originally, I meant to post on 3 books per week during Black History Month, 1 book at each of 3 age levels. I had surgery scheduled in early February, but I didn't think that would interfere much with my plans. Unfortunately, some complications kept me in the hospital longer than I expected, and left me weaker than anticipated. So... although several posts will be too late for this year's Black History Month, I will continue reviewing on the 12 planned books, as these are all books that can be read at any time. They are simply a focus during February.

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Originally, I meant to post on 3 books per week during Black History Month, 1 book at each of 3 age levels. I had surgery scheduled in early February, but I didn't think that would interfere much with my plans. Unfortunately, some complications kept me in the hospital longer than I expected, and left me weaker than anticipated. So... although several posts will be too late for this year's Black History Month, I will continue reviewing on the 12 planned books, as these are all books that can be read at any time. They are simply a focus during February.

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Mare and her two granddaughters, Octavia (Tave) and Talitha (Tali), left me in Alabama as they continued driving east.  Weeks earlier, we all left California, headed for Mare's family reunion in Alabama.  I finished reading the book only an hour ago and already feel homesick for their company.  Octavia tells the travel story and shares the postcards she sends home to friends, while Mare spins tales of growing up in Alabama and gaining her own kind of independence in the Women's Army Corps (WAC) in the European theater during the 1940s.

Mare's War, by Tanita S. Davis, is the story of two wars--a psychological mother-daughter war, and a physical war in Europe.  In addition, there was a type of war at home in Alabama that kept colored and white people separated by neighborhood boundaries, old "traditions," and job possibilities.

Marey Lee Boylen was seventeen when she forged her mother's signature to the enlistment permission form and joined the WACs.  After her father died, she had to quit school to help her mother out with the farm he had purchased and the house he had built and the mortgage he had left.  She worked two jobs--as a house girl for Mrs. Ida Payne, and as kitchen help for Young's Diner.  Since her mother was constantly taking up with unsuitable men and hiding in her bottle of whiskey, Mare was also left to care for her younger sister, Feen.  Then her mother stopped talking to her after Mare used an ax to fend off an attack on her sister from "Uncle" Toby.  Feen was shipped off to live with her aunt in Philadelphia, and Mare's purpose in life--to take care of her sister--was taken away.

In the Army, Mare met colored women who grew up in other parts of the United States and had finished high school.  One in particular, Peach, immediately befriended her and began teaching her skills she could not afford to learn at home--including how to speak standard English.  All the girls in her unit became a family, watched each other's backs, and helped each other out.  Together, they made it through basic training, escaped an attack by a Nazi submarine as they were deployed to England, survived air raids over England, and endured both squalor in northern France and luxury accommodations in Paris.  Still they managed to squeeze in a bit of site-seeing and partying.

Finally, World War II's western battles were ended, American personnel left the clean-up of Axis force prisoners-of-war and unexploded mines to their European Allied forces, and Mare was sent home--but not before Peach told her that she was going on to San Francisco, where there were more job opportunities for colored women.  Mare considered the possibility of moving to San Francisco, too, and taking Feen along with her.  After all, her mother had remarried (although Mare learned this from a neighbor) and Feen was back home in Alabama.  Mare was determined that Feen would finish school and have more opportunities than being household help.  First, she had to settle things with her mother.

The chapters of Mare's story are broken up with Octavia's perception of the trip and the postcards she sends back to her friends.  Although two years younger than her sister Tali, Octavia seems the more mature of the two.  Or maybe she is just more timid.  Through Octavia's chapters, we learn that Mare knows them better than they thought she did, and that the sisters knew each other better than the other knew.  They stay in hotels and motels along the route, take some side trips (since Mare is the only one who knows where they are going, even when she lets Tali drive her car on Interstate 10), and learn about their grandmother as she tells the girls about just a few years of her life.  In fact, although they start out being unhappy about the road trip, the girls find themselves more and more interested about their grandmother's stories and their journey.

Mare's War is a story of bri

Mare and her two granddaughters, Octavia (Tave) and Talitha (Tali), left me in Alabama as they continued driving east.  Weeks earlier, we all left California, headed for Mare's family reunion in Alabama.  I finished reading the book only an hour ago and already feel homesick for their company.  Octavia tells the travel story and shares the postcards she sends home to friends, while Mare spins tales of growing up in Alabama and gaining her own kind of independence in the Women's Army Corps (WAC) in the European theater during the 1940s.

Mare's War, by Tanita S. Davis, is the story of two wars--a psychological mother-daughter war, and a physical war in Europe.  In addition, there was a type of war at home in Alabama that kept colored and white people separated by neighborhood boundaries, old "traditions," and job possibilities.

Marey Lee Boylen was seventeen when she forged her mother's signature to the enlistment permission form and joined the WACs.  After her father died, she had to quit school to help her mother out with the farm he had purchased and the house he had built and the mortgage he had left.  She worked two jobs--as a house girl for Mrs. Ida Payne, and as kitchen help for Young's Diner.  Since her mother was constantly taking up with unsuitable men and hiding in her bottle of whiskey, Mare was also left to care for her younger sister, Feen.  Then her mother stopped talking to her after Mare used an ax to fend off an attack on her sister from "Uncle" Toby.  Feen was shipped off to live with her aunt in Philadelphia, and Mare's purpose in life--to take care of her sister--was taken away.

In the Army, Mare met colored women who grew up in other parts of the United States and had finished high school.  One in particular, Peach, immediately befriended her and began teaching her skills she could not afford to learn at home--including how to speak standard English.  All the girls in her unit became a family, watched each other's backs, and helped each other out.  Together, they made it through basic training, escaped an attack by a Nazi submarine as they were deployed to England, survived air raids over England, and endured both squalor in northern France and luxury accommodations in Paris.  Still they managed to squeeze in a bit of site-seeing and partying.

Finally, World War II's western battles were ended, American personnel left the clean-up of Axis force prisoners-of-war and unexploded mines to their European Allied forces, and Mare was sent home--but not before Peach told her that she was going on to San Francisco, where there were more job opportunities for colored women.  Mare considered the possibility of moving to San Francisco, too, and taking Feen along with her.  After all, her mother had remarried (although Mare learned this from a neighbor) and Feen was back home in Alabama.  Mare was determined that Feen would finish school and have more opportunities than being household help.  First, she had to settle things with her mother.

The chapters of Mare's story are broken up with Octavia's perception of the trip and the postcards she sends back to her friends.  Although two years younger than her sister Tali, Octavia seems the more mature of the two.  Or maybe she is just more timid.  Through Octavia's chapters, we learn that Mare knows them better than they thought she did, and that the sisters knew each other better than the other knew.  They stay in hotels and motels along the route, take some side trips (since Mare is the only one who knows where they are going, even when she lets Tali drive her car on Interstate 10), and learn about their grandmother as she tells the girls about just a few years of her life.  In fact, although they start out being unhappy about the road trip, the girls find themselves more and more interested about their grandmother's stories and their journey.

Mare's W