Image: Macmillan Publishers
Happy Friday TMS Readers! As we head into the Independence Day weekend, take some time to read and reflect on the history of the U.S. and the democracy that the colonists fought to achieve. Read deeply, past the mythology and understand that "We the people" need to work toward a more perfect union every day by becoming informed participants.
Fact Friday features The Burning: Black Wall Street and the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 by Tim Madigan. Adapted for young people by Hilary Beard. Back in the beginning of April, Fact Friday featured Unspeakable by Carole Boston Weatherford. This picture book was a gentle introduction to a tragedy that history book writers tended to ignore at best and misrepresent at worst. Teen readers who want to learn more about the Greenwood community and how it thrived during the Jim Crow era will receive cogent and comprehensive information gleaned from a variety of primary sources. Peppered throughout the narrative are personal stories of a variety of residents.
This book was adapted from a book written for adults. Just as Jason Reynolds did when he adapted Dr. Ibram X. Kendi's National Book Award-winning work for adults, Stamped from the Beginning, Ms. Beard gently but honestly guides teen readers through the complex factors surrounding this tragedy. Make no mistake though, there will be pain. Segregation is painful and dehumanizing. Lynching was a fairly common form of vigilante justice and the violence that rained down on the community of Greenwood was swift and devastating. Back matter includes copious chapter notes, followed by several pages of books and websites for readers/ researchers wanting to read more.
The Burning is an important addition to any library serving young readers.
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