Category: All Types

Ruth was so excited to take a trip in the new family car! But she soon found out that black travelers weren’t treated well in some towns. Many hotels and gas stations refused service to black people. Finally, a friendly gas station attendant gave Ruth’s family The Green Book. This book listed all the places that would welcome black travelers. With this guidebook, Ruth’s family could finally make a safe journey from Chicago to Alabama to see her grandma.

The Green Book and its role in helping a generation of black travelers avoid some of the indignities of Jim Crow are historical fact.

As an award-winning Atlanta book author and playwright, Calvin Alexander Ramsey concentrates on what he calls “unknown pages in African American history”. In fact, Ramsey’s first work, titles The Green Book, is based on the guidebook discussed in Ruth and the Green Book, and performed in 2007. In his play, Ramsey sought to recapture interviews with scores of African Americans whom recalled emotions of peril and fear while traveling. The play sold out many performances and won recognition as a finalist in the 12^th Annual Last Frontier Conference. Visit calvinalexdanderramseysr.com for more information and other work completed by the author.

Read more Ruth And The Green Book By Calvin Alexander Ramsey

Rebecca Putney is a bobbin girl who helps support her struggling family by working all day in a cotton mill. Working conditions at the mill are poor, and there is talk of lowering the workers’ wages. Rebecca’s friend Judith wants to protest the pay cut — but troublemakers at the mill are dismissed. Does Rebecca have the courage to join the protest?

Read more “The Bobbin Girl” By Emily Arnold McCully

As a young immigrant girl, Clara Lemlich lands in New York City “dirt poor, just five feet tall, and hardly speaks a word of English.” Her father is unable to find work, but Clara does as a seamstress in a garment factory. Full of grit and determination, Clara recognizes the injustices of the garment industry on the workers and organizes the girls to strike in the winter of 1909. Thousands of young girls line the streets of New York in protest of the working conditions. Readers of this young heroine will be moved by the power of all of the girls banding together to create social change.

Michelle Markel penned stories and poems for student publications throughout secondary school and college (USC and UCLA, in pursuit of a BA and MA in French literature). Choosing to explore a career in writing, she obtained a second BA in Journalism at California State University, Northridge. This gave her the opportunity to intern at The Los Angeles Times.

Later, as a freelance journalist, Michelle’s stories and opinion pieces were published in The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, and other newspapers and magazines. Michelle is also a founding member of the Children’s Authors Network and teaches classes in writing for young people for UCLA Extension’s Writer’s Program.
Source: michellemarkel.com/bio.

Starred review of Brave Girl: School Library Journal, Kirkus A Junior Library Guild selection.

Read more “Brave Girl: Clara And The Shirtwaist Makers’ Strike Of 1909” By Michelle Markel

This striking work of narrative nonfiction tells the true story of six-year-old Sachiko Yasui’s survival of the Nagasaki atomic bomb on August 9, 1945, and the heartbreaking and lifelong aftermath. This special book offers readers a remarkable new perspective on the final moments of World War II, the fifty years that followed, and the courage it took for one woman to tell her story of nuclear war and peace. Awarded the 2017 Robert F. Sibert Honor Award for Information Books, ALSC and 2017 Bank Street College Best Children’s Books of the Year List.

In order to write Sachiko, Caren Stelson conducted extensive interviews with Sachiko Yasui, and chronicled her long journey toward peace. On top of having a Master’s Degree in Education and MFA in Writing, Stelson’s extensive experience in education also includes being a reading specialist, a classroom teacher, a writer and editor for classroom curriculum materials, an educational software designer, a writer-in-residence, and an author. All these jobs demanded imagination, writing skills, and patience with the creative process. Currently, Stelson resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Find out more about Caren Stelson’s work at carenstelson.com/about.

Read more “Sachiko: A Nagasaki Bomb Survivor’s Story” By Caren Stelson

Sarah Roberts deserved an equal education, and her family fought for change. They made history. Roberts v. City of Boston was the first case challenging our legal system to outlaw segregated schools. It was the first time an African American lawyer argued in a supreme court. These first steps set in motion changes that ultimately led to equality under the law in the United States. Sarah’s cause was won when people–black and white–stood together and said, No more. Now, right now, it is time for change! Source: bloomsbury.com

Susan E. Goodman is the author of more than thirty nonfiction books for children, including How Do You Burp in Space?; See How They Run: Campaign Dreams, Election Schemes, and the Race to the White House; All in Just One Cookie, an ALA Notable Book; and On This Spot, a Washington Post Top Picture Book of the Year. She lives in Boston, Massachusetts. Source: kidsreads.com

Read more “The First Step: How One Girl Put Segregation On Trial” By Susan E. Goodman

“Fight for the things that you care about. But do it in a way that will lead others to join you.”            – –  Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. This true story shares the path that Ruth took to make her mark on our judicial system. This masterful book about an influential Supreme Court Justice will help your students understand why disagreeing can change the world…one disagreement at a time. The illustrations and use of BOLD PRINT alert the reader to text features and the power of print. This is a must read book that is not limited to any age or reading level.

Debbie Levy is a former lawyer and newspaper editor residing in Maryland.  She has won numerous awards for both her fiction and nonfiction books for young people.

Read more “I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark” By Debbie Levy

It’s been said that good writers borrow while great writers steal. Writing thieves read widely, dive deeply into texts, and steal bits and pieces from great texts as models for their own writing. Ruth Culham admits to being a writing thief-and she wants you and your students to become writing thieves, too!

A major part of becoming a writing thief is finding the right mentor texts to share with students. Within this book, discover more than 90 excellent mentor texts, along with straight-forward activities that incorporate the traits of writing across informational, narrative, and argument modes.

Chapters also include brief essays from beloved writing thieves such as Lester Laminack, David L. Harrison, Lisa Yee, Nicola Davies, Ralph Fletcher, Toni Buzzeo, Lola Schaefer, and Kate Messner, detailing the reading that has influenced their own writing.

Ruth’s beloved easy-going style and friendly tone make this a book you’ll turn to again and again as you guide your students to reach their full potential as deep, thoughtful readers and great writers. There’s a writing thief in each of us when we learn how to read with a writer’s eye!

-Description from Amazon.com

Read more “The Writing Thief: Using Mentor Texts To Teach The Craft Of Writing” By Ruth Culham

When her brother’s hand-me-down shoes don’t fit, it is time for Ella Mae to get new ones. She is ecstatic, but when she and her mother arrive at Mr. Johnson’s shoe store, her happiness quickly turns to dejection. Ella Mae is forced to wait when a customer arrives after her and is served first. Ella Mae is unable even to try on the shoes because of her skin color. Determined to fight back, Ella Mae and her friend Charlotte work tirelessly to collect and restore old shoes, wiping, washing, and polishing them to perfection. The girls then have their very own shoe sale, giving the other African American members of their community a place to buy shoes where they can be treated fairly and “try on all the shoes they want.” Set in the South during the time of segregation, this stunning picture book brings the civil rights era to life for contemporary readers.

-Description from Amazon.com

Read more “New Shoes” By Susan Lynn Meyer

Hailing from the Tremé neighborhood in New Orleans, Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews got his nickname by wielding a trombone twice as long as he was high. A prodigy, he was leading his own band by age six, and today this Grammy-nominated artist headlines the legendary New Orleans Jazz Fest.
Along with esteemed illustrator Bryan Collier, Andrews has created a lively picture book autobiography about how he followed his dream of becoming a musician, despite the odds, until he reached international stardom. Trombone Shorty is a celebration of the rich cultural history of New Orleans and the power of music.

A 2016 Caldecott Honor Book and Coretta Scott King (Illustrator) Award Winner
-Description from Amazon.com

Listen to his music in class before or after group read-aloud….ask the kids to dance and jump to release energy!

Visit the musician’s website here!

Read more “Trombone Shorty” By Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews

Funny Bones tells the story of how the amusing calaveras—skeletons performing various everyday or festive activities—came to be. They are the creation of Mexican artist José Guadalupe (Lupe) Posada (1852–1913). In a country that was not known for freedom of speech, he first drew political cartoons, much to the amusement of the local population but not the politicians. He continued to draw cartoons throughout much of his life, but he is best known today for his calavera drawings. They have become synonymous with Mexico’s Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) festival. Juxtaposing his own art with that of Lupe’s, author Duncan Tonatiuh brings to light the remarkable life and work of a man whose art is beloved by many but whose name has remained in obscurity.

The book includes an author’s note, bibliography, glossary, and index.

A Sibert Award Winner, Pura Belpré (Illustrator) Honor Book, New York TimesBest Illustrated Children’s Books of 2015 and International Latino Book Award Finalist! 

-Description from Amazon.com

Read more “Funny Bones: Posada And His Day Of The Dead Calaveras” By Duncan Tonatiuh