The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights by Steve Sheinkin

Here's another book review from this year's Sequoyah Intermediate Book List.  The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights by Steve Sheinkin is a true account about a group of black men serving in the Navy during World War II.  They joined the service after Pearl Harbor determined to serve our country, but were treated unfairly.  The event is not widely known and is still controversial topic.

The armed services were still segregated, and the men were assigned to work at the Port Chicago Naval Base.  Their job was to load the bombs onto the ships.  They worked 3 - 8 hour shifts, received no training, but they all knew how dangerous their jobs were.  Sure enough, on July 17th, 1944, there was a huge explosion.

Many black soldiers lost their lives instantly, but the story continued for the men sleeping in the barracks.  The next day they were reassigned to another Navy base; but when faced to do the same job, they refused.  Was this an act of mutiny?

I will definitely be recommending this book.  I'm even looking forward to possibly doing a research project with the social studies department.  You'll want The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights by Steve Sheinkin in your collection.

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

I've actually had the pleasure of meeting Ruta Sepetys at our annual conference.  She's a fabulous speaker and author, so when her new book came out - of course I'm getting it.

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys does not disappoint.  Here's an awesome historical fiction for teens.  The story is about the refuges making their way to the German ships to cross the Baltic Sea before the Russians get into what was East Prussia, known as Operation Hannibal.  Each character has their own survival story of WWII and are desperately seeking freedom as the war is coming to a close.  The Wilhelm Gustloff was a German luxury liner and was quickly converted into a hauling vessel for thousands of refuges.  This was already a precarious situation, and then add in a blizzard.  Tragically the ship was hit by Soviet submarine torpedoes, and so many lives were lost to the sea.  We never really hear about this tragedy during history lessons because it was a German ship during the war.  The estimates are around nine thousand people died during the sinking, and about five thousands of them were children - making this maritime disaster far worse than the Titanic.  The ship still lives on the bottom of the sea off the coast of Poland, and is called the ghost ship.

Ruta Sepetys weaves the story lines of four vastly different characters as they make their way to board the Wilhelm Gustloff.  I would definitely recommend this book for all secondary collections.  Even teens not looking for a historical fiction choice will enjoy reading this book - it'll keep you hanging on!

This Side of Hope by Renee Watson

I always enjoy reading the featured books during Scholastic Book Fairs.  I think it's important to be able to seriously talk to students about books before they spend their hard earned money.  This is one of the titles my assistant read first.  She enjoyed it and was able to talk to students about it, so it was put on the tall stack of books for me to read later.  Flash forward to a long drive to Colorado - I can get some serious reading done!

This Side of Hope by Renee Watson is great for middle and high school collections.  It has a wonderful message about the real people in a neighborhood that was once neglected, but now is starting to become trendy.  Nikki and her twin sister are seniors at the high school with a poor reputation and have always lived in this community.  While they are proud of their neighborhood and happy for the attention, they don't want to lose their neighborhood's identity.  

Forced to deal with a new principal who wants to shove his agenda and make "positive" changes, along with neighborhood homes and shops becoming hip clothing stores and coffee shops, these girls struggle to maintain their black heritage.  I believe today's students will enjoy reading this and can relate to the characters.  Definitely a keeper and one I will recommend to students looking for a contemporary/realistic fiction book.

The Freedom Summer Murders by Don Mitchell

This is one to have in your nonfiction collection.  The Freedom Summer Murders by Don Mitchell details the true story of three men murdered while trying to help register African Americans to vote in 1964.

I had no idea about the tragedy before reading this novel, which is not good since it's one of the most important events to take place during the Civil Rights Movement.  The book offer important details and plenty of pictures to highlight the courageous lives of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner.  The author, Don Mitchell, does a wonderful job of organizing the chapters in chronological order, using the friends and families stories, and focusing on each of these men's lives - while including information of what was happening in our country, especially in the south, during the summer of 1964.

I would highly recommend this book for middle and high schools.  It could be easily incorporated into a book study in the classroom and used for discussions.  I imagine many students will want to dig even deeper, researching more, after this book is shared with them - which is what the library is all about.

The World Within: A Novel of Emily Bronte by Jane Eagland

I have read other books based on the life of the Bronte sisters.  This one came to me for previewing, and I was excited to read it.  Sadly, The World Within: A Novel of Emily Bronte by Jane Eagland did not live up to my expectations.  I thought it was choppy and included strange tidbits about the lives of the Bronte sisters, especially Emily.  Most notably is the inclusion of a dog biting Emily.  She kept it a secret from the family and made herself sick with stress over it.  I couldn't figure out why this was included in the story?  I still can't figure out why the author felt it was necessary, or if it was even true?  This is only one example of other weird incidents the author chose to use throughout the over 300 pages of text.

This book is an okay read.  It's not terrible, but not great either.  If you're wanting a better choice for reading about the Bronte sisters, I would recommend The Brontë Sisters: The Brief Lives of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne by Catherine Reef.

I don't believe I will catalog this book for our library's collection.  We already have the other book; and, if I have a student interested in reading about these amazing sisters, I would direct him/her to it.  I will include this book as a giveaway, or give to a teacher to keep in a classroom library.