Boycotts, Strikes, and Marches

November 1, 2020

Gr 6-9-This visually appealing title details the pivotal marches, boycotts, and strikes of the civil rights era. The Montgomery bus boycott, the Vietnam War resistance, the Delano grape strike, the Stonewall Riots, and Women's Equality Day are explained in five chapters, which contain a balance of text, illustrations, photographs, definitions (i.e., protest, activist, Jim Crow laws), and critical thinking questions. Diggs spotlights lesser-known activists, such as David Ruggles (an African American abolitionist of the 1820s) and Dolores Huerta (an American labor activist who cofounded the United Farm Workers with Cesar Chavez). The text does an excellent job of connecting the events of the civil rights era to present-day leaders and social movements, such as Colin Kaepernick and Black Lives Matter. At the end of each chapter, readers are encouraged to reflect on what they've read. Each chapter also offers a suggested project, such as designing a protest flag. QR codes featured throughout the text provide access to more information about a particular topic or individual. A glossary, additional resources, a bibliography, and an index round out this solid nonfiction title. VERDICT Libraries that have the other titles in the series might want to purchase this latest entry, but the book can stand alone. It will serve as an excellent curricular aid for social studies units covering the civil rights era.-Anne Jung-Mathews, Plymouth State Univ., NH

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2020
Grades 7-10 After a general introduction to protests in American history, each chapter in this informative book describes a significant single event or chain of events in greater detail, from its origins to its results. The five chapters explore the Montgomery bus boycott (1955-1956), the Vietnam War draft resistance (1963-1975), the Delano grape strike and boycott (1965-1970), the Stonewall riot (1969), and the Women's Strike for Equality (1970). The many illustrations, mainly photos of people, places, and events mentioned in the text, are effective in portraying individuals and reflecting their times. Brief Wonder Why? features raise good questions, while sidebars introduce individuals and provide useful background information and historical context. From The Civil Rights Era series (4 volumes), here's a concise, thought-provoking discussion of protest movements during a turbulent period.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)