Singing for Equality

December 4, 2020

Gr 6-9-This collective biography spotlights five iconic musicians whose careers influenced the Civil Rights Movement. Each chapter discusses the highlights of the artist's career, how their music impacted the quest for equal rights, and how the era affected their careers. Bob Dylan, Mavis Staples and the Staple Singers, Sam Cooke, James Brown, and Nina Simone were prominent figures in the time period and galvanized change in small and large measures. The chapters are easy to read and provide an accessible narrative. The text includes bright colors and many photographs. QR codes link to YouTube videos that feature songs of each singer and offer questions to keep readers thinking. Activities and projects listed at the end of each chapter help to extend classroom discussion. A table of contents, a glossary, an index, and further reading are included. The layout and design features are almost like a textbook. VERDICT This title will appeal to young readers who want to further their interest in music or the civil rights era. A worthwhile purchase.-Esther Keller, I.S. 278, Brooklyn

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2021
Grades 5-8 The Civil Rights Era series (4 new titles) seeks to introduce middle school students to influential individuals who figured prominently in the struggle for civil rights. Engaging biographies, usually five per volume, provide detailed looks at subjects' lives, motivations, contributions, and legacies. Each book's unique introduction sets the political and social scene with pages filled with graphics (time lines, fact boxes, photos, reproductions, posters, album covers) and short paragraphs highlighted in blocks of color and set off by different fonts. Insets offer quotes, open-ended questions (big idea, how would this make you feel, what might you have done), and QR codes that link to news stories, speeches, music, and other primary sources. Important vocabulary words are defined in a comprehensive glossary, and additional back matter includes a list of resources and a selected bibliography. Singing for Equality profiles such musicians as Bob Dylan, Mavis Staples and the Staple Singers, Sam Cooke, James Brown, and Nina Simone. There is necessarily some overlap in coverage, but the revisited material comes across as reinforcement as opposed to repetition. Overall, these volumes provide accessible entries into a complex period.

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