Crimes to Solve March 4, 2024

Not all true crime books have a solution. After all, that is what makes it real, and not packaged up nicely in an hour television show. There are plenty of mysteries left to be solved in the world and maybe you have what it takes to break a case wide open! For example, there is a major art heist that still has not been solved and it happened in 1990. Artwork was stolen from the Gardner Museum in Brookline, Massachusetts by two men who said they were police officers coming to check on a call about a disturbance. Turns out, the disturbance was the robbers dressed as police officers! To this day, none of the artwork taken has been found. There are some prime suspects, but nothing concrete.

Or what about the case of the man who supposedly was able to take pictures of people with ghosts of those who had already departed? Was he actually able to do that, or were all the pictures fakes? If so, how was he doing it? How about who was able to actually escape from the famous prison, Alcatraz? Did they survive, or perish?

Curious Cases: True Crime for Kids by Rebecca Valley looks at some interesting mysteries and some that have been solved, but plenty of others that haven’t been. If you are someone interested in learning more about how crimes are solved, this is a great book to pick up and learn about some of the more interesting crimes, mysteries and heists that have happened!

Recommended for grades 7 and up.

What REALLY Happened? January 15, 2024

What happened in the summer of 1947 just outside Roswell, New Mexico? Did an alien civilization make contact with earth, checking up on our progress with the atomic bomb? Was there a massive government coverup to hide the alien bodies? What about all the witnesses that report having seen something that summer? But what happens when their stories don’t quite line up? Is it okay to make them line up?

Crash from Outer Space by Candace Fleming looks at all the possible avenues of what exactly might have happened in the desert all those years ago, and tracks down the leads and all various scientists, ufologists (people who study UFOs) and average people, who were and are trying to get to the bottom of what was seen and what it might all have been. The amount of hoaxes and made up pieces of information will be shocking for the reader as well as the idea that when we want something to be true so badly, it will often lead us to ignore important information. Critical thinking is vital in all areas of research!

Recommended for grades 6 and up.

Remembering A Childhood December 18, 2023

When Gary Paulsen was just five years old, his grandmother decided the life he was living in Chicago with his mother was not a good life. So she made his mom put him on a train and had him shipped off to International Falls, Minnesota, close to the Canadian border, where he stayed with the first of several families his grandmother had decided would take him in. Thus begins a days long odyssey for this small child, on his own, in a world that sometimes seems to care and other times doesn’t, about whether he survives.

Paulsen’s early life was clearly shaped by his experiences, first at the farm with Edy and Sid – learning about the farm, and good food and the woods. Then by living with his mother and father in Manilla just after the war ended, and seeing the aftermath of war and how humans can be either incredibly wonderful, or horrible to each other. When he and his parents returned to the States and Minnesota, life was still incredibly hard, and the woods and the library became his only refuge.

Gone to the Woods: Surviving a Lost Childhood by Gary Paulsen is one of the last books the author wrote prior to his death in 2021. It is a deeply personal look at what made him the writer and person he became, all the while referring to himself as “the boy.”

While this book won’t be for every reader, those who enjoy Paulsen’s adventures and survival stories will like the time on the farm scenes and come to a deeper understanding of where many of Paulsen’s tales came from.

Recommended for grades 8 and up.

The Fight Continues November 6, 2023

What makes a person free? Is it having certain rights? Is it being equal to others? And what does equality look like?

For women in the world, the struggle to have the same rights as men has been a long one, and often a disappointing one. Why has it been so difficult for women to have the same opportunities as men? Be able to own their own businesses, own property, own money, own bodies?

Fearless Females: The Fight for Freedom, Equality, and Sisterhood by Marta Breen and illustrated by Jenny Jordahl takes readers on a tour of just how many women have fought over the years to bring equality to many around the world. And it also shows in many ways, how far we have to journey still.

Recommended for grades 7 and up.

For Change September 25, 2023

Never when he was younger and growing up in Texas, did Tommie think he would someday be a world class sprinter, or the center of a national controversy. As one of twelve kids growing up on the farm, everyone had to pitch in and do their fair share. There were times when Tommie wondered why it was that all the Black families went to the same church, were buried in the same cemetery and all went to school together, but he didn’t even know what segregation was when he was little.

It wasn’t until his parents moved them up north to California that things began to change for Tommie and his family. Even though they were still working for other people picking crops, Tommie and his siblings were required by law to attend school. And that is when his older sister, Sally, showed just how fast she was at running. At one point, the PE teacher, who was also the principal, asked if her younger brother Tommie was fast. Frankly, he was tired of watching Sally out run everyone in the school. So she went to get Tommie out of class for a race between the two of them and one other boy, who was in 7th grade. Even though Tommie was only in 4th grade, he won easily! And that was the start of his running career which would take him all the way to college.

It was in college that he learned as much as he could about the disparities between the Black and white experience in America. He was introduced to new ideas and also the fact that Black athletes were beginning to hold some power, and finally could use that power to help others. Which is what led to the huge controversy at the Olympic games in 1968.

Victory. Stand!: Raising My Fist for Justice by Tommie Smith, Derrick Barnes and Dawud Anyabwile is a graphic novel showing how actions have meaning and how over time, people with courage can bring about dramatic change.

Recommended for grades 7 and up.

A Shameful History August 21, 2023

So much of American history has been glossed over, removed or simply omitted from text books and classrooms, and even the memories of the townspeople who lived through certain events. Such is the case with the Tulsa Race Massacre that happened in 1921. Unfortunately, it was not an event that was shocking because it was the only such occurrence, rather, it was part of a string of such happenings as to make it, sadly, too common.

As with many massacres and killings, the background for such a thing to happen had been well laid out, with the roots in the past. In Tulsa, Oklahoma, Black Americans had been working to create a space for themselves, even with the restrictions of the Jim Crow segregation laws that were in place and enforced in the area. A thriving Black community of businesses, professionals and families turned an area called Greenwood into what was often referred to as American’s Black Wall Street.

After the Civil War, many Black Americans sought opportunities to be not only free, but to prosper. Unfortunately, many white Americans did not want this and felt threatened by the fact that some Blacks were doing better than they were themselves. This time period saw the rise of the Ku Klux Klan ( an American terrorist group) whose sole purpose was to terrorize and often kill any Black person who would step out of the narrow confines of what essentially was close to the previous condition of slavery.

Black Birds in the Sky: The story and legacy of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre by Brandy Colbert gives a comprehensive look at the history and events surrounding the massacre and how the result of this and other similar occurrences have shaped our shared world.

Highly recommended for anyone interested in United States history for grades 7 and up.

We Should All Thank One Man March 13, 2023

Most people have never heard the name Vasili Arkhipov, but we all should know about him. If it weren’t for him, the world would be a very different place, and humans might not even be on it anymore. Or, if any of humanity had survived, it would certainly not be in the current world we exist in. Why? Because in the early 1960s, the Cold War was raging between the United States and the U.S.S.R.  and Cuba had just become the hot spot.

After World War II, Europe was just trying to rebuild, but the United States and the U.S.S.R. both emerged as the most powerful countries in the world. The Soviet leaders wanted to make sure the world would sit up and take notice of them, and make sure no one ever invaded them again, like Germany had during World War II. As the world entered the nuclear age of weapons, the knowledge that life on earth could actually be destroyed kept everyone on edge. In the United States, President Kennedy encouraged all Americans to build fallout shelters that would allow them to survive a nuclear holocaust. However, people that had actually lived through a radioactive experience, knew first hand how horrible the effects were, and how helpless humans are in the face of such a disaster. Which is where Vasili Arkhipov comes into play, and how he may have literally saved the world.

Fallout by Steve Sheinkin is an amazing look at the Cold War and all the spy intrigue that was happening on both sides, while driving home just how lucky we all are that our world wasn’t completely destroyed during some tense days in October of 1962. This is a chilling and unforgettable book.

Recommended for grades 7 and up.

The Start of a Movement January 2, 2023

On the evening of June 19, 1982, Vincent Chin was beaten in the middle of a street in Detroit, Michigan after going to a club for the evening. He was going to be married in a little over a week.  Instead of people attending his wedding, they went to his funeral.  The question is raised was Vincent killed because he was Asian? At this time in America, there was a lot of anti-Asian sentiment in part due to the fact that the United States car industry was beginning to face stiff competition from countries like Japan. Of course, the United States has had a long history of having racist tendencies toward immigrants and citizens of Asian ancestry, including going back to the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act which was the first time the country put immigration limits on who could enter based on race.

For the first time, across America, Asian Americans were unified in wanting to make sure justice was served. However, there were many obstacles in the way to making this happen. The fact that Vincent Chin was of Chinese ancestry led the government beginning to question if Chin’s civil rights had been violated because of his race.

From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry by Paula Yoo is a remarkable book focusing on another Civil Rights movement in the United States and one that many probably have never heard about.

Recommended for grades 8 and up.

Throw Away the Key September 19, 2022

As a young boy growing up in Florida from 1900 until 2011, it was possible to be sentenced to the Dozier School for Boys if you committed a crime, or just skipped school a lot. Boys as young as six could be found at the Dozier school, and while many came in, it was hard to get out, at least in the time that was in accordance to their sentence. Many boys stayed well after the time they were supposed to be released.

The Dozier school was supposed to educate the boys in jobs and in school, but often inmates who were black were simply given menial jobs such as working the farm, in the slaughter house, and doing all the daily chores whereas the white inmates were able to learn actual trades. To the outside world, the school was doing its job. But for many of the boys living within its grounds, it became a place of torture and terror. Many boys, as they grew into men, told stories of abuse at the hands of the administrators of the school, often when they were finally released. However, many families chose not to believe the boys returning, or felt they must be exaggerating. It wouldn’t be until years later that the truth of much of what occurred at the school finally was revealed.

The Dozier School for Boys: Forensics, Survivors, and a Painful Past by Elizabeth Murray tells a little known story of incarceration for children and how it went on for over a century. This is a fascinating, quick nonfiction read.

Recommended for 8th grade and up due to some of the abuse that occurred.

Pain, Inside and Out September 5, 2022

Growing up, Rex was used to pain. Hunger pains, pains from bruises left from being hit either by his mom, or his mom’s boyfriend, and the pain of feeling like he had to hide his family’s situation from the world. In fact, at times, it feels like to Rex, there will never be a time when he doesn’t have some kind of pain.

Heading into 6th grade, Rex is worried about the pain of humiliation that he will feel each time he gets free lunch at school. See, his mom signed him up for the program because they don’t have enough money for him to buy lunch and really not enough food at home for him to bring it each day. Which means Rex has to say each day to the lunch lady that he gets a free lunch and she has to look it up, each day, in the red folder. In front of everyone. Not only does Rex have to contend with this each day, but he never knows what is going to set off his mom at home. Will she be okay, or will she get into a fight with Sam, her boyfriend, or Rex will say or do something that sets her off. And money. Money is what will get her going more than anything. And Rex is expected to take care of his younger brother Ford a lot of the time, sometimes for days at a time. 

Free Lunch by Rex Ogle is a stark and illuminating book showing how abuse comes in many forms and how each and every day, kids are living situations they are trying to navigate to the best of their abilities. While this book is nonfiction and documenting Ogle’s life starting in 6th grade, there are some very mature references in the book and that needs to be understand before embarking on reading it. That said, this is such a great book, readers will fly through it, wanting to know what will happen to Rex next, and always, always hoping for something good among all the bad. 

Recommended for mature 8th graders and up.