A Broken Flute: The Native Experience in Books for Children
Edited by Doris Seale and Beverly Slapin
(AltaMira Press, 2005)
463 pp. $49.95
A collection of hundreds of reviews of new and old children's books with Native-American themes, with contributions from more than 70 reviewers. Seale and Slapin have compiled an essential resource for librarians and teachers who want to think more clearly about cultural representation. The authors tackle stereotypes, eurocentric assumptions about Native cultures, and plain old lies. This book rethinks U.S. history as it rethinks children's literature.
*Caribbean Connections: The Dominican Republic
Edited by Anne Gallin, Ruth Glasser and Jocelyn Santana with Patricia Pessar
(Teaching for Change, 2005)
250 pp. with a 54-page companion book in Spanish. $20
A reader-friendly overview of the history, politics, and culture of the fourth largest Latino community in the United States. Includes essays, oral histories, poetry, fiction, lesson plans, and beautifully illustrated timelines and maps. Ideal text for students reading literature by Dominican authors, for communities with Dominican-American students, and for anyone interested in this Caribbean country.
*Chicken: The Dangerous Transformation of America's Favorite Food
By Steve Striffler
(Yale University Press, 2005)
195 pp. $25
Striffler draws on his own experiences working in a poultry plant in this damning critique of America's industrial food system. Chicken is big business, and Striffler offers a startling history. The book could be used in economics, U.S. history, or global studies classes; it focuses extensively on the people who do the "chicken work," mostly Mexican immigrants.
She Would Not Be Moved
By Herbert Kohl
(New Press, 2005)
144 pp. $22.95
In this substantially expanded essay that was first published in Rethinking Schools, Kohl examines the traditional story of Rosa Parks as represented in many social studies textbooks. Contrasting the errors and omissions with what really happened, Kohl educates the reader about Parks' history of activism and the importance of the broader Civil Rights Movement. Numerous teaching ideas are included, along with an essay by Cynthia Brown comparing Parks with Septima Clark and Virginia Durr.
Something About America
By Maria Testa
(Candlewick Press, 2005)
84 pp. $14.95
A simple, moving story told through 35 short poems. Written from the perspective of a young girl severely burned in the war in Kosovo, the story/poem reflects on her life as an immigrant to the United States and the hardships that she and her parents endure. When an anti-immigrant group comes to their city to agitate, she and her father take action. Appropriate for upper elementary through high school.