Prejudice & Racism Books - Page 3

Romiette and Julio

Sharon M. Draper

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 85 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Romiette and Julio 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Purchased for reading in a high school intensive reading class. So far, three students have read the book and recommended it to other students.

They said it was a great story about teenagers and the struggles in life.

Editorial Review:

Star Crossed Lovers

When Romiette Cappelle meets Julio Montague, she feels as though she has met the soul mate who can rescue her from her recurring nightmare about fire and water. But like the Shakespearean characters whose names echo theirs, Romiette and Julio discover that not everyone approves of their budding romance. In their case, it is because Romiette is African-American and Julio is Hispanic, and the Devildogs, a dangerous local gang, violently oppose their interracial relationship.

When the Devildogs threaten to teach them a lesson, Romiette and Julio come up with a risky plan to escape from the gang's fearsome shadow. But things go terribly awry, and the two find themselves caught up in a deadly reality more frightening that Romiette's nightmare -- and in a desperate struggle to avoid the tragic fate of Shakespeare's famous young lovers.

Kira-Kira (Newbery Medal Book)

Cynthia Kadohata

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 162 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

The best story I have read this year! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This is an all in one happy, sad, and all around funny fictional book. This is probably the best book I have read this year. Katie Takeshima and her sister Lynn Takeshima learned that everything was Kira- Kira(shinning). But when Katie and her family move from a Japanese community to Georgia, life turns from fabulous to not so fabulous. Lynn gets ill and her family is worried. So, it is up to Katie to remind them there is always a better tomorrow- or is there? This book is an enjoyable book for everyone. There is a little bit of swearing and sexual humor, but I still loved it. I really liked how the author made it humoruos in the worst of times.

Editorial Review:

kira-kira (kee' ra kee' ra): glittering; shining

Glittering. That's how Katie Takeshima's sister, Lynn, makes everything seem. The sky is kira-kira because its color is deep but see-through at the same time. The sea is kira-kira for the same reason. And so are people's eyes. When Katie and her family move from a Japanese community in Iowa to the Deep South of Georgia, it's Lynn who explains to her why people stop them on the street to stare. And it's Lynn who, with her special way of viewing the world, teaches Katie to look beyond tomorrow. But when Lynn becomes desperately ill, and the whole family begins to fall apart, it is up to Katie to find a way to remind them all that there is always something glittering -- kira-kira -- in the future.

Luminous in its persistence of love and hope, Kira-Kira is Cynthia Kadohata's stunning debut in middle-grade fiction.

Molly's Pilgrim

Barbara Cohen

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

The True Spirit of Thanksgiving 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

Molly is a young, Jewish immigrant from Russia, who moves to Winter Hill where she is a black sheep among the rest of her classmates. They tease her, and call her names, making fun of her voice, and her eyes, and anything else that they could possibly think of to make fun of her. When Miss Stickley, Molly's third-grade teacher, begins teaching the class about Thanksgiving, Molly is lost. That is, until she finds that Thanksgiving is an American holiday where everyone is grateful for what they have. The problem? Molly doesn't feel thankful. In fact, the only thing that would make her thankful is if her family could move back to New York City, and that won't be happening anytime soon. When Miss Stickley informs the class that they must make pilgrim dolls, Molly is excited to do the project. But when she finds that her mother has made the doll look more like a Russian immigrant, rather than a pilgrim, Molly knows that her troubles at school are about to get worse. But maybe...just maybe, the little Pilgrim is exactly what Molly needs...

It is rare that a book as short as Barbara Cohen's MOLLY'S PILGRIM could bring out such strong emotions in the reader, but that is exactly what it did. The character of Molly is sweet, and kind, and the way she is treated at school could bring tears to anyone's eyes, even if you aren't a crier by nature. The awful songs that Molly's classmates sing about her will choke everyone up, but, at the same time, let the reader feel exactly how people who are "different" are treated. This is a wonderful story that will warm everyone's heart, and teach the whole family about the first Thanksgiving.

Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper

Editorial Review:

Sparkling new illustrations refresh this Thanksgiving classic based on the true experience of a member of Barbara Cohen's family. The touching story tells how recent immigrant Molly leads her third-grade class to discover that it takes all kinds of pilgrims to make a Thanksgiving. Originally published in 1983, Molly's Pilgrim inspired the 1986 Academy Award winning live-action short film.

Copper Sun

Sharon M. Draper

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

One of the BEST Books I've EVER Read...and I'm an English Teacher 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Hello Everyone...I am an 8th grade English teacher and I just finished reading Sharon Draper's "Copper Sun." I almost don't have words to describe how amazing it was. If you are a teacher, you will accrue many cool points from your students if you read this book with them. It is action packed, and keeps you on the edge of your seat. Please read this whether you have children/students or not! It has completely enriched my life, and made me even more proud of the African American race's diligence, determination, and strength.

Editorial Review:

Stolen from her village, sold to the highest bidder,
fifteen-year-old Amari has only one thing left of her own -- hope.

Amari's life was once perfect. Engaged to the handsomest man in her tribe, adored by her family, and living in a beautiful village, she could not have imagined everything could be taken away from her in an instant. But when slave traders invade her village and brutally murder her entire family, Amari finds herself dragged away to a slave ship headed to the Carolinas, where she is bought by a plantation owner and given to his son as a birthday present.

Survival seems all that Amari can hope for. But then an act of unimaginable cruelty provides her with an opportunity to escape, and with an indentured servant named Polly she flees to Fort Mose, Florida, in search of sanctuary at the Spanish colony. Can the illusive dream of freedom sustain Amari and Polly on their arduous journey, fraught with hardship and danger?

The Crayon Box that Talked

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 17 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Fun idea! 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This is a well written book about a very cute idea. My daughter (2 1/2) loves it.

THe Crayon Box 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

A very simple book that demonstrates how we must all get along and accept each other because together we make a better world.

extremely cute 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This is a great book that my daughter's preschool actually turned into a short play done by the parents. It was too cute. We still read it regularly 2 years later.

Editorial Review:

"While walking through a toy store, the day before today, I overheard a crayon box with many things to say..." Once upon a time, Shane DeRolf wrote a poem. It was a deceptively simple poem, a charming little piece that celebrates the creation of harmony through diversity. The folks at the Ad Council heard it--and liked it so much that they made it the theme for their 1997 National Anti-Discrimination Campaign for Children. Following on the heels of nearly a year's worth of televised public service announcements, Random House is phonored to publish the picture book, illustrated in every color in the crayon box by dazzling newcomer Michael Letzig and conveying the sublimely simple message that when we all work together, the results are much more interesting and colorful.  

Iqbal

Francesco D'Adamo

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A gripping tale you just won't put this book down 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Iqbal is a book about bonded labour. It is about Pakistani children Iqbal, Fatima and fourteen other children. They have been sent out to work to pay off the debt, which their family owe to the unkind and evil Hassan Khan.

Hassan Khan tricks these children. Their job is to weave carpets day in and day out. Each child has a slate with lines on it. They have to work hard each day for these lines to be rubbed off. These lines represent the money they owe. Hassan Khan tricks the children. He kept on adding more lines because he knew that they couldn't count. Every day he would inspect, if the children were naughty or the carpet wasn't good enough to sell. He would lock them in the dreaded tomb where snakes, cockroaches and scorpions lived. All kids were chained to their looms. This continued until Iqbal came into the workshop.

Iqbal wasn't very tall and was shabby but he was very talented and brave. He knew that Hassan Khan was cheating them and wanted to get away. He taught the kids that what Hassan Khan was doing was wrong and to fight back. Unfortunately Iqbal was murdered by the carpet mafia on Easter Sunday 1995. He was only 13. Iqbal gave the kids courage and hope to get back to their families.

I thought that this book was touching and was an eye opener to what the world around you is like. You are so protected in your environment that sometimes you don't realize what is happening in this world and when you find out what actually happens you are shocked to discover that there are kids out there who have to work really hard to survive.
When you read Iqbal you can understand why they want to get away. One thing I have noticed is that when you read Iqbal you feel like you are a spy in the background watching everything that is happening. Or you are re-tracing the footsteps of the children. The way that D'Adamo has written this novel you almost feel like you are going through those hardships as well and you are celebrating the successes that they had.
It is a wonderful book and it makes you feel tearful.

By: Rima (New Zealand)

Editorial Review:

When young Iqbal is sold into slavery at a carpet factory, his arrival changes everything for the other overworked and abused chidren there. It is Iqbal who explains to them that despite their master's promises, he plans on keeping them as his slaves indefinetely. But it is also Iqbal who inspires the other children to look to a future free from toil...and is brave enough to show them how to get there.

This moving fictionalized account of the real Iqbal Masih is told through the voice of Fatima, a young Pakistani girl whose life is changed by Iqbal's courage.

The Story Of Ruby Bridges (Scholastic Bookshelf)

Robert Coles

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• CHILDRENS BOOKS & MUSIC
• Childrens Books
• Language Arts

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 27 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Profiles in Courage 5 out of 5 stars.
11 of 18 people found this review helpful.

Can you imagine what it took to be the only child--the only black child--in an empty school building formerly attended by only white children? That's what Ruby Bridges faced in 1960 when she became one of the first black children to integrate an elementary school in New Orleans. Three other girls were sent to another school. A new revolution had begun.

"The Story of Ruby Bridges" was written for the 4-8 audience. The writing and subject might be a little much for pre-readers, but this is definitely material for kindergarten and beyond.

During Black History Month one year, I read this story to several classes (I'm a librarian). Some students already knew about her, many were completely shocked that grown-ups would treat her so vilely, others that she caused such an uproar. I was delighted. Our student body is racially diverse and get along wonderfully. Martin L King would look at us and say, Finally, people are judged, not by the color of their skin, by their character.

But Ruby Bridges was the leading brigade of one. What strength of character! What fortitude! The story does not tell us of any ill effects that may have befallen her or the psychological stress she surely endured. However, she grew into womanhood, married, had four sons, and established a business and educational foundation. I think she did just fine.

Thank you, Ruby Bridges, for your leadership and courage.

This is the lending record for this book: all white children and one Latina.

Editorial Review:

Category: Biography"Please, God, try to forgive those people. Because even if they say those bad things, They don't know what they're doing."This is the true story of an extraordinary 6-year-old who helped shape history when she became the first African-American sent to first grade in an all white school. This moving book captures the courage of a little girl standing alone in the face of racism."Ford's moving watercolor paintings...capture the...warmth of Ruby's family and community, the immense powers against her, and her shining inner strength." --Booklist

Sheetzucacapoopoo: My Kind of Dog

Joy Behar

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Not what I expected 2 out of 5 stars.
4 of 6 people found this review helpful.

I bought this because I love Joy Behar and I like the idea that it was benefiting a good cause, but my five year old did not enjoy it - I found it to be a tongue-in-cheek adult version of a child's book. The name itself has three different ways to say a four letter word begining with "s" and ending in "t!" That's why it's funny! But it's just not funny to a five year old like I thought it might be. Buy it for the good cause, but not because you think a five year old will giggle through it.

Editorial Review:

Comedian and talk-show host Joy Behar has teamed up with illustrator Gene Barretta to create a feisty, lovable character in this cheerful, funny picture book. When Max the mixed-breed meets a pack of snobby purebred dogs in the dog run, he can’t understand why they don’t want to play with him and his mongrel friends. Determined to get everyone to play together, brainy Max—who is part poodle, after all—comes up with a way to break the ice between the mixed-breeds and the purebreds. America’s current obsession with designer dogs makes this book as timely as it is lively.

Smoky Night

Eve Bunting

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 39 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

An Amazing Classroom Resource! 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

Eve Bunting wrote "Smoky Night" as a children's book that teaches some very valuable lessons. She wrote about the experiences of the Los Angeles riots from the point of view of a young boy named Daniel.
Daniel and his mother live in Los Angeles when the riots break out. Daniel watches the evil things people are doing outside his window and learns that they do it because they don't like the people who look or sound different from themselves. When a fire threatens his apartment building, Daniel and his mother must evacuate along with the rest of the tenants and go to a shelter for the night. Daniel is frantically searching for his beloved cat and questioning all his neighbors on her location. Finally, a firefighter brings his cat in along with Mrs. Kim's cat. Daniel thinks it is odd that the two of them were found together because he thought they despised each other. Then he realizes they now get along because they finally got to know each other. His realization brings about a revelation among his neighbors who then become friendly with one another, despite their skin tone or language.
This book opens the floor up for introducing children to the Los Angeles riots and a discussion on racial prejudice. It might be possible to have children do some research on the events and compile a classroom portfolio on that time in history. Discussing racial discrimination could also lead to the introduction of the Civil Rights Movement and the heroes of that time. This book is also great for familiarizing students with the qualities of different ethnic groups and how a diverse population is actually beneficial to the nation as a whole.
"Smoky Night" is a terrific book. It is a wonderful resource for showing children how awful the riots were, and also showing how absurd! Those could have easily been prevented if people would have simply accepted others for who they are! This book certainly raises awareness of the possible devastation that prejudice can cause. It can be used as a tool to minimize the outbreaks in the future by presenting it to children today. Bunting certainly didn't hold back in telling the truth about the riots. She gave details of the goings on in the street and the obvious dangers that were present.
The illustrations in "Smoky Night" are absolutely incredible. David Diaz put paintings on top of photographs of real objects. The colors in his paintings are abstract but they represent the different ethnicities unmistakably. The unique colors really give a bold statement to the book, but I think there is also a quality about them that helps represent unity across the people in the book.

Editorial Review:

During a night of rioting in Los Angeles, fires and looting force neighbors--who have always avoided one another--to come together. David Diaz was awarded the Caldecott Medal for his bold acrylic paint and photo-collage illustrations.

Generation Dead

Daniel Waters

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Nice idea/characters; execution could've used work 3 out of 5 stars.
5 of 6 people found this review helpful.

Everyone else who's reviewed this so far has mentioned plenty of the good things about this book, and the other reviewers have also done a great job explaining what it's about. I agree with most of them that it was a fun read, but there were too many things about this book that bothered me for me to say I liked it. I give this book a middle-of-the-road rating, and I'll explain what my fundamental problems with the book are, though I should say for the record that such things will not ruin the book for everyone--just did for me. But first. . . .

I'm the first person to rate this book at less than a perfect five stars, so I realize I am just asking to get kicked in the face by fans who like to abuse ratings buttons. This review is CONSTRUCTIVE. Reviews are supposed to be honest and well-constructed, and this review contains my reasons for not liking the book very much. It's not hateful or full of bashing, so I respectfully ask readers to withhold THEIR hate and bashing and remember that your votes are supposed to be for "helpful" and "not helpful," not for whether you agree with my assessment. I venture to say I am writing helpful things here. Now, on with my comments.

My biggest problem with this book is that the concept is a neat idea but wasn't all that well carried out. It seemed almost like the author wanted to write about the social aspects of how dead people returning to life would affect society, but skipped the gritty details of what WOULD actually happen in between, moving right on to the fun part where dead kids are in your school. Consider this:

Less than three years had passed since the phenomenon began and yet there was already this push to fight for zombies' equality as citizens. Before scientists knew what made this happen. Before they could tell if zombies were in fact unstable, dangerous, diseased, whatever. The way this book is structured, it seemed like the author thought it really was feasible that the scientific community would collectively shrug and let these kids go about their afterlives.

I'm not saying I can't suspend disbelief about zombies in the first place, because that's the fun of it--it's just that since the book was written in a non-humorous, otherwise *realistic* fashion, it seems to be trying to frame how society really would react to dead people joining "our" ranks, and yet it misses some of the basic fibers of human nature.

For an example, let's look at America's embarrassing history when it came to equal rights for blacks. When black and white schools were getting integrated, so many white people were furious that their kids had to go to school with blacks that they withdrew their children, and the black kids had to be escorted to school and protected by policemen, frequently holding back crowds of whites who yelled and threw things. And this is how they acted when the kids were actually protected by the law! Zombies, in this book, have no rights. They would fare far worse. Even in this supposedly enlightened era. Dead coming back to life is a LOT more of a fundamental change than learning next to someone with a different skin color. There would be upheavals on scales that are nearly inconceivable. But here are these kids facing some prejudice and physical danger but going largely unmolested to school shortly after waking up dead.

And . . . how are they in school, exactly? They're not citizens. It's said they can't get driver's licenses or vote. But I suppose somehow they're able to be enrolled in school? No law can be requiring them to go (so one wonders why some of them are even there if they don't "have" to go), but even if they wanted to . . . would they really be allowed? I know visitors who aren't students sure had to jump through hoops to even be allowed inside the schools I worked at in college. Laws don't acknowledge these poor dead kids, so I find it hard to figure out why for no reason whatsoever some laws do seem to apply to them and some don't, depending on if it's convenient for the story's situation.

It's stuff like this that made the world "feel" wrong to me. I did like the slice of life the author chose to portray. Phoebe and Adam's relationship was VERY well-done--their adolescent confusion was believable, and most of the character interaction was convincing; I think character-building is this author's strong point. Another good example was that prejudice existed on both sides; there were some zombies who didn't trust the "traditionally biotic" and treated them badly, so it was refreshing to see zombies were not just a bunch of sad, maligned, defenseless creatures who never did any hating of their own. But I was pretty disappointed in the worldbuilding.

It would be obnoxious of me to demand that every question be answered, but it wasn't so much that the questions weren't answered that bothered me; what bothered me most is that there were several aspects of the story that made it seem impossible or improbable (even while suspending disbelief for kids coming back to life, of course), and no attempts were made to address these. Sorta like the author wanted to skip over some of the realistic ramifications of undead teens and skip right to the part where dead kids are an oppressed minority whose rights are only recognized by PC progressive types (three years after they started existing in the first place), complete with cheesy slogans on tee shirts.

Stuff I'm not sure the author thought of:

Zombies are repeatedly said not to breathe. How are they talking? I'm cool with it if there is a good explanation--like that they *can* breathe but don't need to to "live," or they're talking some different way. But nobody ever tells you.

Why would their eyes and skin lose pigment within a few minutes or hours of being dead? That doesn't happen to people who actually die. They don't suddenly become pale and lose their eye color. So why does it happen to zombies? I'm not saying it can't happen in the story, just that I would like some understanding of why besides "it just does, because that's what zombies look like."

Why do their hair and nails grow? They don't actually grow after death. That's a myth.

I guess my bottom line here is to say that I would see the events in Generation Dead happening more realistically in *micro* if some of the *macro* issues had been thought through a little better. They wouldn't have had to be focused on--just either addressed peripherally or insinuated to have been. The author pointed out several times that the scientists don't have any clue what allows zombies to "live" and why zombiism only occurs in American (or Canadian!) teens--but saying no one knows how it works doesn't do it for me. The ramifications of the laws of physics and biology being violated in an otherwise rational world is not examined at all. Scientists would freak. Society would freak. And not calm down for a very long time. If they don't find the answer, you've got to show what happens when they don't find the answer.

And if, somehow, the zombie phenomenon did NOT cause a widespread panic, and eventually things settled down to the point that they could begin to pursue their rights and enroll at your school, I think it would only be after there were a lot more answers. Look at how schools and society handled the concept of living with students who had AIDS when it was first showing up. The reaction was something like "OMG what are the rules, can I get it from touching him, what if he bleeds on me, isn't AIDS a GAY DISEASE, hey wait you want MY KID to go to school with THAT?" Now try multiplying the height of THAT by fifteen or so and you'll have the attitudes and reactions that'd be caused by walking, talking dead people. I don't demand that the zombie thing make scientific sense or anything; I just ask that the world depicted in a book is internally consistent, and I ultimately could not reconcile the concept with the reaction in this book.

Just one more note: The book had a higher than average language glitch score (which isn't good). Editors and fact-checkers, please put on your glasses for the next edition. I caught "peoples'" instead of "people's," a possessive used incorrectly with respect to someone's house, "Badger's" instead of "Badgers," "fifteen minute" instead of "fifteen minutes," and "sight" instead of "site," and the first time I saw the word "retina" used when the author meant "iris" it startled me. Then he did it again later, which means I guess he thinks the colored part of the eye is called the retina. Retinas are on the inside of eyeballs. Really weirded me out when I thought we were seeing a zombie's retina, until I realized it was just a mistake.

Most people who don't overthink everything and aren't as picky as I am will probably still enjoy this story, so read the other reviews and decide for yourself. Like I said, it's entertaining in micro and the characters are well-written while the concept is entertaining. I just think it could have been thought through a little better, and I have a sneaking suspicion that part of the reason an unrealistically short amount of time was allowed to go by was so we could still get these zombies into the schools when they weren't too much older than when they died. Since reality is skewed to make the premise work, I lost respect for it early on and that upset my ability to enjoy the book.

Editorial Review:

Phoebe is just your typical goth girl with a crush. He's strong and silent...and dead.