Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War by Steve Sheinkin

January 6, 2016 ~ Janet Dawson ~ 2 Comments

Published by Roaring Brook Press

Summary: Many strands of U.S. history from the 1960’s and 1970’s are woven together here. The main focus is Daniel Ellsburg, who started working at the Pentagon the same day as the Gulf of Tonkin incident that escalated the Vietnam War. The history of Vietnam is detailed, starting from the country’s last days as a French colony, to the division of North Vietnam and South Vietnam and the Cold War struggle over Communism in each part of the country. As Ellsburg learned more about this history and the lies told to the American people about it by each U.S. President going back to Eisenhower, he became more disillusioned with the United States government. This culminated in his theft of the Pentagon Papers, a report prepared by former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara documenting the secret history of the Vietnam War. McNamara was hoping to use this report to help future politicians avoid the mistakes of the past; instead, it was leaked by Ellsburg to the press. An infuriated Richard Nixon tried to destroy Ellsburg’s credibility by arranging a break-in at his psychiatrist’s office. The team in charge bungled the job, then tried to make up for it a few weeks later with a covert operation at the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters at the Watergate Hotel. The book ends with Nixon’s resignation; an epilogue includes Daniel Ellsburg’s positive commentary on a contemporary case: Edward Snowden’s leaks about the NSA’s domestic spying. Back matter includes extensive works cited, source notes, and an index. 360 pages; grades 6-9.

Pros: Liberally interspersed with black and white photos, this book lays out an incredibly complex web of events in an understandable and engaging manner. Although I lived through this period of history, I wasn’t aware of many of the events and how they all fit together, connecting the Vietnam War, the Pentagon Papers, Watergate, and Nixon’s resignation.

Cons: This will not be of interest to every middle school reader. Get it into the hands of the history buffs.

Sewing Stories: Harriet Powers’ Journey from Slave to Artist by Barbara Herkert, illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton

December 20, 2015 ~ Janet Dawson ~ Leave a comment

Published by Alfred A. Knopf

Summary: Harriet Powers was born into slavery in Athens, Georgia. She grew up on a cotton plantation, watching women spin, dye, and weave cloth. She participated in quilting bees, where slave women were given a few hours to sew their own creations instead of having to follow directions of the mistress of the house. At one of those bees, she met the man who would become her husband. They married and had five children; when the children were still young, the family received word of the Emancipation Proclamation and were free. Harriet and her husband worked hard and saved enough money to buy a small farm. When the price of cotton dropped, Harriet was forced to sell two of her beautiful story quilts. One of them was purchased by an art teacher who wrote down the stories pictured in the different quilt panels. An author’s note explains that those two quilts still exist today, in the National Museum of American History in Washington, DC and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Other back matter includes a bibliography, photos of the two quilts with a list of the stories portrayed on each, and the only known photograph of Harriet in existence. 40 pages; grades K-3.

Pros: The beautiful quilts are evidence that art can flourish in any environment. The illustrations capture Harriet’s spirit as well as her works of art.

Cons: I hesitate to enter into the controversy over the depiction of slavery in A Fine Dessert, but two of the criticisms I have seen—that the portrayal of a slave girl living with her mother is unrealistic, and that the slave girl shouldn’t be pictured with a smile—are present in this book as well. So far, I’m not aware of similar criticisms for Sewing Stories.