Celebrate Black History Month all year long
February is Black History Month, but the stories in these books resonate every month of the year. Now especially, black heroes need to be remembered and celebrated.
“Streetcar to Justice” by Amy Hill Hearth; HarperCollins; 143 pages; $19.99.
“How Elizabeth Jennings Won the Right to Ride in New York” is Amy Hill Hearth’s subtitle for this comprehensive true story about a girl forced to give up a seat on a streetcar in 1854. One hundred years before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus, Elizabeth Jennings was injured as she was thrown off a streetcar by a conductor and a policeman. Her story wasn’t over then, and her family and the African-American community helped take her case to court (interestingly, her lawyer was future President Chester A. Arthur). Jennings’ case was won, and she’s still remembered as being an integral part of the desegregation of New York City’s public transportation.
A fascinating biography for any kids ages 8 to 12 (that would even intrigue kids of high school age), “Streetcar to Justice” includes photographs and lots of archival material from the mid-1800s. This little-known fight for equality will hopefully garner more attention, especially now.
“The United States v. Jackie Robinson; by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen; illustrated by R. Gregory Christie; Balzar + Bray; 34 pages; $17.99.
A lot of people don’t know that before Jackie Robinson was a baseball player who broke through barriers, he was a soldier during World War II. During his days in the Army, Robinson experienced segregation. One day he refused to move to the back of a military bus, and the military police took him to trial. Bardhan-Quallen’s important true story of Robinson’s court-martial showcases a determined young man who knew right from wrong and stood proudly for his beliefs. He was actually one of the first black Americans to challenge a segregation law in court and win.
Young readers will enjoy the picture book’s precise writing and learn that Robinson wasn’t allowed to join the Fort Riley, Kans., baseball team because of his skin color. That’s certainly one team that made a huge mistake!
R. Gregory Christie’s acrylic paintings have a flowy, exaggerated look to them, helping the tale be intriguing and action-packed. A timeline at the end follows Robinson’s life from 1919 to 1997, after he’d passed, when the MLB retired No. 42.
“Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race” by Margot Lee Shetterly with Winifred Conkling; illustrated by Laura Freeman; HarperCollins; 40 pages; $17.99.
The picture book version of “Hidden Figures” is as vivid and exciting as the novel. With realistic vintage-inspired artwork and enticing writing, the story of the four young African-American female math whizzes who helped send a man into space in the 1960s is coolly amazing. With best-selling author Margot Lee Shetterly at the helm, this true tale for kids ages 4 to 8 proves that valuable and heroic work is done every day by women of all colors.