Description: Singing for Equality: Musicians of the Civil Rights Era introduces readers ages 12 to 15 to the history of the civil rights movement and explores the vital role that music played in the tumultuous period of American history, which expressed and recorded for future generations the emotional and political turmoil of the American soul during that time. Hands-on projects and research activities alongside essential questions, links to online resources, and text-to-world connections promote a profound understanding of history and offer opportunities for social-emotional learning.
Brief description: Diane C. Taylor is a freelance writer whose published works include both fiction and nonfiction. She is the author of The Science of Natural Disasters: When Nature and Humans Collide; Gutsy Girls Go for Science: Engineers; The Renaissance Thinkers; and The Renaissance Artists. Diane lives in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
Review Quotes: Booklist Continuing Series Nonfiction Showcase
The Civil Rights Era series seeks to introduce middle school students to influential individuals who figured prominently in the struggle for civil rights. Engaging biographies, usually five per volume, provide detailed looks at subjects' lives, motivations, contributions, and legacies. Each book's unique introduction sets the political and social scene with pages filled with graphics (time lines, fact boxes, photos, reproductions, posters, album covers) and short paragraphs highlighted in blocks of color and set off by different fonts. Insets offer quotes, open-ended questions (what's the big idea, how would this make you feel, what might you have done), and QR codes that link to news stories, speeches, music, and other primary sources. Important vocabulary words are defined in a comprehensive glossary, and additional back matter includes a list of resources and a selected bibliography. Singing for Equality profiles such musicians as Bob Dylan, Mavis Staples and the Staple Singers, Sam Cooke, James Brown, and Nina Simone. Sitting In, Standing Up spotlights leaders, including Thurgood Marshall, Fannie Lou Hamer, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X (who are covered in one chapter), John Lewis, and Ella Baker. There is necessarily some overlap in coverage, but the revisited material comes across as reinforcement as opposed to repetition. Overall, these volumes provide accessible entries into a complex period.