BOOM!

It is the summer of 1949 in Nigel Hinton's book, Time Bomb. For Andy and his friends their world seems to be falling apart except when they are together. Eddie's stepfather beats him; Manny is the target of anti-Semitic comments; Bob has a stutter that his dad considers a weakness; and Andy finds out that his fathers is cheating on his mother. As they travel about the town exploring that summer, the boys find an unexploded World War II bomb. Keeping the bomb's existence a secret, the boys feel they now have power. What happens with the bomb and their friendship will cause the boys to grow up and take another look at their lives.

Black HIstory - Part 3

In the last section of my Black History Month bibliography, I focus on African Americans of the twentieth century and beyond. For the students this is the most recognizable section for the biographies and stories are the ones they know, some even from their lifetime. Among the nonfiction I especially like our book on the Harlem Globetrotters which covers their history and several famous players. I was likely enough to see the Globetrotters in person in college and thoroughly enjoyed the show. Since baseball is my favorite sport, I enjoyed the book Baseball at War; World War II and the Fall of the Color Line. Here you can learn about baseall in the 1940s including Joe DiMaggio's hitting streak, the famous world series between the Yankes and the Dodgers, the career of Jackie Robinson, as well as the effect of World War II on the sport.

In the biography section we have books on famous African Americans from all walks of life - from the political to the entertainment world, from musicians to athletes. In particular I remember the book A Strong Right Arm, the Story of Mamie "Peanut" Johnson. This book was a Caudill nominee a few years ago, but it created a lasting impression with me. Mamie was determined to be a professional baseball player and tried out for every all-male, all-white team until she realized her dream as one of only three women to play in the Negro Leagues. What courage for such a petite lady!

Among the fiction there is no doubt that my favorite book is Willie Bea and the Time the Martians Landed, by Virginia Hamilton. The story takes place in October, 1938, on an Ohio farm. It centers on the eventful radio broadcast of the "War of the Worlds" led by Orson Welles. I have always been fascinated by the panic that resulted from this broadcast and over the years have read and researched a lot. Hamilton in her book shows that the panic was not restricted to the east coast. Even in the midwest people were frightened by the thought that Martians had invaded the earth!

I hope over these last few weeks you have read about some Black History book that sounded interesting and have come to the IMC to check it out. Next week I will return to highlighting our new books.

Black History Part 2

The second part of the Lakeview bibliography for Black History Month is entitled Pre-Twentieth Century. It started out as a Civil War era list but grew beyond the war period itself to include slavery, the underground railroad and blacks of any country up to the twentieth century. Books in this section range from the story of a seventeenth century Spanish slave painter to Jean duSable, the black explorer who is a founder of Chicago to the autobiography of Booker T. Washington.

A couple of the most interesting new nonfiction books in this section are Up Before Daybreak, an overview of the history of the cotton industry in the United States, and The Underground Railroad in Illinois, which traces the abolitionist movement in Illinois and the passengers, stationmasters and conductors in our state.


A fascinating new fiction book is Show Way, by Jacqueline Woodson. In this book Woodson shares her family's tradition of a quilt called Show Way because it was a secret map that "showed the way" for slaves escaping from the South. Woodson brings the quilt up-to-date by showing her daughters their part in the quilt as a continuing family history.

It's Black History Month!

In recognition of this special honored month, the Lakeivew IMC has prepared a bibliography that covers all aspects of Black History through nonfiction, biography, and fiction books. There are links to this bibliography (in two parts) on the Lakeview IMC webpage. Find the section of the webpage for IMC Links and right in the middle of the top row you will find those links.

Part 1 of this list is divided into two section. The first section lists books about Africa, its countries, cultures, famous people, and novels. Here you will find several of the holiday books from the Fiesta series. These books delve not only into the holidays and festivals, but also aspects of the country's culture like languages, food, songs, and religions.

One of the most interesting biographies I ever read is included in this section. At Her Majesty's Request, by Walter dean Myers, is a fascinating story about a young African princess who is saved from being executed by a British naval officer. Brought back to England the girl's story reaches the ears of Queen Victoria who then provides for the girl's upbringing in England. This book is currently on the bulletin board behind my desk and is available for check out.

The second section of the bibliography started out on the American Civil War, but has grown beyond that to include books that cover non-African blacks up to the twentieth century. Part 2 of the bibliography covers non-African blacks in the twentieth century and beyond. I'll describe some of the most interesting books in these sections in the weeks ahead.