May 1, 1996
Gr 8 Up-Well-researched, immensely readable accounts that bring African American history to life. Commendably, both authors rely heavily upon primary sources in addition to drawing on a number of general histories and studies of the politics, social and economic conditions, and culture of blacks in America. Frankel makes especially good use of quotations from interviews with former slaves done in the 1930s; Reconstruction Era pension examiners' interviews with Black Civil War widows; Freedmen's Bureau records, etc. Kelley uses quotes from a variety of memoirs, biographies and autobiographies, oral histories, etc., to examine, among other topics, the rebirth of black nationalism; the neoconservative movement; black feminism; interethnic tensions; and the emergence of rap music and hip-hop culture. Black-and-white period photographs, posters, prints, letters, and other artwork lend emphasis to salient points made in the texts. Both books include a useful chronology and extensive lists for further reading; additionally, Frankel appends the civil rights amendments to the U.S. Constitution. These titles, which are eminently suitable for general readers, can stand-alone, serve as companions to the other volumes in the series, or complement books such as the McKissacks' The Civil Rights Movement in America from 1865 to the Present (Childrens, 1991), Alton Hornsby's Chronology of African American History (Gale, 1991), as well as Milton Meltzer's The Black Americans: A History in Their Own Words, 1619-1983 (HarperCollins, 1984).-David A. Lindsey, Lakewood High and Middle School Libraries, WA