Historically Speaking

Ann Bausum thoughtfully describes the events leading up to the European conflict that later became World War I in Unraveling Freedom.  Well-researched and illustrated, it is no wonder this title received a starred review.   Read an interview with Ann about her new title, Marching to the Mountaintop: How Poverty, Labor fights, and Civil Rights Set the Stage for Martin Luther King Jr.'s Final Hours (NatGeo 2012) on the TeachingBooks Blog

Sally Walker's Blizzard of Glass tells the story of the Halifax ship explosion of 1917 that devastated the city's buildings and population.  Walker did a fantastic job bringing the reader along to meet the families of Halifax and introduce the events leading to this impending tragedy.  I couldn't help wonder, as I was reading the text, how this relates to kids in the United States, after all it was a Canadian event.   But I didn't wonder for long.  Just as the tragic earthquakes in Japan and Haiti touched all our lives, this tragedy also reached the people of the United States, specifically Massachusetts. Readers will read about incidents of loss and heroism.  They'll be able to see that in times of tragedy throughout history people come together and reach out toward each other.   Walker's well-researched text is compelling and period photographs add to the authenticity.