Civil Rights in Mississippi
Inspiration Book:
A thousand never evers by Burg, Shana — Yearling, 2008--Fic-; Int Lvl: 3-6; Rd Lvl: 5.6. As the civil rights movement in the South gains momentum in 1963 and violence against African-Americans intensifies, residents of the small town of Kuckachoo, Mississippi, including seventh-grader Addie Ann Pickett, begin their own courageous struggle for racial justice.
Rationale: It has been my plan to create a major unit featuring the civil rights movement and race relations in the United States because there are many powerful pieces of literature for students fourth grade forward. I haven’t had that time yet because new and excellent books appear regularly. Thus, instead of postponing a big master blog about civil rights, race relations, and segregation in the 20th and 21st centuries, I decided to post resources for individual titles and group them with tags including Quick Pick. Hopefully, another day in the future when my life slows down, I’ll complete the origianal plan. In the meantime the resources are made known here and you decide what you would like to use and how to use them.
I’ve also toyed with the idea of recommending having small groups of students study one of the pieces of literature posted in the blog, then gather together to share their reading. Well, I guess I’ve now done that.
Most bibliographies contain only titles published within the last ten years. However, there are so many classic titles that that I needed to mention them, too. Consequently there are three bibliographies here: Grades 3-6, Grades 5-8, and Still Relevant. The books represented in these lists are centered in Mississippi. Future posts will include other states.
Grades 3-6 Bibliography
Glory be by Scattergood, Augusta — Scholastic Press, 2012. Dewey: -Fic-; Int Lvl: 3-6; Rd Lvl: 4.3. Gloriana faces her twelfth birthday in 1964 and struggles with the changes she sees happening around her, but while she struggles to understand the shift in her relationships with her sister--who is about to enter high school--and her best friend, Frankie, Gloriana witnesses tempers rise in a debate over a segregated public pool. SS 22013
Yard war by Kitchings, Taylor) — Wendy Lamb Books, 2015. Dewey: -Fic-; Int Lvl: 3-6; Rd Lvl: 5.2. Twelve-year-old Trip Westbrook lives in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1964 and discovers the underlying racism in his family and neighborhood when he invites his maid's son Dee to play football in the yard.
Things too huge to fix by saying sorry by Vaught, Susan — Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2016. Dewey: -Fic-; Int Lvl: 3-6; Rd Lvl: 5.6. A family mystery leads Dani Beans to investigate the secrets of Ole Miss and the dark history of race relations in Oxford, Mississippi. SS 2017
Hot pursuit : murder in Mississippi by Deutsch, Stacia — Kar-Ben Pub., 2010. Dewey: 323; Int Lvl: 3-6; Rd Lvl: 5.6. Reimagines the decision of civil rights workers Mickey Schwerner, Andrew Goodman, and James Chaney who, being pulled over by a police cruiser in the summer of 1964, try to figure out if the men in the car behind them are officers or members of the Ku Klux Klan.
Heroes for civil rights by Adler, David A — Holiday House, 2008. Dewey: 323.092; Int Lvl: 3-6; Rd Lvl: 6.7. Ralph David Abernathy -- Medgar Evers -- Andrew Goodman, James Earl Chaney, and Michael Henry Schwerner -- The Greensboro Four -- Fannie Lou Hamer -- Lyndon Baines Johnson -- Martin Luther King,Jr. -- The Little Rock Nine -- Thurgood Marshall -- James Meredith -- Rosa Parks -- Fred Shuttlesworth -- Earl Warren. A collection of brief, illustrated biographies that details the lives of civil rights figures, including Martin Luther King, Jr., the Little Rock Nine, and Fannie Lou Hamer.
Grades 5-8 Bibliography
Sources of light by McMullan, Margaret — Graphia, 2010--Fic-; Int Lvl: 5-8; Rd Lvl: 5.3. Sam, having moved with her mother to Jackson, Mississippi, after the death of her father, finds the conservative 1960s values of the town clashing with her family's liberal views and struggles to navigate difficult relationships and understand segregation. Junior Book Award
Revolution (Sixties Trilogy, Book 2) by Wiles, Deborah — Scholastic Press, 2014. Dewey: -Fic-; Int Lvl: 5-8; Rd Lvl: 5.5. It's 1964 in Greenwood, Mississippi, and Sunny's town is being invaded by people from up north who are coming to help people register to vote. Her personal life isn't much better, as a new stepmother, brother, and sister are crowding into her life, giving her little room to breathe. FREE Teaching Resources available for download from Follett. SS 2015
Hot pursuit : murder in Mississippi by Deutsch, Stacia — Kar-Ben Pub., 2010. Dewey: 323; Int Lvl: 3-6; Rd Lvl: 5.6. Reimagines the decision of civil rights workers Mickey Schwerner, Andrew Goodman, and James Chaney who, being pulled over by a police cruiser in the summer of 1964, try to figure out if the men in the car behind them are officers or members of the Ku Klux Klan.
Midnight without a moon by Jackson, Linda Williams — Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017. Dewey: -Fic-; Int Lvl: 5-8; Rd Lvl: 5.6. Rose Lee Carter, a thirteen-year-old African-American girl, dreams of life beyond the Mississippi cotton fields during the summer of 1955, but when Emmett Till is murdered and his killers are unjustly acquitted, Rose is torn between seeking her destiny outside of Mississippi or staying and being a part of an important movement.
Things too huge to fix by saying sorry by Vaught, Susan — Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2016. Dewey: -Fic-; Int Lvl: 3-6; Rd Lvl: 5.6. A family mystery leads Dani Beans to investigate the secrets of Ole Miss and the dark history of race relations in Oxford, Mississippi. SS 2017
Heroes for civil rights by Adler, David A — Holiday House, 2008. Dewey: 323.092; Int Lvl: 3-6; Rd Lvl: 6.7. Ralph David Abernathy -- Medgar Evers -- Andrew Goodman, James Earl Chaney, and Michael Henry Schwerner -- The Greensboro Four -- Fannie Lou Hamer -- Lyndon Baines Johnson -- Martin Luther King,Jr. -- The Little Rock Nine -- Thurgood Marshall -- James Meredith -- Rosa Parks -- Fred Shuttlesworth -- Earl Warren. A collection of brief, illustrated biographies that details the lives of civil rights figures, including Martin Luther King, Jr., the Little Rock Nine, and Fannie Lou Hamer.
The story of the civil rights freedom rides in photographs (Story Of The Civil Rights Movement In Photographs) by Aretha, David — Enslow Publishers, Inc., 2014. Dewey: 323.1196; Int Lvl: 5-8; Rd Lvl: 6.0. Riding into danger -- Battered in Birmingham -- Trouble in Montgomery -- The journey to Mississippi -- Hundreds sent to prison -- Freedom riders prevail. "Discusses the Freedom Rides, an important event in the Civil Rights Movement, including the riders who risked their lives, the violence the riders faced, and the successful integration of interstate buses and terminals
A sky full of stars by Jackson, Linda Williams — Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2018. Dewey: -Fic-; Int Lvl: 5-8; Rd Lvl: 7.6. Sequel to: Midnight without a moon. In Stillwater, Missippi, in 1955, thirteen-year-old African American Rose Lee Carter looks to her family and friends to understand her place in the burgeoning Civil Rights Movement.
Still Relevant
Yankee girl by Rodman, Mary Ann — Square Fish/Farrar Straus Giroux, c2004 p2008--Fic-; Int Lvl: 5-8; Rd Lvl: 3.7. When her FBI-agent father is transferred to Jackson, Mississippi, in 1964, eleven-year-old Alice wants to be popular but also wants to reach out to the one black girl in her class in a newly-integrated school.
Mississippi morning by Vander Zee, Ruth — Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2004--Fic-; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 4.8
Amidst the economic depression and the racial tension of the 1930s, a boy discovers a horrible secret of his father's involvement in the Ku Klux Klan.
Mississippi bridge by Taylor, Mildred D — Puffin, c1990 p2000--Fic-; Int Lvl: 3-6; Rd Lvl: 4.7
During a heavy rainstorm in 1930s rural Mississippi, a ten-year-old white boy sees a bus driver order all the black passengers off a crowded bus to make room for late-arriving white passengers and then set off across the raging Rosa Lee River.
The well : David's story by Taylor, Mildred D — Puffin Books, c1995 p1998--Fic-; Int Lvl: 3-6; Rd Lvl: 4.7
In Mississippi in the early 1900s, ten-year-old David Logan's family generously shares their well water with both white and African-American neighbors in an atmosphere of potential racial violence.
The Aurora County All-Stars by Wiles, Deborah — Sandpiper, 2007--Fic-; Int Lvl: 3-6; Rd Lvl: 5.0
Twelve-year-old House Jackson, team captain and star pitcher of the Aurora County All-Stars, is finally ready to play again after being sidelined for a year with a broken elbow, but a standoff ensues when the team's big game is scheduled for the same day as Aurora County's two-hundredth anniversary pageant--an event directed by the very girl who caused Jackson's injury. Triple Crown
The friendship by Taylor, Mildred D — Puffin, c1987 p1998--Fic-; Int Lvl: 3-6; Rd Lvl: 5.1
Four children witness a confrontation between an elderly African-American man and a white storekeeper in rural Mississippi in the 1930s. Coretta Scott King Award
Mississippi trial, 1955 by Crowe, Chris — Speak, 2003--Fic-; Int Lvl: 5-8; Rd Lvl: 5.5. In Mississippi in 1955, a sixteen-year-old finds himself at odds with his grandfather over issues surrounding the kidnapping and murder of a fourteen-year-old African-American from Chicago. Social Studies List 2004
Roll of thunder, hear my cry by Taylor, Mildred D — Puffin, c1976 p1991--Fic-; Int Lvl: 5-8; Rd Lvl: 6.9. An African-American family in Depression era Mississippi battles the odds to hold onto their property and their self-respect.FREE Teaching Resources available for download from Follett. Newbery Medal
The gold Cadillac by Taylor, Mildred D — Puffin, c1987 p1998--Fic-; Int Lvl: 3-6; Rd Lvl: 6.0
Two African-American girls living in the North are proud of their family's beautiful new Cadillac until they take it on a visit to the South and encounter racial prejudice for the first time.
Teacher Resources:
Lesson Plan from author’s website Superior with video interviews and questions http://shanaburg.com/educators/a-thousand-never-evers/interactive-readers-guide/table-of-contents/
Educator’s Guide from Random House http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/teachers_guides/9780385734707.pdf
Birmingham Civil Rights Institute www.bcri.org
National Civil Rights Museum www.civilrightsmuseum.org
Medgar & Myrl Evers Institute http://www.eversinstitute.org/
Cynsations Author Interview July 15, 2008 http://cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com/2008/07/author-interview-shana-burg-on-thousand.html
Questions from 6th graders who read book http://mrswatts.edublogs.org/2009/02/09/questions-for-shana-burg-author-of-a-thousand-never-evers/
