Busboys & Poets
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Book Reviews
For more children's book reviews and recommended book lists, visit Teaching for Change Publications.
by Élisabeth Combres
Without sacrificing the horrors of the genocide of the Tutsi in Rwanda, Broken Memory surprises by virtue of its affecting subtlety. It tells the story of the child survivor Emma who attempts to piece together her fragmentary memories about the death of her mother. The novel opens with the home invasion and murder of Emma’s mother at the hands of a roving band of Hutu assassins. Read More...
Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow
by James Sturm, Rich Tommaso
Though the title would suggest otherwise, Satchel Paige: Striking out Jim Crow isn’t exactly a biography of the famous Negro League pitcher, Satchel Paige. The story is not told from his perspective and for the most part, we don’t get too much information about Paige’s personal life. But what this artful little graphic novel lacks in biographical insight, it more than makes up for in storytelling, historical depth, and its exploration of racial issues. Overall, it is a neatly drawn, well-written story that goes beyond what young readers typically learn about Jim Crow America. Read More...
Child of the Civil Rights Movement
by Paula Young Shelton, Raul Colon
Teachers are often frustrated with how to teach historical events in an accurate and nuanced way. This is particularly challenging for early elementary teachers when mob violence and complex philosophical controversies are a central part of the story. Teaching the history of the modern Civil Rights Movement presents a special difficulty because so many of its veterans are still living and parts of the story have become absorbed as mythology into the mainstream culture. Read More...
by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley
One of the best children’s books in recent years is Natasha Anastasia Tarpley’s Destiny’s Gift. Destiny, a little girl who loves words, writing and reading, spends all of her free time at a local independent bookstore, Wade’s Books. Mrs. Wade, who runs the store, enjoys her company and encourages her writing and learning. One day, Mrs. Wade gets a notice that the rent on the store is being raised to a level that she cannot afford. When a devastated Destiny tells her parents, they bring the neighborhood together for a series of actions: a protest, a fundraising block party and book sale, signs, flyers and media alerts. Destiny writes her own token of support, a piece containing everything she loves about the bookstore, which she presents to Mrs. Wade on her own. The book ends with no clear resolution about the fate of the bookstore, but on a moment of deep connection between two generations of women who love words and care about each other. Read More...
written and illustrated by Todd Parr
"I'm colorblind. Yellow, brown, green, purple - I treat everyone the same."
"We're all the same on the inside."
Most of us have heard people profess their ability to look past difference by saying that, deep down, humans are all the same. While the intent behind these words is usually admirable, those who erase or miscast difference in the service of tolerance can sometimes unthinkingly impose their narrative of normal, at the expense of others’ very real differences in culture and values. Such is the problem of The Peace Book, by Todd Parr, which attempts to teach children to embrace difference and peace while struggling with some of the same issues it intends to overcome. Read More...
by Kelly DiPucchio, illustrated by LeUyen Pham
Grace for President chronicles the political campaign of Grace Campbell, a smart and ambitious elementary school student who, when she learns that not a single U.S. president has been a woman, decides to be the first. Her teacher has the idea to hold a mock presidential election with another class, so Grace has to run against one of the most popular students in school. Read More...
by Cory Doctorow
Set in the very near future, Little Brother goes to technological places that Orwell's Big Brother could not. Students that have read 1984 will love the references to Orwell's original and will appreciate the upgrade.
After a major terrorist attack in San Francisco, 17-year-old hacker extraordinaire, w1n5t0n (pronounced "Winston") is arrested by a Department of Homeland Security that has gone on a civil rights-crushing campaign to fight "terrorists." In no time our clever protagonist realizes that the DHS is the real enemy of the American people, although these same American people roll over and endure the loss of rights so that they can feel safer. Sound familiar? Read More...
A People's History of the World
by Chris Harman
Chris Harman’s A People’s History of the World can be rightly described as audacious, in concept if not in execution. This work is not a text that comprehensively walks the reader through so enormous a topic as the title suggests. Perhaps the first thing a potential reader of the book should know is that Harman is interested in the history of class struggle specifically (and not necessarily the history of “the world”) from a fairly orthodox Marxist perspective. The author is not a historian, but rather a leading member of the Socialist Workers Party in Britain and the editor of International Socialism. As one learns from the overtly-written conclusion (or by simply gathering from the book’s unceasing theme of class), Harman is interested in world history insofar as it informs the origins of today’s global capitalism. Nothing approaching a comprehensive history of the world is achieved, nor could it be in 620 pages (without counting endnotes). Read More...
Bestsellers
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BOOKSTORE NEWS
Recommended Books of 2011
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Visit Teaching for Change's Blog! Our latest articles:
Two New Children’s Books Fail to Honor the Biblioburro’s Story Staff reviews of Waiting for the Biblioburro (by Monica Brown) and Biblioburro: A True Story from Colombia (by Jeanette Winter)
In Colombia, internal conflict between paramilitaries and guerrilla groups ebbs and flows, exacerbated by political upheaval and the drug trade. In the north of Colombia, in a rural area controlled mainly by paramilitaries, and still under threat of violence and repression, a former schoolteacher has outfitted his burros as a mobile lending library. For 10 years, Luis Humberto Soriano Bohórquez has gone from village to village reading to children, helping them with their homework, and lending books to anyone within burro distance. He and his wife have also built a library that serves more than 250 children in the area. More...
Civil Rights Teaching at the Schomburg Center The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture incorporates our publication Putting the Movement Back into Civil Rights Teaching into its summer programs Article by LaTissia Mitchell | Interview by Jonathan Tucker
Teaching for Change encourages teachers and students to question and rethink the world inside and outside their classrooms. This makes it especially gratifying when our curricula and teaching guides become the cornerstone of after-school and summer educational programs. The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture used our publication Putting the Movement Back into Civil Rights Teaching (published with PRRAC) in its 2011 Summer Education Institute. More...
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Luis Humberto Soriano Bohórquez and his biblioburro. PHOTO CREDIT: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
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Teaching for Change's Busboys and Poets Bookstore Welcomes Acclaimed Director and Author John Sayles
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Google eBooks are now available on our webstore. When buying electronic books for your digital reader, you can still support Teaching for Change's Busboys and Poets Bookstore (unless you use a Kindle, read why).
Featured Titles published by Teaching for Change.
Beyond Heroes and Holidays
............Over 55,000 sold
Putting the Movement Back Into Civil Rights Teaching
Winner of the 2004 Philip C. Chin
Multicultural Book Award
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Beyond Heroes and Holidays
............Over 55,000 sold
|
Putting the Movement Back Into Civil Rights Teaching
Winner of the 2004 Philip C. Chin
Multicultural Book Award |
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Please visit our WEBSTORE to have books delivered directly to you. Your purchases will support Teaching For Change's Busboys and Poets Bookstore, not a corporate or chain bookseller.
About Our Bookstore
Teaching for Change's Busboys and Poets Bookstore is operated by the non-profit organization, Teaching for Change. The bookstore features carefully selected titles for all ages with social justice themes, multicultural voices, and titles that go deeper than the mainstream media. There are two to three author events each week.
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Established in 1989, Teaching for Change provides teachers and parents with the tools to create schools where students learn to read, write, and change the world. Our programs include: Publications
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Author & Publisher Information
Teaching for Change’s Busboys and Poets Bookstore regularly hosts authors to speak on a wide range of topics for diverse audiences. Our author events are a collaboration between the Busboys and Poets Events Team and the Teaching for Change Bookstore. Some of the most celebrated authors of our times have appeared at Busboys and Poets, including Howard Zinn, Edwidge Danticat, Naomi Klein, Octavia Butler, Alice Walker, Cornel West, and more. We feature authors from independent, progressive publishers such as Haymarket Books, Rethinking Schools, The Feminist Press, PM Press, Interlink Books, and The New Press. Check out our Upcoming Author Events.
If you are an author or publisher interested in setting up an author event or having your book(s) carried in Teaching for Change’s Busboys and Poets Bookstore, read our Criteria and Guidelines which includes the address for review copies.
