brittburkard's reviews
1072 reviews

Slavery and the African American Story by Patricia Williams Dockery

challenging informative slow-paced

3.75

We read another book in this series (Colonization and the Wampanoag Story) as part of our Thanksgiving unit study in 2023 and we really found that one fascinating so I was hoping the other books in the series would follow a similar format with the narrative style look at daily life combined with the nonfiction informational sections.

This was not the case for this one. This book was strictly nonfiction information format, but it was still interesting. Full of excellent information about both better known and lesser known people, places and events in Black African American history and the importance they played in the formation and building of the country we know today. This one is appropriate for an older age range than the Wampanoag book as well with some heavy topics briefly mentioned (rape and prostitution) that may be harder for younger readers to comprehend. 

So far both books in this series have been excellent and we will be checking out the other ones soon!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Trafficking and Slavery

Minor: Rape

Playing Atari with Saddam Hussein by Ali Fadhil, Jennifer Roy

emotional informative tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes

3.75

The Giver by Lois Lowry

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

Kitty Cat Kill Sat: A Feline Space Adventure by Argus

adventurous funny lighthearted slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Cozy, cute, ADHD kittycat sci-fi. A bit of a slow start. I almost was questioning continuing in the first 15%, but it definitely picks up after that as new developments begin to appear in the plot and it stands at a solid four for me so I'm very glad I continued. Some of the babbling tangents Lily goes off on are ridiculous and funny, lots of questions and discussions on AIs and ethics, grief and depression, friendship and hope. The stakes never feel too high or stressful, there is absolutely a lot of easily accomplished solutions, so if you're wanting to see more struggle and realistic balance this might not be for you. This book was just such an cute and amusing adventure.

Poetry for Young People: Robert Frost by Henri Sorensen, Gary D. Schmidt, Robert Frost

slow-paced

3.5

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

adventurous dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

Mesmerized: How Ben Franklin Solved a Mystery That Baffled All of France by Mara Rockliff

informative

3.5

11/22/63 by Stephen King

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Tortilla Sun by Jennifer Cervantes

emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

A City on Mars: Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, and Have We Really Thought This Through? by Zach Weinersmith, Kelly Weinersmith

funny informative medium-paced

4.5