Grab & Go Info Texts!

 

Week 11 Blog Entry

Code girls : the true story of the American women who secretly broke codes in World War II by Liza Mundy

This is a teen narrative nonfiction adaptation to Mundy's adult nonfiction that tells the story of how integral the first female code breakers were in helping the World War II effort. 

This 2018 engaging story caught my eye a bit ago as an end cap display on our Main Floor where the YA nonfiction is integrated with adult nonfiction. I certainly would want students to know about this piece of WWII history. I also like how photographs and a timeline are well-placed and help give further context to readers and how the author provides details of the women's daily lives to make this feel like a very relatable story instead of a dry book of facts. 

The Iliad by Gareth Hinds

A 2019 graphic novel adaption, Hinds brings mythology to life through dynamic illustrations, a helpful prologue and text as well as panels that gives new insight into this classic and complex story.

The author does an amazing job of depicting this ageless story through beautiful and engaging watercolor illustrations that will delight fans of mythology but also pull in readers who love history and fantasy as well as poetic prose. I have seen this graphic novel checked out a lot by patrons and travel to other area libraries through interlibrary loans and am very excited to get my hands on it and recommend this mesmerizing drama. 

Uprooted by Albert Marrin

Marrin's 2016 nonfiction Young Adult book explores the Japanese experience during World War II through personal accounts and picture within a global and historical context that closely examines events leading up to the internment of 100,000 U.S. citizens as well as the aftermath of this injustice. 

I read this mentioned in our discussion posts this week and wanted to see the layout and structure of the book for myself. I was very happy to see the larger pages and split text on each page to make it much more readable and enjoyed flipping through to see the carefully selected pictures. I also like how the author makes these urgent case for how relevant this story is today in terms of racial tension and freedom. Excellent list of supplemental resources (online and text).

Illegal by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin

10-year-old Ebo's journey is depicted in this graphic novel that tells his story as an illegal immigrant trying to reunite with his brother in Europe own when he boards a bus to Niger alone and endures the horrors of simply trying to survive this perilous "humanitarian catastrophe" as noted by the creators. 

This is an incredibly powerful depiction that removes the politics of this topic by looking at why somebody would risk everything for a better life. It gives humanity to so many struggling immigrants in a way that could only be done through stunning illustrations as well as personal text. A must-read for students learning about the politics of this global issue because of how well it humanizes the issue.

Stamped: racism, antiracism, and you by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi

Reynolds intends this young reader's adaptation of Kendi's book to be a conversation about the origins of racism instead of simply providing the history of America's past and present that gives readers empowering ways to not only learn about but also dismantle racism.

This is exciting! An empowering tool to reclaim history, this invites readers of all different backgrounds to think critically about how we have been taught history and what structures are in place to preserve power for White people. Some will certainly find this unsettling especially during this political climate, but the call is for learning and relearning to address injustices. Reynolds concludes with the thought that this, "...leads back to the question of whether you, reader, want to be a segregationist (a hater), an assimilationist (a coward), or an antiracist (someone who truly loves. Choice is yours. Don't freak out."