An engagingly written, deeply researched account of a little-known part of World War II.
The role of Navajo Code Talkers in World War II is fairly well-known, but this informative book reveals the equally important contributions of Sioux Code Talkers who served in the Pacific theater.
Page, the great-niece of John Bear King, who served in the 1st Cavalry Division in the Pacific, chronicles the service of her great-uncle and six other members of Sioux nations who used their Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota dialects for a secure, reliable means of communicating important information on the battlefield. "By placing the Lakota Code Talkers in the battlefield and at headquarters," Page explains, "the seven Sioux Indians could converse freely in their native language in the radios without worrying about the Japanese decoding and intercepting the messages." Even if the Japanese tapped into lines, they would never understand the messages, as Lakota was virtually unknown to the outside world—thanks, ironically, to American attempts at cultural genocide. Page notes that the language was recorded in books, but the books were banned from schools in the early 1900s, so it was known only by a small number of scholars and people born and raised on the reservations. Page explores not only the importance of these soldiers to the war, but also their history, culture, and values.
An engagingly written, deeply researched account of a little-known part of World War II. (maps, photos, bibliography) (Nonfiction. 10-14)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4556-2243-6
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Pelican
Review Posted Online: Dec. 25, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2017
Deftly written and informative; a call for vigilance and equality.
An examination of the history of Chinese American experiences.
Blackburn opens with a note to readers about growing up feeling invisible as a multicultural, biracial Chinese American. She notes the tremendous diversity of Chinese American history and writes that this book is a starting point for learning more. The evenly paced narrative starts with the earliest recorded arrival of the Chinese in America in 1834. A teenage girl, whose real name is unknown, arrived in New York Harbor with the Carnes brothers, merchants who imported Chinese goods and put her on display “like an animal in a circus.” The author then examines shifting laws, U.S. and global political and economic climates, and changing societal attitudes. The book introduces the highlighted people—including Yee Ah Tye, Wong Kim Ark, Mabel Ping-Hua Lee, and Vincent Chen—in relation to lawsuits or other transformative events; they also stand as examples for explaining concepts such as racial hierarchy and the model minority myth. Maps, photos, and documents are interspersed throughout. Chapters close with questions that encourage readers to think critically about systems of oppression, actively engage with the material, and draw connections to their own lives. Although the book covers a wide span of history, from the Gold Rush to the rise in anti-Asian hate during the Covid-19 pandemic, it thoroughly explains the various events. Blackburn doesn’t shy away from describing terrible setbacks, but she balances them with examples of solidarity and progress.
Deftly written and informative; a call for vigilance and equality. (resources, bibliography, image credits) (Nonfiction. 10-14)Pub Date: March 26, 2024
ISBN: 9780593567630
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
An extraordinary tale of sisterhood and survival, told with simplicity.
A true story of two sisters—one Deaf and one hearing—and how they endured a perilous childhood in Nazi-occupied Europe during World War II.
Herta Myers, 8, and Renee, 10, are sisters living in Bratislava, the capital of what was then Czechoslovakia, during World War II. Renee is her family’s ears, as Herta and both of their parents are Deaf. They all communicate using sign language. Renee becomes so good at recognizing the sound of soldiers’ boots outside the window that she can warn her family of any danger. With narration traded between the girls, readers learn that the sisters are hidden on a farm with a couple who are also Deaf. Eventually, separated from their parents, the sisters’ journey leads them to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where their collective resolve is endlessly tested. This is a compelling story, exploring the role that senses play when one is in danger as well as presenting the candid recollections of everyday details of two children navigating appalling conditions during wartime. It is, however, a lot to process for kids who are as young as Herta and Renee were at the time of their most traumatic experiences. In the epilogue, co-author Greene reveals that this book is largely a compilation and interweaving of the transcripts of interviews that these two sisters gave to the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies at Yale University.
An extraordinary tale of sisterhood and survival, told with simplicity. (poem, photographs) (Memoir. 10-14)Pub Date: Nov. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-338-75335-6
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Scholastic Nonfiction
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2021
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