Oh, Freedom!
Grade 4-8.  A unique collection of oral histories about the civil rights movement that grew out of a fourth-grade assignment. The 31 interviews, all conducted by children, are organized into three sections: "Life Under Segregation," "The Movement to End Legalized Segregation," and "The Struggle to End Poverty and Discrimination." Each part of the book is introduced by background information that provides a thorough historical context. The interviews are brief?usually two pages?and include a black-and-white photo of the student and the interviewee. In addition, well-chosen historical photos support the text. They are especially powerful when they depict the subject participating in the activities that he or she describes. Some civil rights notables appear, such as James Farmer, but most of the participants are parents or other relatives and friends. Each one has a unique perspective, such as the minister of an interracial church who is a former member of the Ku Klux Klan, and an Asian-American woman who worked for civil rights because of her experiences in a Japanese internment camp during World War II. This book is important for the stories it tells, the pictures it shows, and especially for its prevailing message?that we are all a part of history, and we can all share and appreciate one another's experiences.?Marilyn (Makowski) Heath, Greenwood High School, SCCopyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.