Americans Who Tell the Truth
Grade 7-10 -Shetterly introduces 50 esteemed Americans through their portraits and quotes. Some-Helen Keller, Muhammad Ali, Eleanor Roosevelt, etc.-will be familiar to most readers, but historian Howard Zinn and peace activists Samantha Smith and Kathy Kelly will likely be new to them. Some quotes make more sense than others. Henry David Thoreau said, "The law will never make men free; it is men who have got to make the law free." How true. Molly Ivins says, "The best way to get the sons of bitches is to make people laugh at them." Uh, maybe sometimes. A few, taken out of context, hold little meaning. Dorothea Lange opined, "This is what we did. How did it happen? How could we?" At least one quote will have readers grabbing for the dictionary. Emma Goldman stated, "The greatest bulwark of capitalism is militarism." Fortunately, brief biographies are appended, helping to clarify many of the quotes. There is neither rhyme nor reason to the order of the individuals, as it is neither chronological nor alphabetical. Shetterly's fine illustrations, mostly somber, are fully realized. They go hand in hand with the quotes to acknowledge what the person was (or is) all about. This lovely portrayal will probably find its best use in enhancing civics classes. Because of its picture-book appearance, students might not gravitate to it on their own.-Anne Chapman Callaghan, Racine Public Library, WICopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.