Sacco and Vanzetti

by Eli Bortman

A concise history of the controversial 1920 murder trial in suburban Boston, which saw two Italian immigrants executed for killings they may not have committed.

Genres: History

86 pages, Paperback

First published March 15, 2005

Reviews

[Jill]

This is a great book that tells about the injustice done to the two men named in the title. Arrested, tried, convicted, and executed for a crime they didn't commit, Sacco and Vanzetti were scapegoats solely on the basis that they were Italian and had attended anarchist meetings and passed out flyers. I think it's great that there is a kid's book based on this injustice. It's good for kids to know that things are not always fair and people are not always treated right so that they can work to change that. It may no longer be the Italians who are discriminated against and deported on the basis of their race, but there is always a group of people who are targeted. Long after they died, they were memorialized and remembered as an example that "'the forces of intolerance, fear, and hatred' never again overtake the legal system." p. 40 If only that were the case--but it's good to have books like these to remember! I loved this last line of the book "The mayor placed the statue in Boston as the city's tribute to Sacco and Vanzeti--two men denied justice in a nation based on liberty and justice for all." Very poignant.