The Harlem Renaissance: An Interactive History Adventure

by Allison Lassieur

Its the early 1900s and a change has gripped the world. The Harlem Renaissance has awakened people to a wealth of African American arts and culture. Centered in Harlem, New York, this renaissance brought the world all black orchestras, singers who wowed audiences in the United States and abroad, and amazing writers whose books became best sellers. Its a time when almost anything seems possible. So what road will you travel? Will Leave your old life behind and move to New York in 1919? Use your talents as a writer in 1920s Harlem?  Explore Harlems exciting nightlife in 1927? Everything in this book happened to real people. And YOU CHOOSE what you do next. The choices you make could lead you to opportunity, to wealth, to poverty, or even to death.

Genres: Childrens, Nonfiction

112 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2013

About the author

A professional freelance author who began her career in publishing as an avid D&D player, Lassieur worked for thirteen years in the publishing industry as an editor for magazines such as Disney Adventures and Highlights for Children.

She's edited game products for TSR, West End Games, and Sierra Online. In addition, she has more than two dozen nonfiction children's books to her credit and has contributed to such magazines as National Geographic World and Scholastic News.

Lassieur lives and works in Eastern Pennsylvania.

Reviews

[Stephanie ((Strazzybooks)) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I randomly found this book while researching the Harlem Renaissance and found it on Kindle Unlimited. It is very interesting, especially as it uses Kindle to add a more interactive element to the 'choose your own adventure' (though sometimes the clicking around was clunky).

I loved the variety of stories and went through the choices a few different times. The main pieces give great detail about the Harlem Renaissance and can inspire readers to expand their research into other subtopics. This book could be used in many interesting ways in Language Arts or History classes and the book includes classroom ideas. I'm off to read The Great Wall one next!

[Laura Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this chapter book about the Harlem Renaissance delightful and engaging. It's an "interactive history adventure" that allows students to choose different perspectives through which to experience different sides of the Harlem Renaissance -- for example, you can choose to be a talented writer, a young man who just arrived in America, or you can explore the nightlife. The book is full of pictures and captions that make the Harlem Renaissance come alive.

This could be a nice addition to a historical fiction unit (especially if the goal is to get kids to write their own pieces of historical fiction). I really love the emphasis on different ways of seeing the Harlem Renaissance. I would use this to encourage kids to think about how one's position relates to social power, and to reflect deeply about who is writing history and how it impacts the story.

I love any form of nonfiction that is interactive in this way. It's especially for learners who are easily overwhelmed by nonfiction books that consist of pages filled with facts that fill sort of splattered across the page with no storyline or direction.

I also appreciated that this book included a time line, glossary, and other resources that are part of a non-fiction text.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Readers have the chance to choose from three different paths after leaving their family's small Alabama farm for city life. They can choose to travel to New York or Chicago in 1919, to be a writer in 1925 Harlem, or explore the nightlife of Harlem in 1927. As readers turn the pages, they are faced with choices, some of which lead them all the way back home, and some of which spell disaster and a quick end to any dreams of a bright future. The book is filled with photographs and brief appearances from some Harlem's brightest lights and legends, including Zora Neale Hurston, Fats Waller, and Jessie Fauset, among others. The concluding chapter describes the end of this period of creativity, dubbed the Harlem Renaissance. It provides a good introduction to the excitement of the time.

[Jenni Frencham · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series is very similar to the "Choose Your Own Adventure" books I read as a child. The difference here is that the You Choose books teach about a specific time period in history. The various choices the reader can make throughout the book still makes this a popular series with my students. And the timeline, glossary, bibliography, and index ensure that these books align with Common Core.

[AnnieM · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never tire of these books. There is something about putting the reader in the shoes of a character and making the reader choose where to go.

Seemingly simple choices will get you mugged or killed while the same thing could happen if you made what you thought was a boring choice.

I like this one better than most, but my love of Jazz should have made that clear.

The only hard part is making sure I read all the choices.

[Jovon Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like this book it talks about African American culture in the 1920s.