From the Bookshelf of Mock Newbery 2026…
Find A Copy At
Group Discussions About This Book
No group discussions for this book yet.
What Members Thought
The research and the themes are great. But while kids who enjoy biographies for their own sake might get into this, I don't see broad appeal. Many kid readers won't know the historical figures involved or be able to understand the context for changing political philosophy among African-American leaders. The voices aren't strongly differentiated and come across as fairly formal; if I'm hearing first-person narratives I want immediacy, unfiltered emotions, messy motivations and feelngs revealed. W
...more
Fascinating. Vaunda Micheaux Nelson did extensive research on the life of her great uncle, Lewis Michaux, "the Professor" of Harlem. From his childhood in Newport News, Virginia, through his later life in New York, she uses a multitude of voices to give a somewhat fictionalized account of his life. But the amount of digging she did is impressive, and the fictional text brims with primary source material. I've marked this both as biography and historical fiction, because while Nelson takes some l
...more
Well done. May take some persuading to get teens to read this, but well worth the effort.
I learned a lot from this book. I was not aware of "Lewis Michaux" and I am glad I discovered much about him. However, I don't think that the average teen will connect with this book. As an aside, kids have enough difficulty determining what is fiction and non-fiction. I think making a "documentary novel", while I understand why it was done, will just blur the lines.
...more
Jul 13, 2012
Andrea
marked it as to-read
Oct 03, 2012
Ceane
added it
Oct 10, 2012
Shanshad Whelan
marked it as to-read
Nov 02, 2012
Marianne
marked it as to-read
Jan 09, 2013
Carol Royce Owen
marked it as to-read
Jan 22, 2013
Katie Parker
marked it as to-read
Feb 18, 2013
Cynthia Shutts
marked it as to-read
Feb 25, 2013
Liz
marked it as to-read-for-blog
Dec 10, 2013
Amy
marked it as to-read
