Happy Birthday, Voting Rights Act!

Fifty years ago today (August 6, 1965) the landmark VOTING RIGHTS ACT (more here from NPR) was signed into law. 



I remember the day. 
I was an adolescent during a decade experiencing its own extreme social adolescence. Within a span of ten years we were whiplashed through unforgettable events, amazing accomplishments, and unimaginable losses. Emotions didn't ebb and flow, they ricocheted between extremes depending on the events and the impact they had on polarizing beliefs that make today's differences look moderate by comparison. 

In fact, a surprising number of current  issues are deeply rooted in those tide-turning events, laws, and shifts from the sixties. To learn more about those years, check out this quick look at the decade via HISTORY.COM. (here).
Or explore this timeline of voting rights in our country.

Among the many stories of that era, those in a two-volume graphic history, in my opinion, tell it best. The primary author is Congressman John Lewis, a pivotal figure of those times and events.

Top Shelf Productions, 2013

MARCH: BOOK ONE, by John Lewis,  Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell, released in 2013 and takes the reader through the March on Washington in 1963.  

Top Shelf Productions, 2015

Planned as a two volume set from the start, MARCH: BOOK TWO, by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell, released earlier this year. 

Both offer intense, realistic,and accessible entry to those times and issues for younger readers, but offer the same  benefits to adult readers who may have an intellectual awareness of that history but no emotional investment or connection to the reality of these events.

Schwartz and Wade, 2015

For even younger readers the story is brought to life through an even more recent release. I'm anxious to read Lillian's Right to Vote: A Celebration of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, by Jonah Winter and Shane W. Evans. 

I've read excellent reviews about it written by people I trust, like librarian Alyson Beecher on her blog, Kid Lit Frenzy. I hope you'll read the book, and her review, including this truth:

"Unfortunately, we do not seem to learn from our past mistakes.  Consequently, it is books like this that can help keep awareness alive in new generations."

Let's hope that books like these and their readers (of any age) will provide a perspective on current actions to undo voting and other rights. 

Summertime, and the READING Is EASY! Book Recommendations from the BEST!

The blogosphere is alive and well with summer reading suggestions for all ages. That relieves some of my guilt about not posting recently and allows me to indulge in the summer pleasure of exploring new titles myself.

I've been writing intensely for several weeks, but that doesn't mean I'm not reading. I keep notes on those titles on Goodreads, where I'm accumulating a pool of favorites to feature here once my head gets above water on the writing front. If anyone is curious about my recent reads, follow me on my GOODREADS account, here. 

If you're looking for summer suggestions (and you should be!), I'm more than happy to direct you to a variety of outstanding blog posts.
Tops on my list would be Mary Ann Scheuer's GREAT KID BOOKS posts promoting #FAMILIESREAD. She features appealing titles for all ages, quick "booster" tips to make shared family reading a treasured habit, and sidebar links to organize the VAST array of previous reviews for every age and taste.
This blog has been one of my favorite reliable sources for quality recommendations for several years. Do yourself a favor and read this and other recent posts, then subscribe for yourselves.

I feel just as enthusiastic about Alyson Beecher's KID LIT FRENZY blog. This link is to a recent nonfiction Wednesday post, but you can't go wrong checking what she has to say any day of the week. The titles she features include ones getting lots of "buzz" as well as those slipping under the radar but well worth reading. Her recommendations make me feel I'm not missing out on the best of the best. 

Speaking of the best of the best, one final resource you won't want to miss, especially for summer choice reading: iNKThinkTank. Created by premier, award-winning, INTERESTING NONFICTION picture book AUTHORS, the site includes links to nonfiction minutes, a nonfiction database, and the authors themselves.
Summer is the ideal time for family reading of titles that both answer and stimulate questions, books that invite further reading and real-world exploration. Books that are just plain COOL.

So what are you waiting for? 
Click the inks to these amazing sites and get your summer reading underway!