Brown v. Board of Education: The Unwitting Contribution of Louis Armstrong

In 1954, a white professor of constitutional law, Charles L. Black, Jr. helped Thurgood Marshall of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc. to write the legal brief for Linda Brown, a 10-year-old student in Topeka, Kansas, whose historic case, Brown v. Board of Education, decided May 17, 1954, became the Supreme Court’s definitive [...]

Sunday Salon – Review of “Crazy For the Storm” by Norman Ollestad

This is a book you won’t soon forget after reading it. Norman Ollestad’s father involved him in extreme skiing and surfing from the time he was three years old. His dad and mom were separated, and each had new partners. Norm didn’t like either one; his mom’s boyfriend was particularly difficult, given to alcoholism and [...]

Review of “The Locked Garden” by Gloria Whelan (Ages 8-12)

This heartwarming story takes place in 1900, two years after the mother of young Verna and Carlie died of typhoid. The girls, along with their mother’s older sister Aunt Maude (who now helps take care of them), and their father, a well-known psychiatrist, have come to Michigan so the father can take a position at [...]

Anti-War Books for Young People

If you are interested in books that help impart an anti-war message to your children, there is a WIKI that might be of interest to you here. This is a database “built by librarians, educators, parents, and readers of all ages.” You can browse in the following categories: Preschool and Kindergarten Early Elementary Grades Preteens [...]

Review of “Herbert’s Wormhole” by Peter Nelson and Rohitash Rao (For Ages 8-12)

Alex Filby loves video games. But as the summer before sixth grade began, he promised his parents that as soon as he had mastered AlienSlayer 2, he would play outside. Unfortunately, just as he zapped the last Alien Invader in AlienSlayer 2, AlienSlayer:3-D! arrived in stores. Alex reluctantly kept his promise however, and even kept [...]

May 13, 1862 – The Slave Robert Smalls Made A Daring Break For Freedom

Robert Smalls, a slave used by Confederates in Charleston, South Carolina during the Civil War to pilot the steamship Planter, committed an amazingly daring and brave act to win freedom for himself and his family. In the early morning hours of May 13, the white captain and crew of Planter were ashore for the night [...]

C.O.R.A. Diversity Roll Call Meme

This is a weekly meme hosted by Color Online, an online community committed to the promotion, empowerment, and political awakening of young women. The theme this week (posted here) is Young Adult (YA) fiction. The questions we are asked to address include any of the following: 1) Provide a list of YA writers of color [...]

Review of “The Deep” by Helen Dunmore (Ages 10 and Up)

The Deep is reminiscent of “The Secret of Roan Inish,” a lovely haunting movie by written and directed by John Sayles about life on an island off the west coast of Ireland, and a race of selkies, part-human and part-seal. The Deep is different in that it takes place in the waters around Cornwall and [...]

May 11, 1918 – Birthday of Richard Feynman

Richard Feynman was an outstanding theoretical physicist, raconteur, musician, and teacher. Among his many other accomplishments, he introduced an ingenious schematic form of simple notations (now called Feynman Diagrams) to describe the complex behavior of subatomic particles. In 1965, he shared the Nobel Prize in Physics for work in quantum electrodynamics. He died of a [...]

Sunday Salon – Supplement

*****CONTEST NOW CLOSED***** There is such widespread suffering in society from diseases that are not well understood, such as digestive disorders and autism. One of the best, most trustworthy online sources for medical information is the National Institutes of Health. Among the excellent services it offers is a National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse and also [...]