What We’re Reading The Teaching Tolerance staff review the latest in culturally aware literature and resources, offering the best picks for professional development and teachers of all grades.

staff picks

In Bad Teacher! How Blaming Teachers Distorts the Bigger Picture, Kevin Kumashiro examines many of the faulty “com-mon sense” ideas that have guided the educational reform movements of the last several decades. If we wish to make schools more equitable, Kumashiro argues, we must move past the current flawed framework for talking about reform. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

“A great example of speaking up to

make change.” –Bridget Strength

“Sets the stage for moving from discussion to dialogue in all communities.”

–Sara Wicht

“Places families and com-munities at the heart of the Trail of Tears discussion.”

–Monita Bell

“A poignant civil rights

era coming-of-age story.”

–Steffany Moyer

58"T E AC H I N G TO L E R A N C E

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENTThis Is Not a Test: A New Narrative on Race, Class, and Education by José Luis Vilson

Race, Empire, and English Language Teaching: Creating Responsible and Ethical Anti-Racist Practice by Suhanthie Motha

MIDDLE & HIGH SCHOOLThe Blossoming Universe of Violet Diamond by Brenda Woods

Push Girl by Chelsie Hill and Jessica Love

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLExclamation Mark by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld

The Girl Who Heard Colors by Marie Harris, illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton

@Tolerance_org

Three Years and Eight Months, written by Icy Smith and illustrated by Jennifer Kindert, is about two courageous boys in Hong Kong who put their lives on the line to join the Chinese resistance effort during World War II. While this story depicts how badly the people of China were treated at the hands of Japanese forces, it also points out that some of the occupiers showed humanity and compassion.ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Waking Up White and Finding Myself in the Story of Race tells of author Debby Irving’s wake-up call: realizing that an inherited leg-acy of white privilege had tainted her with injustice and kept her from really under-standing the racism around her. In time, she learns how to use her privilege to speak up fearlessly against wrong. HIGH SCHOOL

Out & Allied: An Anthology of Performance Pieces Written by LGBTQ Youth and Allies is a collection of both

student voices and action steps for facil-itating dialogue within families, schools, organizations and faith-based communi-ties about LGBTQ youth and allies.PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Narrated by Isaac, a 10-year-old American Indian who has recently become a ghost, Tim Tingle’s How I Became a Ghost: A Choctaw Trail of Tears Story explores the tragedy and heartbreak of the Trail of Tears while also presenting the pride of Choctaw traditions. Students will find humor and horror, levity and weight in this engaging piece of fiction about one of our nation’s darkest hours.MIDDLE SCHOOL

Susan Follett tells the story of C.J. Evans, a young white woman who grows up believ-ing that if she wishes to protect herself, she must always follow society’s rules. When a new friend, a young black man, enters her life, she begins to hope that someday these rules can change. Never patronizing, The

Fog Machine paints an honest picture of Jim Crow and Freedom Summer while empha-sizing that our lives, our ideas and our worlds are shaped by the people we love. HIGH SCHOOL

Most people know about the incredible transformations Malcolm X made during his adult life, from prisoner to activist, fam-ily man, minister and humanitarian. Now, in Malcolm Little: The Boy Who Grew Up to Become Malcolm X, written by Ilyasah Shabazz and beautifully illustrated by AG Ford, the activist’s daughter gives us a glimpse into the tender and trying child-hood that shaped her father.ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

“An incisive look at the motives behind contemporary education reform movements.”

–Steffany Moyer

S P R I N G 2015%59