Social Studies

Historical Events and Eras

McWhorter, Diane. (2004). A dream of freedom : the civil rights movement from 1954 to 1968. New York : Scholastic. 323.1 M479d

In this history of the modern Civil Rights movement, the author focuses on the monumental events that occurred between 1954 (the year of Brown v. the Board of Education) and 1968 (the year that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. Beginning with an overview of the movement since the end of the Civil War, McWhorter also discusses such events as the 1956 MTGS bus boycott, the 1961 Freedom Rides, and the 1963 demonstration in Birmingham, Alabama, among others. The author uses interviews she conducted personally.

Murphy, Jim. (1995). The great fire. New York : Scholastic Inc. 977.3 M978G

A count of the catastrophe that decimated much of Chicago in 1871, forcing more than 100,000 people from their homes.

Sewall, Marcia. (1986). The pilgrims of Plimoth. New York : Atheneum. 974.4 S512p

Chronicles, in text and illustrations, the day-to-day life of the early Pilgrims in the Plimouth Colony.

Jacobs, Francine. (1992). The Tainos : the people who welcomed Columbus. New York : G.P. Putnam's Sons. 972.9 J17t

Describes the history, culture, and mysterious fate of the first native Americans to welcome Columbus in 1492.

Al-Windawi, Thura. (2004). Thura’s diary : my life in wartime Iraq. New York : Viking. 956.7 A477t

Nineteen-year-old Thura al-Windawi traces the days leading up to the bombings in Iraq, the war, and the chaos that followed, describing her life and the reality of war for Iraqi families.  

Libura, Krystyna. (1997). What the Aztecs told me. Toronto : Groundwook Books. 972 L697W

Spanish text based on Historia general de las cosas de Nueva España in the Florentine Codex by Fray Bernardino de Sahagun.

People and Places

Rylant, Cynthia. (1991). Appalachia : the voices of sleeping birds. San Diego : Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. 974 R994a

Text and illustrations explore the countryside and people of Appalachia.

Burleigh, Robert. (1998). Black whiteness : Admiral Byrd alone in the Antarctic. New York : Atheneum Books for Young Readers. 921 B995B

An account of Admiral Richard Byrd's stay alone in a small shack during an Antarctic winter.

Carlson, Laurie M. (1998). Boss of the plains : the hat that won the West. New York : DK Ink/DK Pub. 338.7 C2847B

The story of John Stetson and how he came to create the most popular hat west of the Mississippi.

Krull, Kathleen. (2004). The boy on Fairfield Street : how Ted Geisel grew up to become Dr. Seuss. New York : Random House. 921 S496k

Introduces the life of renowned children’s author and illustrator Ted Geisel, popularly known as Dr. Seuss, focusing on his childhood and youth in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Warren, Andrea. (2004). Escape from Saigon : a Vietnam War orphan becomes an American boy. New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 959.70 W286e

Chronicles the experiences of an orphaned Amerasian boy from his birth and early childhood in Saigon through his departure from Vietnam in the 1975 Operation Babylift and his subsequent life as the adopted son of an American family in Ohio.

Notable Social Studies Books for Young People

"The books that appear in these annotated book lists were evaluated and selected by a Book Review Committee appointed by National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) and assembled in cooperation with the Children's Book Council (CBC). NCSS and CBC have cooperated on this annual bibliography since 1972. Books selected for this bibliography are written primarily for children in grades K-8. The selection committee looks for books that emphasize human relations, represent a diversity of groups and are sensitive to a broad range of cultural experiences, present an original theme or a fresh slant on a traditional topic, are easily readable and of high literary quality, and have a pleasing format and, when appropriate, illustrations that enrich the text. Each book is read by several reviewers, and books are included on the list by committee assent; annotations do not necessarily reflect the judgment of the entire committee."

Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People
http://www.socialstudies.org/resources/notable/