Dark Sky Rising

Starred review from November 1, 2018

Gr 9 Up-Renowned scholar and debut YA author Gates Jr., along with Bolden, have crafted an excellent work on the rise of Jim Crow laws in the South. The authors detail the changing rights of African Americans during the Civil War and the many legal acts that gave rights of citizenship to black people, such as the Emancipation Proclamation; the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution; and the Civil Rights Act of 1875. Also explained are the tides of white violence, racism, and changing political and economic landscapes that prevented or weakened protections. The narrative covers a lot of ground-and does so at occasionally breathtaking speed. The complexity of the subject and sophisticated language will be readable for high school students but is on the more challenging end of the spectrum. The writing is at times lyrical, with repeated phrases and beautifully constructed prose. Historical quotes, photographs, contemporaneous illustrations, and other primary sources that bring depth to the history are presented throughout. VERDICT A first purchase for YA nonfiction collections, especially to support history curriculums.-Elizabeth Nicolai, Anchorage Public Library, AK

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2018
"In your hands you are holding my book...my very first venture in writing for young readers," Gates writes in a preface. And readers can tell...though probably not in the way Gates and co-author Bolden may have aimed for. The book opens with a gripping scene of formerly enslaved African-Americans celebrating the Emancipation Proclamation. It proceeds to engagingly unfold the facts that led to Reconstruction and its reaction, Jim Crow, until it disrupts the flow with oddly placed facts about Gates' family's involvement in the war, name-dropping of other historians, and the occasional conspicuous exclamation ("Land! That's what his people most hungered for"). Flourishes such as that last sit uneasily with the extensive quotations from secondary sources for adults, as if Gates and Bolden are not sure whether their conceptual audience is young readers or adults, an uncertainty established as early as Gates' preface. They also too-frequently relegate the vital roles of black women, such as Harriet Tubman, to sidebars or scatter their facts throughout the book, implicitly framing the era as a struggle between African-American men and white men. In the end, this acts as a reminder to readers that, although a person may have a Ph.D. and have written successfully in some genres and media, that does not mean they can write in every one, even with the help of a veteran in the field. Well-intentioned, well-researched, but awkwardly written considering the caliber of the scholar and his expected scholarship. (selected sources, endnotes, index) (Nonfiction. 8-12)

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January 1, 2019
Grades 7-11 A striking image on the book jacket will draw readers to this richly informative but uneven presentation on the many progressive changes during the Reconstruction era, as well as their later dismantling, which led to a resurgence of intolerance, injustice, and violence against black Americans, particularly in the South. The book is well researched, though densely packed with facts and often written in complex sentences, including many quotes from nineteenth-century documents and later historians. The writers assume that their readers have a fuller knowledge of the period and a larger vocabulary than can be expected of most middle-grade readers. Attempting to clarify a quote from Andrew Johnson, inchoate is defined within the text as embryonic, a word nearly as puzzling to most young readers. Black-and-white reproductions of archival photos, prints, and documents illustrate the text. While the topic is complex and perhaps too broad for one book, it's also fundamental to understanding the background of racial issues in America. A challenging but worthwhile choice for somewhat older readers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2019
With Tonya Bolden. Beginning with the Emancipation Proclamation, African American scholar Gates documents the people and events that led to the end of the Civil War and the beginning of Reconstruction; the readable narrative then describes the debates, violence, and racism that ensued. Quotes from influential people along with black-and-white drawings and photos help tell the story of this overlooked period in history. Bib., ind.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)