Rosa Parks & Claudette Colvin: Civil Rights Heroes by Tracey Baptiste, illustrated by Shauna Grant

You probably know who Rosa Parks was, and it’s likely you’ve also heard of Claudette Colvin.  But did  you know the two women knew each other?  And do you know what teenager Colvin was up to during the time of the 1955-56 Montgomery Bus Boycott?  

In this double biography of the two civil rights figures author Baptiste and illustrator Grant give readers the missing pieces needed to better understand the events of the Montgomery Bus Boycott,  and the brave actions of Parks and Claudette,  all done in comic book format.

Adolescent readers who enjoy comics as well as reading about history and civil rights heroes will enjoy this book as will Social Studies teachers.  --Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Baptiste, Tracey.  History Comics: Rosa Parks and Claudette Colvin.  New York: First Second, 2023.  Print.

Incredible Hulk by Jason Aaron: The Complete Collection

Finally they’ve split themselves apart. The Hulk and Bruce Banner are now two separate beings able to go their separate ways - at least that’s what they think!  After wanting nothing more than to live without the Hulk,  Bruce Banner’s wish finally comes true, only to realize he needs the monster within him more than he expected. 

Meanwhile The Hulk believes his life will be different now that he is rid of Banner,  but   trouble finds them both descending into a pit of madness and suddenly they find themselves intertwined once again through unforeseen circumstances.

 

Can The Hulk and Bruce Banner keep their separate identities? Or will fighting for their individuality destroy everything around them? Any Marvel or Action comic book reader should be sure to pick this one up.--Claudio Leon

Aaron, Jason. The Incredible Hulk by Jason Aaron: The Complete Collection. New York: Marvel, 2017. Print.

Digital Data Security by Heather C. Hudak

This is a well-rounded look at data security written on at a middle school reading level explaining how data breaches happen and how readers can protect themselves. Readers are also given information about digital literacy, and each chapter introduces important vocabulary,  as how to research more about digital data security. The author also explains how to evaluate primary, secondary and tertiary sources.  

Text blocks are broken up by pictures, charts and graphs to highlight information. This book is a great starting point for learning  about digital data security and information literacy.--Claudio Leon

Hudak, Heather C. Digital Data Security. Crabtree Publishing Co. 2019. Print

Frederick Douglass in Brooklyn edited by Theodore Hamm

New York City mayor Eric Adams wrote a note prefacing this account of the towering 19th century figure Frederick Douglass making the book especially relevant and timely to us New Yorkers today.

In his intro the book’s editor provides the reader with context for meeting Douglass through the eyes of the poet Walt Whitman and the “varied reactions to his positions on abolition and black equality thus illustrate the ways in which those issues shaped the city in its formative decades.”  

Each of the book’s chapters highlights a speech Douglass made in Brooklyn between 1859 and 1893 and are fascinating primary sources including contemporary public responses to his ideas.  Thus the reader is given crucial, often painful insight into how Brooklynites viewed issues of equality 160 years ago.  

Footnotes add important context.  Recommended for educators.--Jessica Fenster-Sparber