Bibliography Bartoletti, Susan C. 2010. They Called Themselves the K.K.K.: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group. New York: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 9780618440337 Plot Summary Following the Civil War, six young Confederate war veterans started a club, the Ku Klux Klan, which quickly grew from their small town of Pulaski, Tennessee to encompass and enflame the passion of men across the South. This nonfiction title tells the tale of the K.K.K. from its modest beginnings to the widespread terrorist organization it became. With vivid accounts of actual events taken from oral histories, diaries, and Congressional documents, this book takes readers on a ride through history with the most chilling of details. Critical Analysis “Boys, let us get up a club.” With those seven words, an organization bent on terrorizing minorities and restoring the South to its former glory was born. In her vivid, chilling, and detailed informational book, Bartoletti uses personal accounts of actual events and actions of the Ku Klux Klan taken from oral histories, diaries, newspapers, magazines, and government documents. Bartoletti cites all of her sources, including documentation for each quote she uses at the end of the book. She also documents her trip to Pulaski, the birthplace of the K.K.K. and includes an extensive bibliography and source notes. A Civil Rights Timeline and Index further help the reader confirm and review important events, people, laws, etc. passed during this tumultuous time. Bartoletti is known for her accurate, unbiased representation of historic events from multiple time periods. She is also known for her dedicated research and immersion into the important events, people, and actions during that particular event. Some of her other well known works are listed below in “Connections.” Bartoletti meticulously documents all of her sources and research to present the best, most accurate version of history to her readers. Also included in this book are political cartoons, photographs, documents, and other images that enhance the text and add depth to the story being told. Each image is documented and has notes accompanying it that describe and detail its significance to the story. The story is organized into chapters which are presented in the Table of Contents at the beginning of the book. There is also an epilogue that addresses how the struggle for freedom continued for the freedmen through the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and beyond. Each chapter is noticeably titled with a quote from one of the histories presented in the chapter. The quotes are vivid and summarize the content of the chapter in an engaging and memorable way. They Called Themselves the K.K.K. is written in a style that is story-like. It engages the reader by feeling as if you are reading a story, not a piece of nonfiction or informational text. The way the text and graphics are laid out is interesting, adds to the flow of the story, and gives the reader breaks in the text with pictures, quotes, and documents. There is a lot of important information included in this book. This information could be overwhelming, especially to young adult readers. It is presented in a way, however, that is interesting, readable, and aesthetically appealing. The information, though intense and deep, is engaging and encourages the reader to think deeply about his/her own feelings and knowledge of cultural/racial history. It is obvious through Bartoletti’s writing, and through her bibliography and source notes at the end of the text, that she takes creating an accurate historical and informational text very seriously. This book is engaging, educational, and thought-provoking. It is truly an eye-opening read that will captivate readers and provide a window into the past. Response This title was engaging, thought-provoking, and at times difficult to read due to the intensity of its subject. The honest way in which Bartoletti writes, including vivid and accurate details of the experiences of those during this time, can be overwhelming at times, but in a good way. Bartoletti does an amazing job of communicating the past accurately, but in a way that feels as if you are reading a story, not a nonfiction text. I enjoyed reading this book and will be book talking it with my high school students in the near future. Honors 2011 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Finalist Junior Library Guild Selection Kirkus Best Books for Teens 2010 ALA Notable Title CCBC Choices 2011 Title Publisher’s Weekly Best Children’s Book of the Year 2010 School Library Journal Best Children’s Book of the Year 2010 Reviews “Balancing the stories of the Klan and the former slaves’ determination to remake their lives, Bartoletti makes extensive use of congressional testimony, interviews, journals, diaries and slave narratives to allow the players to speak in their own voices as much as possible. Documentation is superb, and even the source notes are fascinating. An exemplar of history writing and a must for libraries and classrooms.” – Kirkus Reviews “[A]nother stand-out contribution to youth history shelves. . . . It’s the numerous first-person quotes, though, that give the book its beating heart, and her searing, expertly selected stories of people on all sides of the violent conflicts will give readers a larger understanding of the conditions that incubated the Klan’s terrorism, how profoundly the freed people and their sympathizers suffered, and how the legacy of that fear, racism, and brutality runs through our own time. . . . [T]his lucid, important title . . . should be required reading for young people, as well as the adults in their lives.” – Booklist “This richly documented, historically contextualized account traces the origin and evolution of the Ku Klux Klan . . . Bartoletti effectively targets teens with her engaging and informative account that presents a well-structured inside look at the KKK, societal forces that spawn hate/terrorist groups, and the research process.” – School Library Journal ”In this comprehensive, accessible account, Newbery Honor author Bartoletti (Hitler Youth) draws from documentary histories, slave narratives, newspapers, congressional testimony, and other sources to chronicle the origins and proliferation of the Ku Klux Klan against the charged backdrop of Reconstruction politics and legislation . . . Copious photos, engravings, and illustrations provide a hard-hitting graphic component to this illuminating book. And while Bartoletti notes that contemporary “hate groups wield none of the power or prestige that the Ku Klux Klan held in earlier years,” her account of attending a Klan meeting while researching the book is chilling to the core.” – Publisher’s Weekly Connections
Other Notable Books by Susan Campbell Bartoletti:
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AuthorMy name is Mrs. Scott and I'm a secondary Media Resource Specialist (librarian) in Texas. This blog was created as part of my graduate coursework at Texas Woman's University. All reviews and opinions are my own.
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