Searching for Sarah Rector

Bolden, Tonya. Searching for Sarah Rector. Abrams, 2014. 80pp. Lexile 1050.

In my experience, many kids care about the topic  of money, making a book about the once-wealthiest black girl in America inherently interesting to them.  Sarah Rector was the descendant of slaves owned by the Creek Indian nation, who took them from the South to the West.  After the Civil War, those former slaves became known Creek freedmen and each one, including children, received an allotment of land in the area that is now Oklahoma.  In 1914, when Sarah Rector was 12, oil was found on her allotment and she started receiving royalties from a drilling company.  Along with the new wealth came problems such as who could be trusted to be her financial guardian.  Bolden sets the story skillfully in historical context of the slavery and the West.  Since facts about Sarah Rector are sparse and not always reliable, Bolden shares her research process with readers.  A gorgeous piece of bookmaking, the volume integrates photographs and other graphics to convey time, place, and people. Back matter includes an author’s note, glossary, source notes, bibliography, and index.

Reading Information Std #3: Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.  One of the key elements in Rector's story is the relationship between the Creek Indians and their African-American slaves, including what happened after the Civil War.  Have students trace that relationship through this book, and also compare each group's relationship with whites.  Interested students might pursue research about the Seminole Indians and black slaves.

Navajo Code Talkers: America's Secret Weapon in World War II

Aaseng, Nathan. Navajo Code Talkers: America's Secret Weapon in World War II. 2005. Available in paperback. 114pp. Lexile: 1170.

This is a terrific story that deserves a wide audience, yet was kept secret by government order for decades.  During World War II, the Marines recruited Navajos to develop and transmit an unbreakable code based on their native language. The irony is that boarding schools for Indians run by the government had vigorously tried to suppress Navajo and other Indian languages, washing out children’s mouths with soap when they spoke their native language.  The Navajo marines faced danger and death in the Pacific as they received and transmitted messages on the forefront of the fighting, messages instrumental in many key battles. As one major is quoted as saying, “Were it not for the Navajo code, we would never have taken Iwo Jima.”  This is not only a great war story but also a story of great generosity as Navajos whose tribe had been severely mistreated by the U.S. government nevertheless fought and died for their country.  Includes a useful map of the Pacific battle sites.

Fiction tie-in  Pair this with Joseph Bruchac’s 2005 novel, Code Talker, about a fictional Navajo Marine, schooled at a harsh boarding school, where speaking Navajo is punished.  As a teenager, he joins the Marines to be a code talker during the war, seeing brutal action in Guadalcanal, Guam, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa.