Top Ten Text 10

Haskins, James. One More River to Cross: the Stories of Twelve Black Americans. New York: Scholastic, 1992. Print.

One More River to Cross features 12 short autobiographies of prominent, history making African Americans. There are features on Malcom X, Charles Drew, and Madam C.J. Walker. The sections are generally no more than 20 pages and usually much shorter. It show cases the hardships these people had to face as African Americans in their time, as well as their victories in their discoveries, products, or fight for equal rights. While the entire novel could be taught as a whole, each chapter focuses on an individual and allows the teacher to cherry pick the one he or she wants to cover.

I used this early in the year, so I have a lot more room to grow in this text than in some of the ones I used later in the year. It’s easy to read, so my struggling readers can grasp it, but it also helps with identification. Since I mostly taught Hispanics and African Americans, it would often be a trade off in novels with one focusing on each group. I also liked that it covered some unconventional people and not just the usual ones students are usually taught. I never knew Madam C.J. Walker was the first woman millionaire in America, that Charles Drew developed the process for storing blood plasma, or that he died in Burlington. This offers a lot of chances to have students discuss their futures and write their own autobiographies. Plus, it helps build prior-knowledge as we had to talk about the past a great deal so students could actually understand the struggle these people had to face. It’s also a great chance to work on those critical literacies to discuss racism and other real world topics.