Black Birds the the Sky

by Brandy Colbert

Week 5:  Native American/African American Literature

This week's theme was to find young adult books about Native American or African Americans as the lead characters or topic.  As I was trying to find a book for this theme I googled "Young Adult African American literature"  This sent me to a list of books considered "young adult" of about 25 books for suggestions.  "Black Birds in the Sky" was one listed and it mentioned that it was about the "Tulsa Race Massacre."  I thought this sounded like a good read because I live in Oklahoma and know some about the Tulsa Race Massacre but not as much as I would like. The book does cover how the negro part of Tulsa were attacked and many were killed in 1921. 

I found the book on my public library app on my phone and downloaded it to read.  I prefer holding a book but this was easier.  Right away I could tell that this was not a read for "entertainment."  It was not a personal story (which I was hoping) it was more of an informative text.  It reads like something straight out of a history book.  It even goes into the history of Oklahoma becoming a state.  

I understand that in order to talk about the "Tulsa Race Massacre" there is a lot of background knowledge to cover in order for it to make any sense of what events lead up to it happening.  However this was not very entertaining book, unless you just love historical facts.  For this reason, it was kind of a hard read.  If it had been written as a story it would have been much more enjoyable.  Honestly, the best part of the book were the quotes from the actual survivors and the photos. 

 I made it through the book, and some of the stories were very interesting.  I just didn't feel that this type of book would be something that many young adults would find entertaining.  It just depends on the person reading the book and what they are wanting to get out of it, entertainment or information or both.   I was hoping for both.