Game Changer: John McLendon and the Secret Game

Game Changer: John McLendon and the Secret Game
By John Coy
Illustrated by Randy DuBurke
Carolrhoda Books, 2015. Informational.

On March 12, 1944, members of the Duke University basketball team crossed to the other side of town to play the North Carolina College of Negroes basketball team. Coach John McLendon believed that basketball could change people’s prejudices and set up this secret game—which was illegal at the time due to segregation laws. The Eagles played a fast-paced game that attacked the net, showcasing the future style of basketball, and in the end, the score was Duke 44 -- Eagles 88. After the game ended, they mixed up the teams to play around and ended up hanging out, talking. They all agreed to keep the game a secret so no would get in trouble, but prejudices were changed that day.

A remarkable little known story about a young coach’s courage to challenge segregation in a small way. DuBruke’s watercolors create the feeling of reading a newspaper, capturing the era, to compliment the story. A must read for any basketball fan and a great book to open a discussion about segregation and civil rights with children.

Comments

Dude, That's Rude! (Get Some Manners) by Pamela Espeland & Elizabeth Verdick

If there's one book today's kids need to read, it is Dude, That's Rude! (Get Some Manners) . The authors provide a fun format for teaching etiquette to children. They discuss proper behavior at home, at school, at other people's homes and in public places. The information is completely up-to-date with cellphone manners and netiquette included. Fun, cartoony illustrations are on practically every page giving the book great visual appeal. This book is perfect for boys and girls in the fourth grade or older. WARNING: Bodily functions are discussed.

Faces of the Moon by Bob Crelin

Faces of the Moon by Bob Crelin Illustrated by Leslie Evans Charlesburg; 2009; unpaged Faces of the Moon is a short nonfiction book that describes the different phases of the moon and why the moon appears like it does on certain nights. This book is short and sweet so even the youngest of moon lovers will enjoy it. The layout is simplistic and easy to follow. I don’t know much about the moon so I found it very interesting.

Review: The Factory

The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages. Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...

Provo Library Children's Book Blog

Search This Blog