Richmond Tales, Lost Secrets of the Iron Triangle

By Summer Brenner

Book Overview

In Richmond Tales, Lost Secrets of the Iron Triangle, Maisha Yates and Mario Reyes form an unlikely friendship. With the guidance of an elderly friend (Misty Horn), they travel back through Richmond history to Native (Ohlone) times, industrial Richmond in the early 20th century, Richmond in 1942 at the beginning of World War II and the Great Migration; and forward into a beautiful, greened Richmond of 2050. Seeing history through a social justice lens, they bring their experiences of the past forward, applying them to the present and envisioning how their new understanding might help make a better and more equitable Richmond in the future.

GOALS:

attract young people to reading through stories representative of themselvesconnect youth to place by revealing history through their eyesreinforce bridges among cultures and present a model of inclusivityinspire youth to find themselves in the continuum of historyoffer a forum in the classroom to discuss social justice themes and civil societyoffer a tool of empowerment that articulates hope and helps shape agencyaddress the crisis of literacy and by default, the school dropout rateoffer an interdisciplinary text appropriate for both Language Arts and Social Studies

Themes include connection to place, street violence, bullying, history from below, and restorative justice.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0977974146
• ISBN13: 9780977974146
• Release Date: June 2009
• Publisher: Time and Again
• Length: 226 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

This is a children's book

I think that the description of this book is inadequate because it does not make it clear that this is a book for children - I'm thinking like 5th or 6th grade. It does tell an important story though and the author is clearly committed to community development and change and should be commended.

Back to the Future with Color

Two children of color, Maisha Yates and Mario Reyes, meet up in present-day Richmond, a gang-benighted neighborhood of the Bay Area in which kids have lost touch with their future, perhaps because there are no reliable landmarks to the past. Even their elders don't seem to know much about the vibrant past that Richmond has. Summer Brenner is an engaging writer who manages to make every turn of her plot mean something real, though I will say she sometimes seems to overestimate just how interesting a place Richmond is. Maisha and Mario fear the two menacing brothers who lean up against the fence like Gwendolyn Brooks characters, Shannon and Sammy Cooper, who pick on the weak and act like brutes. But Maisha's mother can see something noble in them, noble and lost... When the mismatched black and Mexican kids meet up with Misty Horn, a time traveller in the Iron Triangle, he shows them scenes from the ancient past of Richmond... back to the days when Indians ruled the land... further into the 20th century... when people believed that California was the golden land... and right up into the wartime boom years when Richmond was the shipbuilding center of the West Coast and times were good. Well, they weren't great if you were a kid of color... Mario and Maisha encounter ugly prejudice at a pancake house... and yet they go to a swinging nightclub, for this was the time when black-owned and operated nightclubs and bars were flourishing with a rich music scene to match. I don't want to spoil the ending for you, suffice it to say that an incredibly exciting reveal awaits our courageous young people, who learn that once you get the big picture, your lives can never seem small again.

History and Hope

This is a great story filled with history and hope. Kids from 1 to 101 will enjoy it! I would say this even if I wasn't the illustrator's proud mama! [...]