One More River to Cross: The Stories of Twelve Black Americans

Jim Haskins' `One More River to Cross' is a wonderful book to utilize in the classroom during Black History Month. It combines 12 biographies of some of America's finest African Americans, ranging from Matthew Henson (who was one of the first to reach the North Pole) to Malcom X. The people who it addresses are timeless figures; most of which students will have little knowledge about, but each biography is impressive and different than the any other. Names like Charles Drew, who is credited with isolating blood plasma, will be new to most, but this only leaves room for more research to be done by students. Although the book is 215 pages long, it is easy to use in the classroom by having students read a few chapters a day and then possibly journaling their reaction. Any of the people in this book could easily have a biography written about them that totals more than 215 pages, so each story is certainly abbreviated. This is a major drawback of the book; it feels rushed at times and sometimes leaves the reader feeling like you haven't gotten the whole story. Also, as many of the biographies deal with lesser known figures of history, students may see them as not important. As an educator, you must teach them how everyone involved with history is important, regardless of the amount of attention they received. You could have them compare two figures in history. For instance, you could have them show how MLK Jr. (who is not in the book) is important, as is Crispus Attucks (who is in the book), who was involved in the Revolutionary War. The book says it should be read at a 4th grade level, but I believe it would work better in the 6th grade classroom, due to some of the words involved in the book. This book could also be used in a high school setting though, with more emphasis put on the assignments used outside of the book, for instance an essay on which figure spoke most to a student and why. This book is specifically written for the classroom, thus the reason it is published by Scholastic Trade, and even though it was originally published in 1992, it is far from outdated. Outside of the classroom, I personally enjoyed this book. It is an easy read that is hard to put down. However, if one must put it down, the chapter lengths make it easy to put down and pick up again whenever. I also enjoyed learning about some of America's lesser known heroes. We seem to focus on the same figures, and with some good reason, but it is nice to hear about others. I would strongly suggest reading this book to celebrate the rich cultural history of America and enlighten both yourself and your students.

One More River to Cross, by Jim Haskins, portrays the perseverance and dignity represented by hard working people who had to overcome many obstacles. It is a biography of twelve black Americans who fought to make a difference and tried to change the world to make it fair and equal. They all excelled in many different areas like, art, science, politics, sports, astronomy etc. Even though they did different things, they shared the same goal of making a difference and contribution to end segregation and racism. They all went through very difficult moments due to how they were treated, but they were all determined to change their lifestyles. This book is great, since it teaches you of how hard life was for blacks and how they managed to change it, although it took them a long time. I really liked it, and it made me think and realize all they went through and how they should really be remembered for what they did.

the story is easy to read , and easy to understand. It shows a lot of details and it is important to black history because it describes the contribution of 12 people to black history