Book Blab @ Stevenson H. S.

Post by Lisa Dettling

I hope your summer has been restful and full of great reads. In between playing chauffeur for my two children, going to New York to see my last Yankee game at Yankee Stadium, and driving to northern Minnesota, I have actually read quite a bit. Surprisingly, my favorite book this summer happened to be a 2008 Newbery Medal Honor book by Christopher Paul Curtis called Elijah of Buxton. This is a gem for all ages. Originally I thought I would not read this book because the main character is only 11 years-old. I thought it would be too young for high school students but a public library librarian talked me into reading this. I took her advice and learned so much about the underground railroad and Buxton, an organized black settlement in Ontario, Canada for free and escaped slaves from the United States. I had no idea this settlement existed.

Charlene Chausis asked me to assist her in a workshop at Stevenson on July 30th called Live at the Library of Congress which taught educators about the collections within American Memory at the LOC. As I was navigating the LOC I began seeing multiple curriculum connections for Elijah of Buxton that could work for middle school or high school students. What impressed me most was the African American History collection that contains audio slave narratives. These bring the voices of former slaves to life. It is amazing and humbling to hear these individuals tell their stories. This is only one small example of what is available at the LOC. Give it a try and tell me what you think.