Raymond Obstfeld

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

I groaned when I saw this sports book in my pile to review, but it surprised me by being readable, entertaining, and full of simple truths about growing up that I think any kid will recognize. Including my inner ten-year-old. The basketball scenes were described so well that I had no trouble picturing the action (even for someone who doesn't watch basketball much), and since main character Theo is on the school's "Aca-lypmic" trivia team as well as the basketball show more team, it's also chock-full of interesting facts about art, music, literature, and science. For younger readers not ready for Matthew Quick's Boy 21, I'd recommend this as a smart, well-written sports novel with a lot of heart. show less

Kareem Abdul -Jabber composes a wonderful collection of history of famous african american inventors and innovators throughout American history in the context of a fictional story about storytelling at its finest. The story speaks of Ella and Herbie, two young black children spending time with a young fixer upper Mr. Mital , who is taking care of their new home that mom just bought. Mr. Mital takes every opportunity to turn objects in the house into a museum of history as he explains the show more many untold African American inventors who made brought those things to life, such as Dr. Henry Sampson and the gamma electric cell, or Daniel Hale Williams and open heart surgery. Children at a young age, from grades 1-3 or beyond would love this book as it fills the senses with open flaps and graphic designs detailing the life of each innovator all in the context of a wonderful story of two children discovering their new home. It's an inspiring account and inspirational for any young black child to know this untold history. As Mr. Mital explains, history and invention is like a bucket brigade, where the bucket gets passed between hands but the last person who throws it on the fire gets all the credit. How true! show less

Who knew how many wonderful, essential and fun things were invented or innovated by African Americans! This book does a great job of sharing some of that information in an easy and fun way that kids and adults can easily understand. I had no idea that color graphics for PC's, 3-D movie glasses, microphones for cell phones and the ice-cream scoop were all invented by African Americans. I hope all American schools have this book in their school library. And I hope that soon all American show more schools actually teach American History without a political or racial bias, so our children have a true and complete understanding of our country's history. show less

There's something for everyone in this book. It's co-written by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, it includes a narrative with bickering 13 year-old twins, there are pictures, fold-out "notepads", text boxes with biographies, a few graphic narratives, and lots and lots of interesting facts. While aimed at middle school students, sometimes the narrative seemed more suited to a younger audience (a magical handyman?). Nonetheless, the information presented on the many African-American's whose inventions and show more innovations have impacted our history and our everyday lives is fascinating and calls into question why they haven't been featured before. Among almost all their stories runs the theme of overcoming hardship to help others. I also like that the book explains the evolving nature of inventions/innovations; each person is standing on the shoulders of those who came before. show less