Norman H. Finkelstein (1941–2024)

Great story about how the wealthy president of Sears, Roebuck and Company and noted philanthropist, heavily influenced by Booker T. Washington, spent millions of his fortune to help build thousands of well-designed and fully equipped schools for black children. His philanthropy also extended to funding black colleges and fellowships to students pursuing higher education. Accessibly written and handsomely designed. I wish the author the author discussed more in the detail the differing show more education philosophies of Washington and W.E.B. DuBois. show less

Compares how life was in the 1950s and 1960s to how things are now and points out that the “good old days” were probably not as good as people remembered. Life today is safer, cleaner, healthier and longer thanks to activism, new technologies, research and discoveries. Not terribly well-written--reads like a listing of events. But it’s interesting to see how far society has come.

Reviewed by Grandma Bev for TeensReadToo.com

A hotel owner named Orteig offered the first pilot to fly nonstop across the Atlantic, from New York to Paris, a prize of $25,000. In 1919, aviation was in its infancy and that was a great deal of money, but by 1927 the prize still had not been awarded, and the feat was considered impossible.

This is the story of the first three men to shepherd their tiny planes across the great Atlantic.

Charles Lindbergh, "Lucky Lindy," who was virtually unknown, show more flew the Spirit of St. Louis. He had tried in vain to be the pilot of the Columbia, but was rejected. Charles A. Levine owned the Columbia, but decided on the well-known test pilot, Clarence Chamberlin, to be at the controls. The Columbia already held the world's endurance record, having flown over 30,000 miles. The third plane was the multi-engined America, piloted by Richard E. Byrd, the Arctic explorer, and held a crew of four.

All the world watched as the impossible feat became reality.

Finklestein captures the excitement of the times as he traces the rise of aviation from the first flight of the Kitty Hawk to the great Atlantic race. He tells the history of each man, their dreams of greatness, and the setbacks and problems they encountered. The book is illustrated with black and white photographs throughout that show everything from the instrument panels and crowded cockpits of the planes to pictures of the pilots and the crowds that greeted them at the finish lines.

I thoroughly enjoyed this sojourn back into history and comparing it to today's aviation miracles that are just taken for granted. THREE ACROSS tells of one of history's finest moments and belongs in every school library. show less

Well done story of how, Julius Rosenwald, a self made industrialist, the head of the Sears, Roebuck department stores, led the battle for improved educational opportunities for the African American communities across the South by helping to fund the building of new schools and hiring qualified teachers.