Heather Adamson

Quite honestly, I am shocked that this book has never caused any controversy. Basically, it details perspectives during the Civil Rights Movement in the vain of a Choose Your Own Adventure. Reading these kinds of books, I shamelessly revel in choosing the most dangerous/destructive paths, purposely putting these characters in as much danger as possible. For fictional characters and settings, this is fine; but when you do that in an actual time (with albeit fictional characters), it can show more trivialize real struggles. Thus, although I give Adamson credit for presenting popular and unpopular views on social issues, she toes the line between informatively and offensively handling a delicate subject. show less

This short book is an easy read for students who want a fact based story. It begins by comparing different types of fast animals; land, sea and many more. After this it gives everyday examples like dogs and dragonflies for students to relate to. The perks of this book for me where the parent teacher ideas at the back. It gives a layout of how to read the book.

"Animals with Speed" is a book about different particularly speedy animals. It mentions that the cheetah is the fastest land animal and can run as fast as a car on the freeway. Sailfish can swim as fast as cheetahs, and the fastest land reptile can run across a tennis court in 8 seconds. This book includes a table of contents and glossary. I do not think I would use this book in my classroom. Even though there is some interesting information, it doesn't really teach much to students. It show more talks about the speed of a lot of animals, but doesn't really mention how fast they can actually move. It says the cheetah moves as fast as a car on the freeway. What if students do not know what a freeway is? What if they have never been on one, or have no idea how fast cars go on the freeway? I think it would have been more beneficial to say something like "A cheetah can move up to 65 miles per hour, about as fast as a car on the freeway!" I think providing some numbers in this book would have made it more interesting. show less

In this book you learn about different people, places, and segregation. Segregation has always set this country apart. Some people that were mentioned in this book are Martin Luther King Jr., four girls who were killed in the bombing of a church in Birmingham, John F. Kenndey, and Jim Crow. It was very depressing to read this book and learn what they did to someone just because their skin was black. People were whipped, starved in jails, weren't allowed to eat in some restaurants, and beaten show more with metal. When little kids started protesting, the first day they peacefully arrested them but the second day when the jails were full they sprayed them with fire hoses.

This was a great book to learn with but it was very depressing. The words she used helped me picture everything but not so that I was going to cry. These were very cruel times but now we have learned to accept and give everyone equal rights. It was said that Birmingham, Alabama was one of the most segregated states. When I read about what people in Alabama did to blacks I was astonished. It was like they had no heart when it came to desegregation. I'm positive that some people still want segregation which is very sad but I hope that one day EVERYONE accepts that people are meant to be different , and we should treat everyone with the same amount of respect. show less