TITLE: The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight
for Civil Rights
AUTHOR: Steve Sheinkin
PUBLISHER: Roaring
Brook Press
COPYRIGHT DATE: 2014
AGE RANGE: 10-14
years
LEXILE LEVEL: 950L
ACCELERATED READER:
Level: 6.7, Points: 6
SUMMARY:
Before Rosa Parks sat on a bus and
said “No”, before Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “had a dream”, before Jackie
Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball, before Civil Rights became a
movement…50 young African-American men joined the U. S. Navy during World War
II.
At the time, the U. S. Armed Forces were segregated. White soldiers and
sailors and African-American soldiers and sailors had separate bunk houses, ate
separately and performed separate duties. At the U. S. Naval Base of Port
Chicago in California, it was the duty of African-American sailors to load
ammunition (bombs) onto war ships. Many of these sailors were young—still
in their teens. The young sailors felt they were not given proper
training in handling such dangerous cargo. On July 17, 1944, a massive
explosion occurred on the loading dock of Port Chicago, sinking two war ships,
leveling the loading pier, killing 320 servicemen and wounding hundreds
more.
The surviving servicemen were transported to a nearby naval base to return to
duty. Find out what happens next when these same sailors were ordered to
load ammunition again.
CRITIQUE:
Very interesting non-fiction book from the author of Bomb (a 2015 Rebecca Caudill nominee) about the racial views and
eventual de-segregation of the U. S. Armed Forces, specifically the U. S.
Navy. When these 50 understandably frightened young men refused to load ammunition
again, but would do any other given task, they were arrested and tried for
mutiny (which came with a death sentence) and all found guilty.
Thurgood Marshall, a lawyer at the time, followed their case and later appealed
the guilty verdict. He was unsuccessful. By this time, WWII was
over and the nation would have regarded the death sentence for these 50 young
men in this high-profile case as extreme. They were quietly released from
the Naval prison and put back on active duty in the Navy, but were branded as
mutineers for the rest of their lives.
REVIEW:
Receiving a starred
review, Kirkus reports, “In this thoroughly researched and well-documented
drama, Sheinkin lets the participants tell the story, masterfully lacing the
narrative with extensive quotations drawn from oral histories, information from
trial transcripts and archival photographs.” (Kirkus, 2013)
AWARDS:
“2014 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for
Excellence in Nonfiction
2014 National Book Award Finalist
2015 Carter G. Woodson Book Award”
(Sheinkin, 2017)
RELATED MATERIAL:
American Patriots:
the Story of Blacks in the Military from the Revolution to Desert Storm
by Tonya Bolden
Courage has No Color: the True Story of the Triple
Nickles: America's first Black Paratroopers by Tanya Lee Stone
Thurgood Marshall
by Lisa Aldred
REFERENCES:
Kirkus. (2013,
November 20). Kirkus Review: The Port Chicago 50 Disaster, Mutiny, and
the Fight for Civil Rights. Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/steve-sheinkin/port-chicago-50/
Sheinkin, S. (2017). The
Port Chicago 50 Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights. Retrieved
from http://stevesheinkin.com/books/the-port-chicago-50/
My dad was a sergeant in WW II and the history of that conflict (as well as the holocaust) is an interest of mine.
ReplyDeleteThe story of these young men is not one I'm familiar with, but it sounds like you've chose 3 excellent additional books for readers wanting to learn more.
I recently read one of Steve Sheinkin's books, Undefeated, so I'm familiar with his style. I'm curious what you thought of this book by this author. In your critique you write that it was "very interesting", but I woas wondering what you found so interesting, besides the story itself. Was there something in Sheinkin's pacing or phrasing that you especially liked? Was it the photos that accompany the story? I know you provided a snippet of the Kirkus Review, but in future blog posts, I think it would be great if you share YOUR impressions along with a specific example or two from the book. THANKS!
Hi Cristi,
DeleteThank you for your comment and question. In answer to your question about what I found interesting about this book, my answer would be learning about the segregated nature of the U. S. Armed Services written about in this pre-Civil Rights Movement era of our nation's history. I was born after, but not much after, the Civil Rights Movement; and yet, I feel that my primary and secondary education did not do much to explain this part of history. Whenever I come across a book that describes what life was like for those segregated against, I marvel at how often history repeats itself...and yet, what do we as human beings ever learn from the practice of separating people from one another with the idea that one group is better than another?
Melinda,
ReplyDeleteI haven’t read this book, but it sounds like an amazing story. I was troubled to read how the men were arrested and tried for mutiny; very unjust. So, I’m wondering how the author addressed the sensitive subject of racism. Do you think it was written in a tactful way appropriate for youth? I asked because I found a NYT review of this book, and this is what the reviewer had to say:
“Young adult readers are likely to be shocked by Sheinkin’s portrayal of institutional racism in 1940s America. So often Americans think of the war years as a time when the nation pulled together in a democratizing common effort. That myth clearly leaves out the African-American experience” (Smith, 2014). So, I’m curious what your thoughts are on this.
Obviously, the author conducted a lot of research to write this book. The Source Notes are quite lengthy. It makes me appreciate nonfiction works when you consider the research and writing process nonfiction authors go through. To me, it increases the value of nonfiction works even more, especially when used for educational sources.
Reference
Smith, S. (2014, February 26). Hazardous Duty. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/26/books/the-port-chicago-50-by-steve-sheinkin.html?mcubz=0
Thank you for your question.
DeleteIt's been a while since I read this book, but I wanted to reply to your question about Steve Sheinkin's handling of the subject matter of racism in the military. It's been a while since I read the book, but I do not remember anything in Mr. Sheinkin's way of writing that I would describe as tackless with his regard to the subject matter. I would say that his writing is based on exhaustive research--and at times can be frank, but not necessarily without tact.
What I would say about the New York Times quote that you supplied as that young readers are likely to be shocked at the history (the segregation of the U.S. military) that happened, not in the way that Mr. Sheinkin wrote about it.