Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre by Carole Boston Weatherford and Floyd Cooper

 

Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre

by Carole Boston Weatherford and Floyd Cooper

Coretta Scott King Award

Summary:

        This picture book tells the story of a massacre that occurred in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that has been lost to time. Many people are not familiar with the terrible acts that happened there. This book narrates the story in an easily digestible format, approachable for all ages. 

Justification:

        This is an incredible book to add to a library's collection. First, it won the Coretta Scott King Medal, recognizing outstanding books for children and young adults written by African American authors. It also won the Carter G. Woodson Award and was placed on the honor list for the Caldecott Award. Aside from the awards and accolated it received, it accurately and sensitively tells about an important time in history. 

Illustrations:

        The illustrations in this book are beautifully and purposefully crafted. Many of the pictures have a fuzzy quality to them, evoking the same feeling as an old photograph. Some of the prominent faces in the book almost look like they are old photographs, superimposed onto the image. The Black characters in the book have much more detail than the white characters, which makes sense given the subject matter.

Accuracy:

        Admittedly, I did not know much about this topic before reading the book. Though it was a picture book and only gave a brief overview of the historical event, the information was accurate, as far as I can tell, and well-told for the age group. This would be an excellent book to read to a class that is learning about slavery and the civil rights movement. I can imagine that this would spark some excellent conversations among students. 

Style and language:

        The language used within this book is very appropriate for younger age groups, even though the subject matter is difficult. Several of the first few pages begin with "Once upon a time..." which I imagine would be very comforting for children to see. Even though the subject matter may be unfamiliar, the use of this term grounds kids in something that is familiar. 

Weatherford, C. B., & Cooper, F. (2021). Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre. Carolrhoda Books.