In 1942 the Downs family was returning home to Texas from South America by ship. It was dangerous to travel by sea at that time. World War II was going on and German submarine crews were out searching for large ships to torpedo-- in fact German submarine captains were competing to see who could destroy the largest number of ships. The ship the Downs family was on was torpedoed and all four family members ended up in the freezing water floating on bits of the ship and pieces of wood. They had to contend with sharks, hypothermia, and sunburns. This is an amazing story of a family caught up in World War II, a story of adventure and ultimately, survival.
Savannah Riddle is lucky. As a daughter of an upper class African American family in Washington D.C., she attends one of the most rigorous public schools in the nation--black or white--and has her pick among the young men in her set. But lately the structure of her society--the fancy parties, the Sunday teas, the pretentious men, and shallow young women--has started to suffocate her.
Then Savannah meets Lloyd, a young West Indian man from the working class who opens Savannah's eyes to how the other half lives. Inspired to fight for change, Savannah starts attending suffragist lectures and socialist meetings, finding herself drawn more and more to Lloyd's world. This historical fiction book tells of Washington DC in 1919.
MCBA 2021: Students in grades 4 -6 may read and vote on their favorite book from this list chosen by the Massachusetts Children's Book Award at Salem State. We will vote in March. We own many of the titles as print books and/ or e-books and audiobooks. Please reach out if you'd like more information! kathleen_moriarty@psbma.org
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