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10 young adult books for smart readers of all ages

Here are 10 young adult books for readers of all ages who like to learn.

3. "The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights," by Steve Sheinkin

  • By Ross Atkin Contributor

(Roaring Brook Press, 208 pp.)

In 1944, a massive explosion rocked the Port Chicago Navy base in San Francisco harbor, killing 320 servicemen and ultimately leading black men assigned to bomb-loading duty at the port to question the conditions and justice of their service. 

EXCERPT:

“From the Navy’s point of view, the sailors at Port Chicago were treated like any other enlisted men. All sailors had dangerous jobs, and there was no use whining about it. ‘There was no discrimination or any unusual treatment for these men,’ a Navy report insisted.

“But naval leaders were ignoring one essential point – segregation was discrimination. The very fact that black sailors were stuck at Port Chicago instead of being allowed to fight was discrimination. And the black sailors felt it, even if the white officers didn’t.

“‘We used to talk about what big fools we were, you know, only black boys loading ammunition,’ Martin Bordenave remembered. ‘Only white boys can go aboard ships.’

“‘You didn’t see no white boys out there loading,’ said another sailor, Willie Gay. ‘I guess they figured that was all we were good for.’”

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Mark Sappenfield
Editor

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