[CASL-L] biographies on Barack Obama

[Mary Ellen Minichiello]

Hello,
The following is an excerpt from an author's letter concerning a smear campaign on children's biographies of Barack Obama. Jane Sutcliffe, who is a well-known children's author, wrote the following email about this concern:
I'm not sure if you're aware but there is a new and disturbing trend of political extremists' targeting children's biographies of Barack Obama with a smear campaign. It began with my Barack Obama in November when the Illinois Review published an article twisting a paragraph in the book and attacking it as a tool of the Common Core and promoting reverse racism. The hate mail I received was immediate, vicious, and personal. While I was able to take down the posts on social media, the scathing reviews on Amazon remain. Many admitted to not having read the book. Some called for the book to be burned.

Worst of all, the practice has now spread to other children's biographies of Obama, including Nikki Grimes' Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope, and Roberta Edwards' Who Is Barack Obama?

I'm wondering if you would spread the word among school librarians, perhaps on the CASL listserv, asking anyone with these books on their shelves to read the books and post honest reviews on Amazon to counter the intensely negative ones. I'm certainly not asking for glowing reviews--just an honest opinion from people who have actually read the books. If a librarian does not have time to post a review (and I understand) it would still be beneficial to indicate which existing reviews were the most helpful.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, Irene. I know that librarians in general, and school librarians in particular, have always had a reputation for being vigilant protectors of first amendment rights.


If you own any of these books, would you post a review on Amazon? It doesn't have to be glowing.   Also spread the word to other librarians, who might not follow this list-serv.

Thank you!

Mary Ellen



Mary Ellen Minichiello
CASL President
Library Media Specialist
Calf Pen Meadow School
meminichiello at milforded.org<mailto:meminichiello at milforded.org>

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