I have to say, this week's read was an interesting and surprising one. When I really get into a book, show, movie, etc., I know I love it by the way I let out little squeals or verbally announce my thoughts as they are going through my mind. I love a good mystery book, and The Parker Inheritance is truly one-of-a-kind.
The author of The Parker Inheritance, Varian Johnson, incorporated many aspects of his own personal experiences growing up in South Carolina as a black male. I love that he has written a book that is captivating and interesting while using his writing to bring awareness to different aspects of diversity and social justice issues. Also, you don't see many mystery books being written that feature African Americans as the main characters, so I can see this book lighting the way for other minorities being featured as main characters in mystery books and other genres as well.
I also love this book because so much rich history around segregation and Civil Rights is incorporated throughout. It shows both the oppression African Americans faced and still face today, as well as their resilience and what they overcame. There are many affordances to this book, which I will list and discuss further below.
Affordances
I think this is such a great book to use for teaching different aspects of social justice issues as well as history for students who are in late elementary or middle school. I think this book is especially meaningful for teachers and students living in the Carolinas because the story takes place in South Carolina. As a beginning teacher, I often think about how I will address social issues in my classroom and create a learning environment that is welcoming, inclusive, and observant. Because I have no personal experience facing oppression or social injustice because of my race, I often feel uncomfortable when thinking about how I would discuss those issues. But I also have come to understand that I can educate myself, and reading books like The Parker Inheritance helps me understand more about social aspects I have no personal experience with.
Diverse Social Aspects Included in the Book (to name a few):
- racial injustice/fighting for justice
- the Civil Rights Movement
- female oppression
- divorce
- gender identity and sexual orientation
- interracial relationships
- segregation
- religion
Classroom Implications
There are so many ways to incorporate this book into reading and writing instruction and social studies instruction in the classroom. I always think it is important to establish background knowledge before using the book to teach with, so I would recommend putting together a text set (wink, wink) that goes along with the book. This is exactly what my classmates and I did after reading The Parker Inheritance. A multi-modal text I chose to go along with this book is Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women & The Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly, illustrated by Laura Freeman. I chose this book because it also includes many important historical details about the Civil Rights Movement and segregation laws, and it also gives light to what female African Americans faced in their everyday lives. As part of the text set, I also included a trailer for the film Hidden Figures, based on the book.
Showing the trailer or the film would be a great way to kick off discussions about oppression, racial and gender inequality, the Civil Rights Movement, and its relation to The Parker Inheritance. I think using the movie and book would also be a great way to talk about how African Americans have been overlooked in America's history. It's very common to learn about Neal Armstrong, but what about the African American women that helped him complete his journey to the moon?
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