This informational text provides important context and details regarding the murders and legacies of Andrew Goodman, James Chaney, and Michael Schwerner. Map, Endnotes, Author’s Note on Sources, Bibliography

This book is a masterpiece for teaching students about the Civil Rights movement. Many books on these topics will mention what the important history is, why it is important, and suggest some further reading for those who are interested. Don Mitchell goes out of his way in "The Freedom Summer Murders" to cover the all aspects of the case of the murder of three civil rights activists in Meridian, Mississippi on June 21, 1964 by the Ku Klux Klan. He covers the lead up to the case, the case as it played out in Mississippi, and finally the work that went into creating a federal case against the indicted men to overrule the local exoneration. For me, the best two ways to experience history are to either come across some element of history that you were never aware of or to experience an aspect of history that you know fairly well in such exhaustive and enriching detail that you cannot help but be overwhelmed by what you read. Mitchell includes everything a take on civil rights history meant for popular consumption could want: photos of the people and important places so that visual learners can associate a real person with what they are reading, extensive quotes from people present and details from primary sources of the time to get a sense of both the emotions tied to these events as well as the base information, and finally extensive after notes and further information about important actors in this story for those history buffs who want to learn more about the people and places in this story. As a student and fanatic of history myself, that is much appreciated.
The biggest draw overall for this book is that Mitchell makes a very compelling case for the accuracy of his work. The book mentions his extensive education as well as his critical acclaim as a nonfiction writer for young adults. Also, as a man of history myself, what I look for the most when reviewing a book for accuracy is the material cited by the author as sources. There are no citations from for profit ".com" type websites. There are some other sources quoted that are from for profit publishing agencies, but many of them appear to have been used for the purpose of collecting their primary sources for use in the book. The number of books of photography mentioned in the book's end notes and bibliography support this assertion. Also there are plenty of academically published works cited as well. So, even though this was published by Scholastic, a for profit education book publishing company, I believe that Don Mitchell really sought to inform his readership about these events and why they are important. Given the resurgence of civil rights and their role in the criminal justice system in recent years, I believe it to be imperative that people read this book so that they can learn what mistakes were made in the past so that we do not repeat them. ( )

RGG: Compared to other titles, not the most compelling non-fiction. Partly because the complexity of the reading varies by chapter, especially the opening chapter which summarizes all the events including many participants' names, and then then the next chapters which provide simple backgrounds on the three civil rights heroes, closing with the investigation and trial chapters, which again have a lot of detail and names. All of this makes the narrative thread somewhat weak.

My review on this book is possibly influenced by my love of the movie Mississippi Burning which I saw when I was in college. The movie left a lasting impression and the book filled in a lot of details that I hadn't garnered from the movie 20 years ago. I enjoyed reading this for a number of reasons: 1) The story is well told in terms of a biographical portrait of the three victims and what led them to Mississippi that summer. 2) It is well researched and includes materials from multiple sources including trial footage and original interviews. 3) Mitchell does an excellent job of taking what I believe to be an extremely important era history that should not be forgotten and making it accessible to young adults.

Curricular connection : this would be a great addition to a reading list about civil right , I also think it would be excellent to use in the classroom to discuss racial tension then vs. now and compare and contrast. ( )

"When historians weigh the sixth decade of the twentieth century in the United States, they will call this murder one of the revealing acts of this decade. It was a planned, deliberate murder to try to prevent racial change; and it was committed by men who called themselves Christians and thought they were doing right. - William Bradford Huie

This particular quote stood out to me about the events that took place in this book from the dreams of what the Freedom Summer of '64 would accomplish by getting blacks registered to vote in Mississippi, the murder of the three civil rights workers by the Ku Klux Klan, the attempted cover up by the local authorities, and the amount of time it took to finally prosecute one of the men involved.

The families can take heart that as a result of the mens death a national spotlight was shown on the situation in Mississippi and the need for Civil Rights and Voter Rights Legislation was propelled forward.

The book is a young adult non-fiction which I did not realize when I picked the book up from the New Release shelf. With that said adults and young adults alike should take the time to read and learn about this part of our history. Plus it had some recommendations for further reading more adult oriented along with one movie and a documentary film.

This is one that should be on school reading lists not only for African Americans but for all to show that their were white Americans who embraced the fact they could not stand idle and even if it might be dangerous they needed to stand with their fellow man and help them attain the rights they already enjoyed. ( )