Double Victory: How African American Women Broke Race and Gender Barriers to Help Win World War II

Gr 7 Up—This scholarly volume gives a comprehensive view of the efforts of African American women who integrated the workforce in both civilian and military positions during World War II. Providing personal accounts of women who worked on highways, as war correspondents, and as entertainers and political activists, five chapters, illustrated with black-and-white photographs and reproductions, look at advances in each of these areas. Though the personal stories help, the text is dense and detailed. Thus, it is a bit dry, making it most useful for research or as a report resource. That aside, this is an excellent title for expanding students' view of the Civil Rights Movement, showing just how many people it took to achieve even the legislative ends realized under President Lyndon Johnson. Additionally, by focusing on women, it gives background on an aspect of the Women's Movement that is often overlooked and on the course of the broader Civil Rights Movement.—Ann Welton, Grant Elementary School, Tacoma, WA