Sheinkin does it again! Masterful job pulling together a compelling true story with many characters and ethical issues. ( )

This little-known story is the actual account of 50 African American sailors accused of mutiny during World War II. A group of young men took a stand that helped change the course of history. Source Notes, Works Cited, Bibliography.

For such a short book and quick read, “The Port Chicago 50” should be read by anyone who can’t or doesn’t care to remember how two very separate societies existed in the United States up through and including the World War II era, e.g., white America and the segregated society of black America. In a very compact book, Steve Sheinkin tells the powerful story of the disparity and poor treatment of soldiers and sailors in our segregated Armed Forces during the 1940’s. One telling example of this unfair treatment was a situation when a group of black sailors, travelling to another base in the South, couldn’t find anyplace where they would be served a meal. Then, as they watched, a group of German Prisoners of War being taken to a prison camp were allowed to enter one of the restaurants which refused them to sit and enjoy dinner. These sailors, trying to serve their Country during war, were refused service, but the common enemy we were fighting were allowed to be seated.
The heart of the book is the subsequent story of a group of black sailors, assigned to munitions handling duties at a West Coast port, and following a disastrous explosion aboard a ship killing scores of sailors and destroying the ships at the docks, their subsequent refusal to continue loading bombs until and unless training was provided and safety issues were addressed. As is too often the case, the government investigation into the shipboard explosion overlooked and denied the safety violations of the white officers which likely led to the explosion. The Navy was determined to make an example of the men who refused to return to the ships under the same officers and same procedures, and were charged with Mutiny and threatened with the firing squad.
The injustices of the Court Martial trial were fought by Thurgood Marshall, then lead attorney for the NAACP, without success. While “The Port Chicago 50” is but one example of poor treatment of blacks in the military and society over the years, for others interested in reading more on the subject, I also recommend Gilbert King’s “The Devil in the Grove”, a story of Thurgood Marshall’s other fights for Civil Rights in the South in the 40’s and 50’s.
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middlegrade narrative nonfiction; civil rights/ww2 history. An important story that I'm glad I read. I hope this gets at least an honor award. ( )

This honestly didn't grab me, I think because a) meh, war stories, and b) I've read so many civil rights books that the surprising moments were (unfortunately) not at all surprising to me. That said, 7th-10th graders likely won't have that problem, and if they think a book about the appalling racism of the military sounds intriguing, this is an excellent one! ( )