They Called Themselves The KKK (2000) - Plot & Excerpts
This book introduces its readers to people who lived during the time of the Civil War. The book focuses on different types of people from that period of time, such as slaves, Klansmen themselves, and many of their victims who experienced first hand what the Ku Klux Klan was all about. A lot of the book is made up of true stories and experiences that these different people have gone through, as well as a variety of interviews from slaves. The book also gives a very detailed history of how the Ku Klux Klan started in Tennessee and provides facts and pictures of the Civil War period. An activity that students can do in classrooms could be to choose a photo from the KKK time period and write an essay on what the photo is representing.Genre: Historical FictionFormat: Chapter BookReading Level: HighTheme/Topic: History Gender: AllRace: AllSocioeconomic Status: AllBartoletti, S. (2010). They call themselves the KKK. New York, NY: Houghton. On the front cover of the edition that I read it said that this book should be "required reading for young readers and their parents." I almost agree! Required reading is a bit of a tough subject, but it is an excellent read for both enjoyment and for information. Long story short it goes into detail about the formation of the Ku Klux Klan from the end of the Civil War to present day. The author even went to a KKK rally in 2006 to catch a glimpse of what they are like. Because of that tiny fact I was inclined to believe everything she was saying. She was such a talented writer that she was somehow to make parts of her narrative unbiased--how you do that with the kkk I'm not sure, but I did almost sympathize with the south during some parts. I also had no idea that the KKK during reconstruction period and the KKK of the civil rights movement were two different kinds of organization--in the sense that the latter was more of a religion. I also thought she was talented in tying and weaving all of her stories together, I never felt lost as a reader--which can be easy to do when I'm reading an information, nonfiction text. I would recommend this to anyone. I loved this book!
What do You think about They Called Themselves The KKK (2000)?
Eye opening account of the terror the KKK spread the years following the Civil War.
—celwyn
Read for Silver Hills Middle School, Battle of the Books 2013.
—Trebail2152
Sad. Heart-breaking. Informative. Worth reading.
—jessi
