Internment Camps. (Uncovering the Past: Analyzing Primary Sources). Natalie Hyde. St. Catharines, ON: Crabtree, 2016. 48 pp., pbk., hc. & html, $11.95 (pbk.),$29.36 (List RLB), $23.49 (School RLB). ISBN 978-0-7787-2862-7 (pbk.), ISBN 978-0-7787-2860-3 (RLB), ISBN 978-1-4271-1841-7 (html). Subject Headings: Japanese Americans-Evacuation and relocation, 1942-1945-Juvenile literature. World War, 1939-1945-Japanese Americans Juvenile literature. Japanese-Canada-History-Juvenile literature. Grades 5-9 / Ages 10-14. Review by Suzanne Pierson. **** /4
	Workers’ Rights. (Uncovering the Past: Analyzing Primary Sources). Lynn Leslie Peppas. St. Catharines, ON: Crabtree, 2016. 48 pp., pbk., hc. & html, $11.95 (pbk.),$29.36 (List RLB), $23.49 (School RLB). ISBN 978-0-7787-2863-4 (pbk.), ISBN 978-0-7787-2861-0 (RLB), ISBN 978-1-4271-1842-4 (html). Subject Heading: Employee rights Juvenile literature. Labor laws and legislation Juvenile literature. Industrial laws and legislation Juvenile literature. Grades 5-9 / Ages 10-14. Review by Suzanne Pierson. **** /4

excerpt:

Historians create their own interpretations of a historical time or event by closely investigating its primary sources. They ask questions about, or analyze, primary source materials and try to figure out what might have happened. But not every minute of an event can be preserved.

In this book, you are the historian who is studying the labor movement in North America. To do this, you must closely analyze evidence from primary sources from the past that have to do with employment and workers’ rights. It is important to remember the past so we don’t repeat the same mistakes. (From Workers’ Rights.)

The latest two books in the “Uncovering the Past: Analyzing Primary Sources” series, “Internment Camps and Workers’ Rights, help students investigate two important historical experiences, including a close look at the immigrant experience. These are amazing resources to teach students not only about these periods in our history but more importantly about how to think critically about the ‘evidence’. Crabtree Publishing’s promotional literature sums it up well. “Readers will learn about bias, prejudice, and the denial of evidence, and learn how to use critical thinking in their own examinations.”

     Each book includes a table of contents, a timeline of events which includes a map, a bibliography including quotation references, a glossary and an index. Also included in each book are “Internet Guidelines” with questions such as, “Have you checked all possible sites? Don’t just look on the first page a search engine provides. Remember to try government sites and research papers.” That feature alone makes these books invaluable.

     Internment Camps examines the events leading up to the forced relocation of thousands of Canadian and American citizens from their homes during World War II. Examining source material gives young researchers an excellent opportunity to understand bias.

Propaganda is biased communication that helps sway people’s opinion. In World War II anti-Japanese posters were designed to increase support for the war by creating hatred for the enemy.

     In the final chapter, “Modern Examples”, Islamophobia today is compared to the fear and hate of people of Japanese origin during World War II. A text box asks readers to

Analyze This: How is the situation with Muslim discrimination today similar to what happened with Japanese people during World War II? How is it different?

     Workers’ Rights” takes a complex struggle and sets it in a historical context, tracing the movement from the Industrial Revolution in the early 1800s to the modern day fight for workers’ rights in our international economic environment. The timeline for this topic included near the back of the book shows a very interesting perspective on the development of workers’ rights in Canada compared to in the United States.

     Primary and secondary source material looks at the workers’ experiences from the perspectives of different worker segments: men, women, children, and immigrants.

     For example, readers are asked to look at a “Time Table of the Holyoke Mills” from 1853, and

Analyze This: By studying this timetable, can you tell what time workers were expected to begin their workday? How many meals did they eat while at their job? How long was each meal break? How many hours were they expected to work? Is this a primary or a secondary source? How do you know?

     In the final chapter, “Modern Examples”, looks at today’s fight for Fair Trade. “Fair trade is the purchase of goods for fair prices from workers or farmers worldwide.”

     The most current example is “In 2016, the Alberta government in Canada passed the Enhanced Protection for Farm and Ranch Workers Act to protect paid workers on Alberta farms and ranches. The new law will set minimum hours, wages, and safety conditions to be met by employers in this industry.”

     Like the previous books in the series, “Uncovering the Past: Analyzing Primary Sources”, both Internment Camps and Workers’ Rights will be important resources to help students improve their skills in examining evidence critically for bias, reliability, prejudice and the denial of evidence.

Highly Recommended.

Suzanne Pierson is a retired teacher-librarian, currently instructing librarianship courses at Queen’s University in Kingston, ON.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

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Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

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