Hill,
Laban. Harlem Stomp! A Cultural
History of the Harlem Renaissance.
2004. 160 pp. Lexile: 1270. Available
in paperback.
A National Book Award finalist, this beautifully designed
book conveys a sense of time and place through its visual elements as well as
its text. Jazzy reproductions of
artwork, photographs, and artifacts, including posters and book jackets, fill
the pages. The narrative provides an
overview of Harlem’s history from about 1900 through the early 1930s,
explaining why so many blacks headed to New York City from the South and
exploring the resentment and violence they encountered in the North. Readers
learn that Harlem’s clubs and music became popular with whites, a financial
boon to the community, but at the same time, black culture was distorted in
minstrel shows and other theatrical productions, a source of disappointment to
Harlem’s intellectuals. A host of visual
artists, performers, and writers important to the Harlem Renaissance are introduced
including Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, William H. Johnson and
more. Quotes from articles, poems, and
speeches give an immediacy to the narrative.Reading Std #3: Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text. Have students analyze Hill’s choices in how he organized this history. It begins with a chronological structure but then switches to chapters 6-9 that cover the same time period. Why start with the chapter on the Dark Tower? What connections are drawn among these four chapters? This book has a high Lexile (1270) but a limited amount of text, with many visual images that reinforce the text, making it a possible choice for less advanced readers.
