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What Members Thought

Richie Partington
Jan 09, 2018 rated it it was amazing
Shelves: nonfiction
Richie’s Picks: CHASING KING’S KILLER: THE HUNT FOR MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR’S ASSASSIN by James L. Swanson, Scholastic Press, January 2018, 384p., ISBN: 978-0-545-72333-6

“Rockets, moon shots
Spend it on the have nots
Money, we make it
Fore we see it you take it
Oh, make you wanna holler
The way they do my life”
-- Marvin Gaye, “Inner City Blues” (1971)

“Donald Trump blamed a faulty earpiece Monday for his repeated refusals to disavow the support of former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke during a weekend
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Amy
Nov 06, 2017 rated it really liked it
Shelves: yalsa17
Disclaimer: ARC provided by Scholastic. Book is scheduled to go on sale January 2018.

Summary

Readers, teachers, and librarians who are already familiar with the young readers’ adaptations of Chasing Lincoln’s Killer and “The President Has Been Shot” will welcome this addition to the series.

This book is divided into four parts: the first part is a recap of the civil rights movement and King’s leadership; the second part gives background on King’s assassin, James Earl Ray; the third part explains t
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Barbara
It's hard to believe that so many years have passed since James Earl Ray assassinated civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in 1968. But the decades have flown swiftly, and the fact of the matter is that Ray's motivations for his actions are still unclear. In this thoroughly-researched and engaging book, James Swanson describes the final days of King's life and the collision course with his killer. Readers will be fascinated to learn about Ray's swift evacuation from Memphis and how ...more
Becky
Jun 07, 2018 rated it liked it
Swanson does a good job of summing up King's work in a fairly short amount of space in the first part, and the play by play of the assassination was quite suspenseful. I do wish he'd spent a little more time talking about Ray at the end with details of how he fed conspiracy theories from prison. There was more of this in the source notes, but I doubt young readers will go looking there. ...more
Chrissy
Jun 13, 2018 rated it really liked it
There was a wealth of information here that I did not know, concerning who Ray was and how odd his actions were. It was also interesting to read about the early assassination attempt by the woman in New York. The book was put together well and I enjoyed it.
MaryLibrarianOH
Tells the story of MLK’s rise to fame and what he did for the civil rights movement. Juxtaposed with the actions of his killer that lead up to the murder.

Lots of good details and the writing is good. Good for teens who don’t know the ins and outs of the time period involved. For me, it didn’t feel like it add any new knowledge to what I already knew.
Carrie
Dec 10, 2018 rated it really liked it
This book does a good job of synthesizing a ton of information into a very concise, readable account of the civil rights movement, Martin Luther King Jr.'s accomplishments, and James Earl Ray's background. The pictures are well-chosen and well-placed throughout. The back matter, which makes up about a third of the book, is really extensive and goes into more detail about sources and conspiracy theories. ...more
Jenni
Jan 12, 2019 rated it it was amazing
Solid look at the life of Martin Luther King Jr. This title looks at the trajectory of King's life and that of his assassin James Earl Ray. The title includes many pictures that help to tell the story and bring different events to life for the reader. ...more
elissa
At home, and then had to return before I read much of it.
Amy Pickett
Nov 26, 2017 rated it it was amazing
Shelves: read-in-2017
Shauna Yusko
Nov 22, 2017 rated it really liked it
Tiff
Nov 29, 2017 marked it as to-read
Katie
Apr 03, 2018 rated it really liked it
Heather Overstreet
Jan 09, 2018 marked it as to-read
Megan
Feb 09, 2018 rated it it was amazing
Shelves: non-fiction, ya, 2018
J.j.
Feb 14, 2018 marked it as to-read
Shelves: for-f
Joshua Whiting
Feb 23, 2018 marked it as to-read
Scot
May 09, 2018 rated it liked it
Briony
Mar 04, 2018 rated it really liked it
Annisha Jeffries
Mar 10, 2018 marked it as to-read
Mallory
Mar 19, 2018 marked it as to-read
Jamie
Apr 11, 2018 rated it really liked it
Shelves: ya-lit, nonfiction, 2018
Cynthia Shutts
May 12, 2018 rated it really liked it
Michelle
May 28, 2018 marked it as to-read
Theresa
Sep 27, 2018 rated it really liked it
Sarah
Feb 12, 2019 rated it it was amazing
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