Age: 2nd-high school
History: The Kingdom of Ndongo (West Africa), transatlantic slave trade, American slavery (Virginia)
Tough Issues: Family separation, death, slavery

When a school-aged girl is asked to trace her lineage back to her ancestral country, she feels ashamed that she can only go back three generations to those that were born in the states. That is until her grandmother tells her and her family about their genealogical story without sugar coating the terrible injustice done to African people nor fully resting on the misery that was inflicted.

Hannah-Jones, creator of the 1619 Project and Watson place particular emphasis on widening our understanding of African American origins, dividing the book equally into thirds: the vibrant Ndongo culture, the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade, and the grimness of slavery. The goal of the 1619 Project is to readjust the United States timeline to begin at the introduction of slavery and how instrumental this injustice was in shaping our nation and the future of all black and white folks.

While this book has been written for children, my only issue was that there was no backmatter to explain the 1619 Project, explicitly connecting the purpose of this book to the goals of the project. However, this concern is far outweighed by the significance and beauty that this book brings to educational circles.