Book Review: Courage Has No Color

Courage Has No Color

by Tanya Lee Stone

"Best Non-Fiction for YA"

Awards

Per her website, the following are awards received for her book:

• NAACP Image Award Winner for Outstanding Literature for Youth/Teens
• YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Finalist
• Orbis Pictus Honor Book
• IRA Notable Books for a Global Society 2014
• Publishers Weekly Best Books 2013
• Kirkus Best Books of 2013
• Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) Choices 2014
• 2014 Texas Tayshas Reading List
• TOP TEN ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults, 2014
• ALSC 2014 Notables Children's Book AND ALSC 2014 Notables Children's Recording
• YALSA Amazing Audio Pick
• Washington Post's Best New Reads of 2013
• Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books 2013 Blue Ribbon List
• BuzzFeed's 20 Best Children's Books of 2013
• NYPL's 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing
• Booklist Editor's Choice & Booklist's 2013 "Lasting Connections"
• Best Multicultural Books of 2013 (Center for the Study of Multicultural Children's Literature)
• A Parents' Choice Award Recommended Title
• State Award Lists: Vermont, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Arizona, Kansas

Summary

With over one hundred photographs, extensive research, and a true desire to inform and inspire others, the idea of Courage Has No Color became a reality.

The 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion, also known as the Triple Nickels, were the first black paratroopers enlisted in a new job. Originally, the only stipulations to be a paratrooper were to be trained, extremely physically fit, have courage, and to be white, but once the Triple Nickels were formed, the white section could finally be taken off the list.

During World War II, black and white alike were enlisted in the military, but the white man received the better jobs and ability to fight when needed. The black man never got to go to combat and was more of a servant than a solider. In 1940, the Navy and Marines had no more room for blacks outside of service roles despite the fact a war was raging against Adolph Hitler's tyranny. In the Army, there were 500,000 soldiers available, but only 4,000 of them were black. Life was hard for a black man and racism was still strong in the south.

It all started in 1943 when a black man, Walter Morris, became the first sergeant in charge of Service Company of the Parachute School (TPS) at Fort Benning, GA. Morris began to train his men like the white paratroopers when morale began to decrease. He took it upon himself to take their mediocre service jobs and make them a bit more interesting by allowing them to have the freedom and feeling of being an on land paratrooper in training. Morale immediately went up with the men. General Ridgley Gaither saw them during their exercises and asked to speak with Morris. Morris was able to explain the change in morale with his men and General Gaither allowed him to continue on, even making him the sergeant. With a little help from President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his wife, the black man was earning more and more rights in the war.

Paratrooper by definition is an infantry trained and equipped individual to parachute. This isn't the parachuting we know today, and the thrill and fright of jumping out of a plane to go straight into war was definitely something different for these men.

Stone follows us through the history of the men who made history. From only being able to wash floors and clean up after white men, we are slingshot into a world of equality and freedom for the black man in the military. Through racial intolerance, a lack of previous training, and a raging war, the Triple Nickels came out at the top of their class, helping to save lives despite the color of their skin.

Book Trailer

Author created book trailers are found on Vimeo. A shorter clip pairs with a slightly longer one, both informing the public about the book.

Themes

Courage, War, Pride, Race, Social Injustice, Fairness, Military, and Rights.

Similar Themed Books

The Price of Freedom: How One Town Stood Up to Slavery by Andrea Davis Pinkney and When Thunder Comes: Poems for Civil Rights Leaders by J. Patrick Lewis.

Other Books by Tanya Lee Stone

On Stone's website, her book tab has subsections of her work: non-fiction, teen fiction, and picture books.

Under non-fiction, 17 books are listed. I had unknowingly read another one of her books, Almost Astronauts, and enjoyed that very much. I keep that one in my classroom to pair the text with Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly as well as Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith.

Under teen fiction, there are 2 books listed. Under picture books, 13 books are listed.

Teaching Ideas

Have students research some of the lesser mentioned names in the book.

Have them answer the following questions:

1. What was their biggest contribution during this time frame?
2. What was their life like during this time frame? Suffer? Prevail?
3. What was the most discouraging thing they faced?
4. How did they read their goals? Government help? Friendship? Family? Luck?

Next, have them create a list of their own questions that they may have asked this person. Have them briefly explain why they would ask those specific questions. Have students infer, based on their research and the time period, what the person may have answered.