Tarpley, N. (2017). The Harlem charade. New York: Scholastic Press.
Overview: A great multicultural mystery. This book could be incorporated into the classroom in many different ways. It will be a great read aloud. Or could be used as a spark to ignite a research unit on the history of events or art. Jin is a Korean American who was adopted by an older Korean couple, who she calls her grandparents. They live in Harlem and run a Bodega. She has an assignment for school to research a part of Harlem’s history and create a report. She becomes fascinated by Alex a fellow classmate that is a mystery to her. A mystery soon begins to unfold and the girls with the help of their new friend Elvin, search for paintings that are hidden. Jin collects important information in her notebook as they investigate. Danger soon finds them. The story revolves around the art world. So much happens in this story, it is fast paced and twisty turny. At the end of the book the author talks about key events that really happened in Harlem’s history. The book is fiction, but some of the big events are loosely woven into the story. The art world the kids investigate is based on the 1960’s African American art history.
Level: Middle Grades
Written on reading level - Lexile 800
Genre - Mystery
Resources:
The Classroom Bookshelf Teaching Ideas
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