Sienna's Scrapbook: Our African American Heritage Trip by Toni Trent Parker & Janell Genovese Ages 9-12 64 pages Chronicle Books August 2005 Hardcover     Sienna is planning a fun-filled summer vacation of with her cousins and friends, never anticipating the adventure that awaits when her parents announce a “heritage trip” to black historical sites from Winston-Salem to North Carolina. Packed and on their way the next day, the family’s first stop is in New Haven, Connecticut, where they view a replica of the slave ship Amistad, site of a slave rebellion in 1839. Sienna is stunned to learn that four of the slaves were children, a fact that helps her relate to the impossible conditions the slaves endured on the small ship. The history of the Amistad awakens Sienna’s curiosity about the rest of the journey and all she can learn of her heritage. Her curiosity awakened by the drama of the Amistad, Sienna looks forward to the next destination - New York City. There she learns about the Harlem Renaissance and the writers who influenced a burgeoning colony of artists, writers and musicians: Langston Hughes, Nora Zeale Hurston, Augusta Savage and Jacob Lawrence. No visit to New York City is complete without a visit to local specialty restaurants Krispy Kreme and Sylvia’s, followed by a tour of the home of Louis Armstrong. The family even attends Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater. There is a doll museum in Philadelphia displaying more than three-hundred black dolls, most made in Germany (as “exotic dolls”- the name given to dark-skinned dolls). From there, they are off to Germantown and the saga of the Underground Railroad. Day by day, unexpected historical treasures are revealed, showing Sienna a proud heritage as lived in the regions they pass through: the African American Museum in Philadelphia, the Lincoln Memorial, Howard University, the Emancipation Statue, a Quaker plantation where runaway slaves hid. Beautifully illustrated and written in the enthusiastic language of a young girl on a voyage of discovery, the past is everywhere, peopled by heroes, artists, musicians and ordinary people. In a visually stimulating format that includes photographic reproductions, the author brings it all to life, this memorable summer the inspiration for the next “heritage trip.” Fascinating people, places and events fill the pages of Sienna’s diary. Sienna’s Scrapbook is beautifully thought-out and well-executed, with a subtle appreciation for the spirit of struggle that defines American history.       web reviews   Luan Gaines/2006 for curled up with a good kid's book   For grown-up fiction, nonfiction and speculative fiction book reviews, visit our sister site Curled Up With a Good Book (www.curledup.com)