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All Fall Down (SallyNicholls,AndersenPress,£7.99) In 1348, rumours of an awful sickness rampaging through Europemake their way to England, and whilst these alarming anecdotes are initially overlooked,the infamous Black Death soon claws its way into the country, indiscriminately attacking those who are unfortunate enough to face themiasma. In themidst ofmadness, Isabel can only watch as neighbouring towns and settlements fall victim to the vile pestilence, until it takes hold of her village. Nicholls showcases the exceptionally brutal nature of the Black Death throughout the book, and how it impacts the lives of Isabel and her loved ones,the insurmountable stress creating rifts between familymembers and believable domestic conflict.Most impressive of all, however, is the book’s use of old English terms and religious or holiday traditions, complete with a glossary for the aged vocabulary, resulting in a greatly immersive read that would be perfect for a history class. ThisBook isAnti-Racist (TiffanyJewell,FrancesLincoln Children’sBooks,£8.99) Subtitled‘ 20 lessons on how towake up,take action,and do the work ’this debut book from USMontessori teacherTiffanyJewel is broadly aimed at 11 to 15-year-olds,and combines a condensed,but deftly drawn history of racism fromthe 17th century to the present daywith thoughtful reflections on the nature of identity,belonging and empathy.Early on, Jewell carefully defines racismas a formof personal prejudice and bias,but also systemic abuses of power by institutions.The book thus doesn’t shy away from frank,yet nuanced observations regarding systemic racism, such as how the language of officialdom can reinforceminority status and narratives of disadvantage when referring to some groups,but not others.It’s not inconceivable that students who fully engage with Jewell’s argument might one day start to take issue with terms like BAME,and identify issues within the education institutions that surround them... What compelled you towrite This Book is Anti-Racist? Our standard history curriculumhere in the US fails to draw links withmuch of what’s happening in the world right now. I wrote a curriculum formy 6- to 9-year- old students that I called‘The history of racismand anti-racism’,and soon found that theywanted to knowmore andmore. Theywould ask‘ Howdo I make change? ’ ‘ Why dowe still have racism ifwe’ve been working against it for so long? ’ Who is the book for? Mainly children and students,but I hope teachers read it too.Howdo you tell children the story of what happened to Stephen Lawrence so that they can understand it? My aim isn’t to necessarily simplify,but to tell those stories that have had a huge impact on howwe understand racism in a clear,concise waywithout getting toomuddled in the baggage of history that we all carrywith us. It’s interesting that you had the freedom to design a curriculumof your own... I work at an independent Montessori school,where we don’t have to follow all the state and county standards,which I know is a luxury.So I’ve shared the curriculumwith other teachers for free, and seen educators using it in all kinds of settings.It seems to fit in well with some history standards,and some teachers in Baltimore have even used the work in their science andmath classes,examining how racismhas impacted upon the ways we understandmath,such as statistics around housing and homelessness. What other settings have youworked in? The very first teaching job I hadwas when I was studying abroad in London,working at a primary school.It was a great teaching experience I still reflect on,because so many of the students were fromdifferent parts of the world.I had a student from Kosovo,some fromMorocco,which I’d never experienced before in the US.Their stories were fascinating I learned a lot fromthem. What feedback has the book received? It’s been really positive – I hear froma lot of teachers wanting to shift their schooling to somethingmore student- centred.In the three long years we’ve had President Trump as our president,racists have becomemuchmore emboldened, to the extent that racist attacks are now reported regularly.Teachers want to undo that andmake their classroomspaces and communities safe for all students. THE WORD Find out what our regular student reviewer,Oliver Minter-King (Y11) has been reading thismonth… Meet the author TIFFANYJEWELL ThePenguinBookofOulipo (EditedbyPhilipTerry, PenguinRandomHouse,£25) It’s fortunate indeed that the English Programme of Studyexplicitly includes imaginativewriting as one of its objectives. With this inmind, The PenguinBook ofOulipo will prove a source ofwonderful ideas for English teachers.Oulipo is the acronymof a French organisation, Ouvroirde Littérature Potentielle , or‘Workshop of Potential Literature’,which encourages the use of constraints in orderto enhance creativity.Thatmay sound counter- intuitive,but supposeyou askedyour class towrite a perfectlycoherent piecewithout using the letter‘e’.Theywould have to find workarounds,potentiallydiscovering newwords in the process,or rediscoveringwords long forgotten.A rich source ofOulipo andOulipian texts,this book can helpyou to introduceyour students to a range of great writers theymight have otherwise ever encountered.Expect yourself andyour class to have lots of fun – you mayeven invent new forms ofOulipo itself! Reviewed by Terry Freedman teachwire.net/secondary B O O K R E V I E WS 51