I learned a few things reading this book about 1919. I liked the arrangement of presenting the event, then giving the perspective 100 years later and the timeline at the end of each section. Author included a section for further reading at the end of the book as well as sources and an index. The illustrations were supportive of the text. The insets were perhaps my favorite part, but I do not like the placement of the insets. Often they interrupted the flow of the text, and the topic is not always related to the topic of the section it was placed in.

Overall, very comprehensive. I think 2020 will give 1919 a run for it's money though.

This wouldn't have been my choice for the Young Adult National Book Award, but it was an enjoyable enough read. It just feels a bit slight. By covering so many areas in such a short number of pages, none of them gets their full due. I suppose it's a good introduction to some important historical moments.

4.5 stars

This is an excellent work of non-fiction that covers all of the major events of 1919. It demonstrates how they are all connected to each other and to the greater movements of the rest of the century. 1919 was like a spark that slowly smoldered until it became an inferno. Sandler does a wonderful job at the connections and the descriptions. His writing is quippy and entertaining while maintaining an informational and educational tone. At the end of each section, a brief connection is made between the chapter's subject matter and a similar issue in our own year. The only thing keeping this from being a 5 star read is my desire for in text citation in my non-fiction. There is a wonderful bibliography, but I like knowing where specific quotes and information came from while reading. I learned a lot from this though and will definitely be sharing it with others.

What a year! Informative book of what took place in 1919. Chapters organized by themes and book had a good pace. Photos added to the events.

Excellent. 1919 (like 2020 will be) is one of those pivotal years that changes everything. Well-written and assembled, a goldmine for kids (and adults).

A very interesting look at a very intense year. So many things happened! Women's suffrage, prohibition, the Great Molasses Flood. There was just so much that went on in that year. 100 years later, it sometimes feels as though nothing has changed.

A solid informational text about a year that, after reading this, certainly did have a lot happen in it. I thought the writing was well-done and interesting to follow, yet written in a way that would be accessible for its young adult audience. I like that each chapter took a look at each of the events that changed the world. Some had information I already knew about, but a lot still gave some more insight and facts I hadn’t heard. I did hate the placement of the vignettes added to give a closer look at people, places, and things that were mentioned in each chapter. I’d be in the middle of a sentence and then bam, a double-page spread about molasses itself when I’m already in the middle of action of the Great Molasses Disaster. Very distracting and poorly placed and always a huge pet-peeve of mine when it comes to nonfiction work.

This National Book Award winner shines a spotlight on several events, all happening in 1919, which changed the course of American society: Women getting the vote, The Volsted Act (Prohibition); the 1919 Race Riots; Labor movement and strikes; the Palmer Raids (Red Scare) and oddly, the Molasses Flood (Building standards and safety).

Home from the Great War society could once again look inward to see if they liked what they had fought for. In many cases, they didn't. Black men, who fought valiantly in the war returned to racism at home. For the first time, really, blacks decided to fight back and it was the first time in history when blacks fought for their rights. Some people think that 1919 was the great awakening of black America.

Women and some men, saw what alcohol was doing to their husbands and families and fought for the temperance movement to eliminate this scourge on society. When the 18th Amendment passed many of the same women shifted their efforts toward gaining the right to vote for women. The 19th Amendment also passed in 1919 granting women the right to vote.

With the Bolshevik Revolution in 1918 in Russia, many Americans were afraid that the same thing would happen here. This led to a Red Scare long before the McCarthy era. The Palmer Raids, which rounded up immigrants without any due process became quite popular. The formation of the ACLU came about because of these clearly illegal roundup and deplorable treatment of innocent people. Labor unions were also suspected as being communists so strikes were met with big opposition from city, county, and state governments. But to this date there has never been more strikes, or larger strikes all in one year: 1919.

Prohibition brought on a new form of lawlessness in our country with bootlegging and mobsters becoming very common. The grand/noble experiment lasted for fifteen years before, in 1933, the 21st Amendment was passed which ended prohibition. The lawlessness it brought on is partially blamed for the Black Sox Scandal where the Chicago White Sox intentionally lost the series due to gambling incentives.

And what about the Molasses Flood? Well, that is a weird story from history I've never heard about. In Boston a huge tank, poorly constructed, held millions of gallons of molasses. When it exploded, the river of molasses wrecked houses, the train trestle, and killed many people and animals. What came out of it was stricter housing/building codes and standards.

At the end of each chapter author Martin Sandler compares what was happening them to what is happening today, 100 years later. In a lo of ways what happened in 1919 led to improvements for society but in other ways we are still fighting the same fights, like those related to racism, labor, and voting rights.

My review: https://headfullofbooks.blogspot.com/2020/02/nonfiction-review-1919-year-that.html