Steve Sheinkin

Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights Steve Sheinkin

An astonishing civil rights story from Newbery Honor winner and National Book Award finalist Steve Sheinkin.
On July 17, 1944, a massive explosion rocked the segregated Navy base at Port Chicago, California, killing more than 300 sailors who were at the docks, critically injuring off-duty men in their bunks, and shattering windows up to a mile away. On August 9th, 244 men refused to go back to work until unsafe and unfair conditions at the docks were addressed. When the dust settled, fifty were charged with mutiny, facing decades in jail and even execution.

"The Port Chicago 50" is a fascinating story of the prejudice and injustice that faced black men and women in America's armed forces during World War II, and a nuanced look at those who gave their lives in service of a country where they lacked the most basic rights.

This thoroughly-researched and documented book can be worked into multiple aspects of the common core curriculum, including history and social studies.

Steve Sheinkin is the acclaimed author of many nonfiction works, including "The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism & Treachery," Newbery Honor Book and National Book Award Finalist "Bomb: The Race to Build--and Steal--the World's Most Dangerous Weapon," and National Book Award finalist "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War."

Sheinkin delivers another meticulously researched WWII story, one he discovered while working on his Newbery Honor book, "Bomb." . . . Archival photos appear throughout, and an extensive bibliography, source notes, and index conclude this gripping, even horrific account of a battle for civil rights predating Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr. "Publishers Weekly," starred review"