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First Impression: A history book for children and teens that failed to keep the audience in mind. Lacked ability to provide convincing value in the knowledge.

Oof! This was a tough book to read and a tough review to write as I was provided a free copy of The Secret Histories of Spokane in exchange for a fair review. Never-the-less, here are my thoughts, on a book I am still grateful to have been trusted with.

It’s not often you come across history books aimed at the youth. The Secret Histories of Spokane, a little town in Eastern Washington by Mackenzie Draper takes up the challenge and presents this short history to an audience of 10-18 year olds. It aims to go beyond common knowledge and delve into the early history of the town that includes the Black community, Chinatown, Davenport, and famous figures to have lived there.

The book opens with an introductory few pages explaining the original inhabitants of Spokane. It then embarks on four unnamed chapters so readers have no idea what to expect until they have taken a deep dive into the unknown depths. Starting with Chapter One the focus appears to be on the few Black settlers arriving in the 1880s and campaigning for civil rights. Whilst this is all interesting, it makes for difficult reading as the author jumps from one short paragraph about one person, to a short paragraph, about another, and another. It is all very abrupt and punctuated without unraveling a cohesive flowing narrative. The text may have been served better with the addition of illustrations. Further, there is a lack of appreciation for the inability to provide definitive dates:

John founded a barbershop in either 1883 or 1885, depending on which records are pulled.

Or

Chase ran for city council in 1969, a seat he ultimately lost. Just a handful of years later, however, Chase ousted an eight year incumbent, becoming the first ever Black councilmember in Spokane’s history.

As a book of random facts, the lack of specifics might be forgiven, however, as a history, more clarity is required. Other than the theme being the demographic, there is little else to tie the Black Community together. For example, we read of the Peter Barrow, escaped-slave-turned-pastor, his granddaughter, a musician, her husband, a council member. It is all well and good that they were known for successes but what is the relevance in this information especially when it next cites a young girl achieving Lilac Princess status for the day?

Chapter Two sets its sights on the women of Spokane, citing a list of roles performed such as actresses, singers, chefs and activists. The presentation follows much of the last chapter. Random person after random person given a paragraph of recognition with no thought to how they leave behind a lasting legacy worthy of recognition today.

Entrepreneurial restaurateur, Llewellyn Marks “Louis” Davenport, is the focal point for Chapter 3. Afforded only a few  pages, it is difficult to understand why he required a whole chapter when a Black Community, or a female Community were only afforded minimal spaces for their accomplishments. The book ends with a few more pages on the Asian American settlers and the creation of Chinatown. Although it tries to paint a wonderful, rich tapestry of different types of people overcoming diversity, it does so in a way that is lackluster and is arduous to process.

Overall, the book lacked depth. There were many instances of standalone sentences as opposed to full paragraphs suggesting that further research is needed. This disconnect between the figures mentioned also made the text difficult to read and disjointed in nature. Consequently, it reads like a series of statements produced by AI software. The book would fail to capture the imagination of the intended audience, and is probably niche enough that it may only appeal to the current Spokane Community as a talking point. Unfortunately, this is probably a book for vanity purposes only that will struggle to find traction in the commercial market.

Quick Rating: ⭐ / PG

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