Really informative and well written. I think it would be great for adults as well as teens. I learned a lot, not just about the Tulsa Race Massacre but about the history of racism in Oklahoma and America in general. I like that the author included information on the history of Indigenous nations of Oklahoma as well.

Another wonderful nonfiction book to add to any classroom library. This is a beautifully written account of the Tulsa Massacre. The images, quotes, and stories are informative and emotional. Colbert weaves the story deftly, and I loved the afterword bringing in the comparison of 2020 and Covid, Black Lives Matter, Trump and the basic absurdity that we’ve been plagued with. Can’t wait to get this in students’ hands!

5 stars

It's my hope that many folks immediately recognize this for what it obviously is: required reading. Whether you're like me and find Brandy Colbert's work to be consistently excellent or you are entirely new to this author, the source material is compelling and essential, and anyone who is drawn in by the synopsis will be more than pleased with what Colbert offers in this nonfiction effort.

Colbert references the number of people who embarrassingly learned about the central focus from watching two HBO shows (and I'll never forgive you for canceling _Lovecraft Country_, HBO, so that's for another day), and I will admit that I am one of those folks. It was largely my horror over not previously knowing this info that drew me - in part - to wanting to read this book: that and my ongoing aforementioned fangirling over Brandy Colbert. I was not disappointed.

Here, Colbert provides an age appropriate look at a number of events, context, and social and geographical relationships encompassing the Tulsa Race Massacre. My own experience - and Colbert's affirmation that I'm in good company - leads me to think that this is yet another example of utter cultural erasure and that this book will provide essential missing information to readers of any age. Readers will find this work challenging based on the horrifying facts but also educational, and they will also come out of the experience feeling grateful to know (or to know more).

Colbert continues to be an absolute favorite, and this is a great expansion of an already noteworthy list of YA and middle grade contributions. I highly recommend this for folks who are interested in knowing more about the subject and generally being better informed about reality.

I have loved everything Brandy Colbert has done--YA fiction and middle grade fiction. So imagine how excited I was to find out she had a nonfiction book coming out about the Tulsa Race Masacre.

I was like many people who had never heard of the Tulsa Race Masacre. A few years ago I picked up an excellent historical mystery called Dreamland Burning and went, "Wait...this is an ACTUAL THING THAT HAPPENED?!"

Colbert covers a lot of ground here. Though the story eventually leads us to 1921 Tulsa, she weaves in America's historical oppression of Black citizens to show that this wasn't an isolated incident that came out of nowhere--but rather that the hatred of Black Americans ran so deep that it needed only a tiny (misrepresented) spark to cause an explosion.

My only complaint is that I wish there was more on the Massacre itself--more about the people, the survivors, the aftermath. I feel like there was a lot more pre-history than there was information on the event itself--although I know that research is difficult considering how Oklahoma tried to bury the facts over time.

One of the most powerful parts of the book is Colbert's Afterword, where she draws parallels between the Tulsa tragedy to America today--and it's chilling.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for an advanced copy of this to review! Teen nonfiction isn’t a hugely popular genre, but there have been some real gems that have come out this year. This one included!

I’ll admit, I didn’t know much about the Tulsa Race Massacre until I watched Watchmen on HBO, which starts out putting viewers in the middle of the riot. Not only is this a powerful way to start a show, but it brought to light an event that isn’t ever talked about in American history classes. What I liked about Colbert’s book is that she points out why. After this happened, no one talked about it. Silenced in all the newspapers, just swept away like it never happened. If that isn’t proof that history is rewritten in favor of those in power, I don’t know what is.

It’s clear that Colbert did a lot of research to make this book accurate. However, the text is still engaging, reading a little like a narrative with facts and context sprinkled throughout. Not only does Colbert give us the history to what lead up to this event, but she also ties it into what’s been happening in the United States since then. These connections make history interesting, and teens who interested in historical nonfiction will definitely engage with this book.

Honestly, this is a book that should be used in classrooms and libraries across the country. We need to talk about this history because otherwise we will never move past it. When this book comes out in October, definitely consider adding it to your classroom or school library!

A vitally important read into the history of an event that epitomized racial injustice after the turn of the century and World War I. The Tulsa Race Massacre has only recently been throughly reported on, after decades of subversion and outright denial by government entities and white-owned news agencies. Colbert brings together personal testimonies cobbled together from past reporting and her own research to present a true and chilling look into an atrocity committed on our own soil.

Not only do we get vital first-hand accounts and important emotional material covering the panic and pain of this event, we also get Colbert’s painstaking hour by hour accounting of the facts of the night and so much of the history leading up to it. What began as an attempted lynching of an innocent teenager spiraled into a war on black people and the successful town they had established in Greenwood, Oklahoma.

Reading about the businessmen and women of Tulsa as well as the domestic workers who were employed by white families and the former sharecroppers and dreamers of a better life free of Jim Crow, all working together to establish a settlement where they could live in peace was so inspiring and heartwarming. And to then see their dream torn from them with violence and hatred was awful. But that paled in comparison to outrage over the outright lies and disinformation used to cover it up for almost a half century. Thank you to Brandy and all the historians, journalists, leaders and survivors who kept this story alive. I can only hope what we have learned about this tragic event will spur us all on to do better for the past, the present and the future.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my free copy. These opinions are my own.

Thank you to netgalley for providing an egalley for review. Brandy Colbert's "Black Birds in the Sky" gives the history of the events leading up to the Tulsa Race Riots, the Riots themselves and the lasting impacts the riots left on Tulsa and the country in general. There is a lot of information given, that seems very overwhelming, but is necessary to tell the story. The first hand account snippets and the original photographs are very compelling.

This book is fantastic. I have been working to learn more of American history, good and bad. I've embarassingly just learned about the Tulsa Race Massacre in the last year, and this book does an incredible job explaining the events leading up to the decimation of Black Wall Street and the aftermath. The Afterward was particularly heart-wrenching, documenting so much that has happened in the last six years. Brandy Colbert's book is well-researched, wonderfully paced, and beautiful in its devastating honesty.

Advanced copy thanks to NetGalley

A must buy for all middle and high school classroom and school libraries.
Well-written, engaging, truthful, and extremely well-researched.

The cover of this book is great. It might get teens to pick the book up and learn not only about the Tulsa Race Massacre but other events and people in our country's history that have not been covered in our curriculum and book lists. It is informative and well researched with resource guides for further study. The afterword may be the most compelling part of the book.

Until recently I knew nothing about the Tulsa massacre and now I have read several Books on the event and am STILL wondering how the hell this was never taught to me before now. With each new author I learn something new, learn about an individual who lost it all, or someone who survived through sheer force of will. Colbert does an amazing job at personalizing the stories and making your feel their humanity and their pain and suffering. It is beautifully and painfully written but an absolute Must read book on this topic.

I have been a fan of Ms. Colbert since first meeting her some years ago at ALA conference. I shall remain a fan with her newest nonfiction that uses her insightful and nuance touch to this horrific event in our history for younger readers. A must read.

Review to come! Will edit this review to add final review. The quick & dirty: Super important piece of non-fiction, can't wait to incorporate it into my middle schoolers' curriculum.

Very well-researched and clearly presented of the Tulsa Race Massacre, accessible to tweens and teens, The historical context of the massacre is explored, as well as the aftermath.

I so wish that this book could be in the hands of readers in time for this weekend’s centennial remembrance of the Tulsa Race Massacre. Colbert’s meticulous research and engaging voice shine a much-needed light on a horrific event in US history that has been kept in the shadows for way too long. Her afterword makes a compelling case for why it is so essential that we understand our history if we want to move forward as a nation.

Black Birds in the Sky will be released in October and should be in every high school library and public library.

Thank you, Balzer + Bray and NetGalley, for the electronic arc.