They Called Themselves the K.K.K.: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group

Written by: Susan Campbell Bartoletti

Published by: Houghton Mifflin, 2010

ISBN 978-0-618-44033-7

Plot Summary:

This well-document text covers an organization known as the Ku Klux Klan, or the KKK. The book follows the group from its start as a fraternity-style group to a terroristic club. What began as a group created to protect society quickly turned into a widespread and violent secret society.

Critical Analysis:

This social history book tells the story of a terrible group in a wonderful way. The information presented in the book is accurate according to starred reviews from School Library Journal, Kirkus, Booklist, Horn Book, and Publishers Weekly. The author, Susan Campbell Bartoletti, has much experience in writing historical non-fiction books. Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler’s Shadow, Growing Up in Coal Country, and Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine are also authored by Bartoletti. This book contains 10 chapters and an epilogue, and is organized chronologically, with the forming of the group at the beginning and the most recent events toward the end. Bartoletti also included a table of contents, a list of quote attributions, a bibliography and notes section, and an index. The cover of this book contains a haunting KKK mask on a black background. While this isn’t exactly an inviting cover, it would definitely intrigue today's teen readers. Many newspaper photographs and clippings, all of which are well captioned, compliment the text. The images, staying true to the time period, are printed in black ink only. A simple but readable Times New Roman font was used in the printing of this book. The vocabulary in this book is accurate to the subject matter. While words that often have a negative connotation are used in this text, the words are well placed and necessary. The author includes a note explaining why she chose to use specific words and their importance in the book. In this note the author states, “No matter how difficult it is to see the offensive words in print, I have made no attempt to censor these historical statements.” The book includes respectful but detailed descriptions of beatings, whippings, hangings and many other types of murder. While this book can be brutal to read at times, it belongs in every library’s collection. The book tells the story of a horrific time in United States history that many will want to read.

Awards and Reviews:

School Library Journal Battle of the Kids’ Books Nominee (2011)

YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Finalist (2011)

Booklist Editor’s Choice (2010)

Horn Book Fanfare (2010)

Kirkus Best Young Adult Books (2010)

Publisher’s Weekly Best Children’s Books (2010)

Washington Post Best Kid’s Books (2010)

School Library Journal: Gr 7-10–This richly documented, historically contextualized account traces the origin and evolution of the Ku Klux Klan from a small mischievous social club into a powerful, destructive organization. With compelling clarity, anecdotal detail, and insight, Bartoletti presents the complex era of Reconstruction, 1865-1877, that gave rise to the KKK. After the Civil War, the defeated South was a simmering cauldron of political, economic, and social instability. As the federal government struggled to provide law and order and to protect the rights of freed slaves, secret groups of Southern whites banded together to vent their anger over lost property, prosperity, and power. From six men in a law office in Pulaski, TN, KKK dens spread across the South targeting freed blacks and their supporters. Although the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 was meant to end violence, KKK activity persisted through the 20th century, diminishing in the last 30 years as civil rights became a reality for all Americans. Bartoletti includes excerpts from slave narratives, archival illustrations, and historical quotes to convey the human drama of KKK terrorism. An annotated bibliography and source notes illuminate the variety and significance of reference works. Additional secondary titles include Chester L. Quarles's scholarly The Ku Klux Klan and Related American Racialist and Antisemitic Organizations (McFarland, 2008). Bartoletti effectively targets teens with her engaging and informative account that presents a well-structured inside look at the KKK, societal forces that spawn hate/terrorist groups, and the research process.

Booklist: *Starred Review* Bartoletti follows multi-award-winning titles such as Hitler Youth (2005) with another standout contribution to youth history shelves. Here, she examines how the Ku Klux Klan formed and grew out of the ashes of the Civil War. Bartoletti, who taught eighth-graders for 18 years, writes in admirably clear, accessible language about one of the most complex periods in U.S. history, and she deftly places the powerfully unsettling events into cultural and political context without oversimplifying. It’s the numerous first-person quotes, though, that give the book its beating heart, and her searing, expertly selected stories of people on all sides of the violent conflicts will give readers a larger understanding of the conditions that incubated the Klan’s terrorism; how profoundly the freed people and their sympathizers suffered; and how the legacy of that fear, racism, and brutality runs through our own time. In an author’s note, Bartoletti describes visiting a contemporary Klan rally as part of her research, and that bold, immersive approach to her subject is evident in every chapter of this thoroughly researched volume. Like the individual stories, the powerful archival images on every page will leave an indelible impression on young readers, who will want to move on to the extensive annotated resources. The adjacent Story behind the Story feature fills in more details about this lucid, important title, which should be required reading for young people as well as the adults in their lives.

Connections: This time in America’s history can be easily compared and contrasted with the Jewish Holocaust during World War II. Brainstorm ideas together that can prevent us from falling into the trap of genocide or terrorism again.

Related Titles:

Bowers, Rick. Spies of Mississippi: The True Story of the Spy Network that Tried to Destroy the Civil Rights Movement. Washington D.C.: National Geographic, 2010.

Brimner, Larry Dane. Birmingham Sunday. Honesdale: Calkins Creek, 2010.

Heinrichs, Ann. The Ku Klux Klan: A Hooded Brotherhood. North Mankato: Child’s World, 2002.

Stanley, George Edward. Night Fires. New York City: Simon & Schuster, 2011.

Stauffacher, Sue. Bessie Smith and the Night Riders. New York City: Putnam Juvenile, 2006.