This book chronicles the creation, training, and legacy of the Triple Nickles, a group of black paratroopers from World War II. Stone discusses the treatment of blacks (and other people of color) in the military and how over a relatively short period of time these men and their commanding officers were able to start to change the U.S. military's rules about blacks in the military. The photos, captions, and special spreads about the war are top notch and completely support the ideas stated in the text itself.
Courage Has No Colori is an excellent specimen of nonfiction for grades 5 to 8. It provides an uncommon perspective on the racial prejudice that blacks face. Most students are only familiar with the Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks and Jim Crow laws aspect of the civil rights issue. Sharing a book like this with students and something like We Are the Ship by Kadir Nelson, would be a great way to expose them to racism outside their current schema. A book like this is very important to share with students in the wake of the racial tensions in current events as kind of a "Is history repeating itself?" moment. Tanya Lee Stone's desire in writing this book was to take what little was known to the public about the Triple Nickles, collect the scraps of stories and get the story out to the masses. She extensively researched the topic to the point that she had too much information to include in this one book. In her closing chapter of the book, she expresses the gratitude she has for our nation and these soldiers who did so much but go so little recognition.
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