A Dangerous Idea

Starred review from November 1, 2024
Grades 6-9 *Starred Review* In the famous Scopes trial (1925), a small-town high-school science teacher was charged with violating a recently enacted state law that forbade the teaching of human evolution in state-supported schools. Community leaders in Dayton, Tennessee, saw the trial as an opportunity to bring attention, visitors, and dollars to their struggling town. It did. Spectators packed the overcrowded courtroom, where William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow, two powerful and popular orators, vied for attention and support, each defending his stance in the tug-of-war between Darwin's theory of evolution and certain Christians' religious beliefs. The judge refused to allow the jury in the courtroom for most of the trial. Levy takes readers into the courthouse, commenting on people involved in the case and reporters writing about it, for it was a media sensation. The illustrations include period photos as well as newspaper headlines, stories, and editorial cartoons. The appended time line, source notes, and selected biography are extensive, and the epilogue takes a closer look at how controversies continue today over who should control a school's curriculum and whether scientific theories and discoveries or religious teachings should be taught in public schools. A welcome, timely resource as we near the one-hundredth anniversary of the Scopes trial.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

November 15, 2024
Ample details and a well-researched backstory paint a picture of a pivotal court case that's both surprising and familiar. A century before social concepts like the frequently misunderstood critical race theory made their way into mainstream discourse--before an unprecedented rise in hostile takeovers of library and school boards aimed at book censorship--Charles Darwin's scientifically sound theory of evolution was a hot-button issue. Using extensive research and primary source material to great effect, Levy takes readers on a deep dive into the Scopes trial of 1925, a lawsuit designed to push back against the recently enacted House Bill 185, aka the Butler Act, prohibiting "any instruction 'that man has descended from a lower order of animals'" in Tennessee public schools. This account jumps through time, from the trial itself to the origins of Darwin's work and the background and history of the trial's major players, providing insight into their principles and motivations. The author calls out historical racism and atrocities, including white supremacy and eugenics embedded in concepts such as "survival of the fittest" (which she emphasizes is a phrase that Darwin didn't coin), juxtaposing them against the moral outrage over the concept of evolution. Though occasionally overly dense with detail and background information, this meticulous work is generally well written and accessible. Moments of clarity around the weight and importance of this trial bring home its implications for the modern U.S. educational system. A compelling, well-researched account. (timeline, source notes, selected bibliography, photo credits, index)(Nonfiction. 10-14)

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from January 1, 2025

Gr 4-7-In May of 1925, the school board members and leading businessmen of Dayton, TN, hatched a plan to attract visitors, new business, and media attention to their small town. They induced John Scopes, a high school science teacher, to face charges of teaching evolution in defiance of Tennessee's recently passed prohibition against teaching "any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible." Thus, the ACLU finally had a test case to challenge the constitutionality of the anti-evolution laws that were cropping up in state legislatures across the U.S. By July, the media circus and popular culture phenomenon that would be known as the Scopes Monkey Trial was in full swing, with crusading civil liberties and labor attorney Clarence Darrow on the defense team and three-time presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan leading the prosecution. Through accessible language, strong and unhurried pacing, and the deft incorporation of human interest into the story, Levy crafts a compelling narrative from what might otherwise be a dry treatise on science and the law. Background information-on evolutionary theory, the roles of religion and science in government and society, and the lives and careers of the key players in the trial-grounds the events that occurred over eight days in the Rhea County courthouse to the larger history of America. An epilogue provides a persuasive argument that the legacy of the Scopes Monkey Trial lives on in our current political struggles and constitutional challenges. Chapter-by-chapter source notes and a selected bibliography are included, along with an index. VERDICT This engaging history relates the story of the first significant battle in America's ongoing "culture wars" and is highly recommended for junior high and high school collections.-Kelly Kingrey-Edwards

Copyright 2025 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2025
Levy takes readers back one hundred years to the sleepy town of Dayton, Tennessee, and the historic Scopes trial. At first glance, the time period -- before television, the internet, and other modern sources of infotainment -- seems far removed from our own. But as Levy suggests, and then explains in detail in an insightful epilogue, the issues of the trial -- racism, disinformation, journalistic integrity, a distrust of science, control over school curricula, and the separation of church and state -- remain with us today. She begins with a group of community leaders who want to publicize Dayton and believe a high-profile trial will accomplish the goal. They ask high school teacher John T. Scopes to admit he taught evolution in his biology class and thus violated a recently passed law. And the circus begins. The ACLU challenges the charges, and eminent lawyer Clarence Darrow joins the defense, opposing thrice-unsuccessful presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan and the prosecution. Using a breezy, conversational tone laced with subtle humor, Levy discusses the principal players and their motivations, Darwin's findings, the legal arguments of each team, the media frenzy, and the trial itself. Archival photographs, newspaper clippings, and political cartoons bolster the detailed text. This fine, thoroughly researched book concludes with a timeline, source notes, an extensive bibliography, and an (unseen) index. Betty Carter

(Copyright 2025 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

October 14, 2024
“There was never before, and has never been, another day in court like it,” asserts Levy (Change Is in the Air) in this riveting work about The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes, commonly known as the Scopes Monkey Trial. Following his first year of teaching in May 1925, Dayton, Tenn., educator John Thomas Scopes (1900–1970)—who’d been filling in for the school’s biology teacher—is informed by the chairman of the Rhea County school board, two lawyers, the school superintendent, and a nearby business owner that he’s been charged with breaking the law for teaching his students about human evolution. “Since when was teaching a unit in biology class a crime?” Levy writes in
conversational prose. “Since seven weeks earlier,” following the instating of House Bill 185, or the Butler Act, which forbid “the teaching of any theory that denies the story of Divine Creation.” Archival b&w photos alongside divisive and thorough text depicts the court case and its impact, resulting in a look at two combatting schools of thought—fundamentalist vs. science-backed rhetoric—and the figures who became the face of them. A timeline and sources conclude. Ages 10–14.

January 1, 2025
Levy takes readers back one hundred years to the sleepy town of Dayton, Tennessee, and the historic Scopes trial. At first glance, the time period -- before television, the internet, and other modern sources of infotainment -- seems far removed from our own. But as Levy suggests, and then explains in detail in an insightful epilogue, the issues of the trial -- racism, disinformation, journalistic integrity, a distrust of science, control over school curricula, and the separation of church and state -- remain with us today. She begins with a group of community leaders who want to publicize Dayton and believe a high-profile trial will accomplish the goal. They ask high school teacher John T. Scopes to admit he taught evolution in his biology class and thus violated a recently passed law. And the circus begins. The ACLU challenges the charges, and eminent lawyer Clarence Darrow joins the defense, opposing thrice-unsuccessful presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan and the prosecution. Using a breezy, conversational tone laced with subtle humor, Levy discusses the principal players and their motivations, Darwin's findings, the legal arguments of each team, the media frenzy, and the trial itself. Archival photographs, newspaper clippings, and political cartoons bolster the detailed text. This fine, thoroughly researched book concludes with a timeline, source notes, an extensive bibliography, and an (unseen) index.

(Copyright 2025 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)