Patricia C. McKissack
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By: Atheneum/Anne Schwartz Books
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9
Average rating: 5.0 of 5
Special all right 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.
Growing up in Nashville, Tennessee in the 1950s was not easy for African-American children. Most public places--including hotels, restaurants, churches, movie theaters, parks--were open only to whites. On buses, only seats in the back rows were available to them, even if the front of the bus was empty.
But as the author explains in her endnote, the board of Nashville's public library in the late 1950s voted to fully integrate, and opened the main downtown branch fully to all. Like Andrew Carnegie, whose wealth helped to build it, her grandmother considered the library more exciting, interesting, informative than any place else. Her grandmother made it into a "doorway to freedom."
This is a fictionalized story of the author's youth--an afternoon on which the main character, Tricia Ann, took a bus from home to downtown and the public library. She encountered much hatred en route, but she also met some love. She gave up her seat to a friend of her mother when the rear section was full. Mrs. Granell called after her, "Carry yo'self proud."
Her friend Jimmy Lee instructed her, "Don't let those signs steal yo' happiness," and another gentleman at the Southland Hotel told her she resembled an angel from heaven. She also received encouragement from a kindly white gardener, Blooming Mary, to recall the lessons her deceased grandmother had taught her. Lots more happens here besides. In summation, a young woman is born.
"You are somebody, a human being," her grandmother had said. The author shows that arriving to a place is not always easy. But quitting is not the route to take.
Patricia McKissack's grandmother was right: Libraries give a special gift. Help your kids find out what and why with this book.
--Alyssa A. Lappen
Editorial Review:
There's a place in this 1950s southern town where all are welcome, no matter what their skin color...and 'Tricia Ann knows exactly how to get there. To her, it's someplace special and she's bursting to go by herself.
When her grandmother sees that she's ready to take such a big step, 'Tricia Ann hurries to catch the bus heading downtown. But unlike the white passengers, she must sit in the back behind the Jim Crow sign and wonder why life's so unfair.
Still, for each hurtful sign seen and painful comment heard, there's a friend around the corner reminding 'Tricia Ann that she's not alone. And even her grandmother's words -- "You are somedbody, a human being -- no better, no worse than anybody else in this world" -- echo in her head, lifting her spirits and pushing her forward.
Patricia C. McKissack's poignant story of growing up in the segregated South and Jerry Pinkney's rich, detailed watercolors lead readers to the doorway of freedom.
