Grandmama's Pride

by Becky Birtha, Colin Bootman (Illustrator)

Overview

Six-year-old Sarah Marie, her mother, and her little sister travel down south to visit Grandmama in the summer of 1956. Grandmama makes every effort to shield her granddaughters from the prejudice that still plagues her town. But as Sarah Marie learns to read, she notices Grandmama’s town is filled with signs and rules that she’s never understood before. As Sarah Marie tries to make sense of the world around her, she’s left wondering if life in the South will ever change.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807530221
Publisher:	Whitman, Albert & Company
Publication date:	11/01/2016
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.30(w) x 10.50(h) x 0.20(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Becky Birtha often traveled by bus as a child to visit family in Virginia. Remembering those trips gave her the idea for Grandmama’s Pride. She lives in Pennsylvania. Colin Bootman was born in Trinidad. He moved to the United States when he was seven, but the vibrant palette of the Caribbean has always influenced his painting. In 2004, he received a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Award. He lives in New York.

Editorial Reviews

"Told in Sarah Marie's voice, this slice of dramatic history will touch both heart and mind." Booklist

"The strong, sensitive writing is enhanced by beautiful watercolor paintings filled with chips of light." School Library Journal

"Bittersweet nostalgia and a gentle introduction to an important and painful piece of our national past." Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

This picture book about what it was like for African-Americans in the segregated south is particularly well done. Before young Sarah Marie learns to read the notorious "whites only" signs, she is told that picnic lunches for trips south to visit Grandmama are better than lunch counter meals, that seats in the back of the bus are roomier, and that water coolers are off-limits because of germs. Sarah Marie's innocence is lost when she learns to read and discovers the truth. The lazy summer days of her childhood are effectively set against a dark undercurrent of prejudice. Soft Pinckney-like watercolor illustrations are appealing, and the bright colors in the girls' dresses and hair bows stand out clearly against drab gray and brown scenes where the children are excluded. Heads held proudly, the family walks downtown, and we see the chiseled, anonymous faces of white patrons at forbidden locales in the background. Irony is evident in the American flag beside the post office as the family walks past a "whites only" water cooler. The book ends on a hopeful note as Sarah Marie describes changes brought about by the Civil Rights Movement. This moving story of one African-American family's struggle to maintain their dignity is especially timely in light of Rosa Park's recent death. Includes an author's note. 2005, Albert Whitman & Co, Ages 5 to 8.
—Quinby Frank

Children's Literature

Gr 2-4-A 1956 summer visit to their grandmother's home exposes two African-American girls to segregation and prejudice unlike anything they have experienced in the North. As they travel south by bus, their mother explains that the best seats are at the back. At a rest stop, most travelers head for the lunch counter, but Mama reminds her daughters that she has packed them a delicious lunch. When they arrive at their destination, six-year-old Sarah Marie notices the two separate waiting rooms and wonders why her grandmother is waiting in the one without seats. The gentle tone of Birtha's writing reflects the quiet dignity with which the adults in Sarah Marie's family meet the indignities of Jim Crow laws. When they return the following summer, the Supreme Court has desegregated the schools, buses, and public places. The strong, sensitive writing is enhanced by beautiful watercolor paintings filled with chips of light. This story will generate discussions on a range of topics including racial segregation, bullying, and self-respect.-Mary Hazelton, Elementary Schools in Warren & Waldoboro, ME Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Young African-American Sarah Marie travels by bus from her Northern home to the South to visit her proud grandmother, both before and after segregation. Her first-person narrative conveys wide-eyed wonder, and each of the superbly detailed watercolor illustrations is a short story in itself. Sarah Marie and her little sister experience the fun of making paper dolls and playing on a rope swing and sewing with Grandmama and their Aunt Marie, but also visit a lunch counter and bus station torn by segregation. When she returns a year later, the separate bus station bathrooms have been eliminated and Grandmama's public face changed from a proud scowl to a warm smile. Bittersweet nostalgia and a gentle introduction to an important and painful piece of our national past. A lengthy author's note gives the story a helpful historical context. (Picture book. 7-10)

Kirkus Reviews