Genre Category: Picture Book/Historical Fiction
Source: Coretta Scott King, 2001
Age Range: Ages 4 to 9
Assessment of the book’s quality: The text and artwork work beautifully together to tell a straightforward story with emotional depth and a strong message.
Assessment of the book’s potential use The book can be used especially for Black History Month as a valuable source to introduce children about the segregation and racial prejudice that existed not so long ago. It can also be used to bring history lessons to life. It can be used for storytime with games played at the end to allow children to feel and experience prejudice themselves (i.e. kids who can hold their breath longer will get to be the first in line, will be the first to choose art materials for arts and craft, etc.)
Assessment of the book’s child appeal: Appealing for children who like to know more about the history and stories from other cultures; and for kids who have friends or come from families who have experienced racial prejudice.
Summary:
Goin' Someplace Special takes place in the south, in Nashville, around 1950's, at the time of segregation. The story is about a young black girl named Tricia Ann who lives with her grandmother. She is ready to that Someplace Special in the city all by herself. So she begs her grandmother to allow her to go. The grandmother lets her go with these parting words: "You are somebody, a human being - no better, no worse than anybody else in the world". And so she takes this journey all by herself through several tough situations while going to her someplace special. When she gets on the bus, she knows that she must sit in the back, behind the Jim Crow sign, because blacks aren't allowed in the front. At another place she sits on a bench to rest which has again has a sign: "Whites only". Then she is swept into the White’s only Southland Hotel where she is told, “No colored people are allowed!” Feeling the bitterness of injustice and bigotry, in tears, she escapes to a church ruin, now a quiet garden where, an elderly white woman advises her to listen close for her grandmother’s voice. “Getting’ someplace special is not an easy route. But don’t study on quittin’...,” she hears in her heart. On her way, she confronts more signs of prejudice, but courageously Tricia Ann makes it to her Someplace Special, a big white stone building with "Public Library: Everyone Welcome" carved on the facade of the library above the welcoming doorway - a place that accepts all people equally.
Reaction and Impressions:
The book has powerful messages and themes. One outright message is the message of racial injustice, which is presented in a smooth and humble way shows the unfairness of the Jim Crowe laws. I very much like how McKissack makes Tricia Ann go through the experiences of this racial injustice, as she would have in real life - truly not being able to choose what comments would have been made to her that day or what sort if injustices she saw. I love the message at the end of the book as it shows that libraries are a place for everyone to feel welcome and safe.
"McKissack and Pinkney strike just the right balance in a picture book for young readers and listeners: informative without being preachy; hopeful without being sentimental.”_ Horn Book, 2001.
'Tricia Ann endures the indignities of segregation in the 1950s South, fortified with the love of her family and friends. As a Negro, she must sit at the back of the bus. Because of Jim Crow laws, she can only sit in the back of the balcony at the theater."_Children's Literature, 2001.
"Pinkney’s... luminescent watercolors evoke the ‘50s, from fashions to finned cars, and he captures every ounce of ‘Tricia Ann’s eagerness, humiliation and quiet triumph at the end.”_ Publishers Weekly, 2001.
"Every plot element contributes to the theme.... A natural for group sharing; leave plenty of time for the questions and discussions that are sure to follow.”_ Kirkus Reviews, 2001.
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