Coretta Scott King Book Award

Since 1970 African American authors who have excelled in writing have been awarded the Coretta Scott King book award.  Outstanding African American illustrators began being recognized in 1974.  The first author to win the award was Lillie Patterson for the book Martin Luther King: A Man of Peace.  The first illustrator was George Ford for the Book Ray Charles (written by Sharon Bell Mathis)

The Coretta Scott King Author Award for this year goes to Rita Williams-Garcia.  Williams-Garcia also won the award in 2014 for P.S. Be Eleven and in 2011 for One Crazy Summer.  Her latest book Gone Crazy in Alabama has been award with the 2016 award.

Gone Crazy in Alabama is the sequel to One Crazy Summer. In Gone Crazy in Alabama Delphine and her two younger sisters are shipped of to Alabama for the summer to live with their grandmother and great grandmother.  Rural Alabama in 1969 is much different than Brooklyn.  The girls struggle with finding their identify, getting along and learning the difference between oppression and respect.

All sisters can relate to the three sisters in the story (oldest, middle and youngest) Delphine is the big sister, in charge of looking after her younger sisters.  She takes her job a little too seriously, constantly picking on them to do right.  However, she thinks that she is above helping out around the house (especially ironing sheets) and tells her grandmother that she will not do it.  This act of disrespect does not sit well with her grandmother. Over the summer Delphine learns a lot about what it means to be a big sister and just how much her sisters mean to her.

Vonetta is the outspoken middle sister.  She is always picking on her little sister and getting bossed around by her big sister.  She doesn't take it from anyone.  Vonetta loves being the center of attention and will do anything to stay there.  Her favorite thing to do during the summer in Alabama was take stories back and forth between her great grandmother and her estranged sister Great Aunt Miss Trotter.  Vonetta is so stubborn and bull-headed she finds herself in trouble when a tornado hits the town.

Fern, the baby, does not like to eat meat.  She wants to take care of all her animals friends.  She is constantly being picked on by Vonetta and being defended by Delphine.  Fern is just a happy go lucky girl until her sister Vonetta turns up missing- or possibly worse.

All three girls learn, that even through all the fighting and bickering, they are still sisters and still love one another.

Now, in addition to the author and illustrator award, the ALA also recognizes new authors and illustrators with the Steptoe award.

This year's Coretta Scott King Steptoe award for new author goes to Ronald L. Smith for his book Hoodoo.  Hoodoo is the story of a boy growing up in the south in the 1930's.  The boy, Hoodoo, comes from a family who does hoodoo magik, although he has never been able to.  One day a stranger comes to town and Hoodoo can feel the bad juju.  The bad juju is showing up in his dreams and in real life.  Hoodoo quickly realizes that there is evil in the world that only he can conquer.  He digs as deep as he can inside himself for bravery and belief in the hoodoo magik to conquer the evil.

Hoodoo is an intense slightly scary novel.  Smith does a great job with describing the scene, everything from the look and feel right down the the smell.  He sets the scene brilliantly, the entire time you feel as though you are in 1930 Alabama from the way that the characters talk to what they are eating.  If your intermediate aged child likes magic and spells and can be scared a little this book is perfect for them!

Happy Reading!
Laura

The Book Itch

We all know about Martin Luther King Jr., Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X and Muhammed Ali.  The fact is that there were and are countless of everyday Black Americans that have made huge differences by doing small things.  These people may not have become famous like the names mentioned above, but they surely had an impact.

The Book Itch by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson tells the story of Lewis Michaux Sr., owner of the The National Memorial African Bookstore in Harlem.  Books were his dream and he wanted to share that dream with others.  He knew that books and reading were the key to success, so Lewis began walking his cart of books up and down the street to sell.  He caught people's attention by using catchy rhymes like, "Knowledge is power.  You need it every hour.  Read a book!" or "If you don't and you ain't got no dough, then you can't go, that's for who."  

The story of Lewis Michaux is the same story of many African Americans during the early 1900's- struggle, rejection and persistence.  Michaux wanted everyone to have the right to read but when he went to the bank for a loan to open his bookstore he was denied and told that black people don't read.  He didn't let that stop him.  He worked hard saving his money until he was able to open his bookstore- and guess what people read!  From that point on his bookstore became a beacon for the Harlem community.  It was where people came for more than just books but for conversation, ideas and acceptance.  Michaux's bookstore was even visited by some of the people I mentioned at the beginning of this post.  

Michaux's story is one that all of us can be inspired by.  He got the "itch" and did everything he could to scratch it- which meant sharing books, knowledge and conversation with his community. Share The Book Itch with the kids in your life in hopes of spreading the "itch" for books!

Happy Reading!

Laura

Black History Month

I recently read the novel, All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.  The book had a quote in it that has really stuck with me, "You know the greatest lesson of history?  It's that history is whatever the victor says it is.  That's the lesson.  Whoever wins, that's who decides."  The particular quote referred to World War II and Nazi occupied France, but the quote holds true for more than just World War II.

When you look through our history books, you can see a very one-sided story.  The American Revolution is only told from the side of the colonist, the Civil War from the perspective of the North and so on and so on.  As teachers and parents we need to do a better job teaching history from all perspectives (Black, White, Asian, Hispanic, Women, Native Americans etc.) and not just from the perspective of the so called "winner." We need to go beyond teaching Black History only in February during Black History Month and Women's History only in March.  The history of America's people, all of America's people needs to be taught day in and day out.

Luckily for us there are some great books out there that we can use to supplement our text books or other lessons so that our children can get a more complete and diverse view of history. One book in particular Heart and Soul: The Story of American and African Americans by Kadir Nelson is a must own in every classroom and home.  Nelson begins his book with the Declaration of Independence and ends with Civil Rights Movement and the March on Washington.  We are introduced to Pap, the narrator's grandfather who was captured in Africa and brought over on a slave ship.  His story is entwined with the story of America and other names we are familiar with like Lincoln, Fredrick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, Joe Louis Barrow and Dr. Martin Luther King.  We learn about the the battles African Americans fought, the injustices they endured and the progress that was made.  He provides just enough detail and fact about each event, which is what makes this perfect for kids.

Nelson's story is paired with his beautiful illustrations. His illustrations alone can tell the story of the injustices history has imparted on African Americans.  The facial expressions convey every emotion and feeling: defeat, tiredness, anger, pride and determination- all words used to describe the history of  American and African Americans. Put all of it together and Nelson tells a story that needs to be heard by all American's because it is the

Here are a few:

Strikers

Brave Children, Little Rock, Arkansas

Southern Family Migrating North, circa 1940

So this February let's honor Black Americans for what they have contributed to our country but let's make sure to teach Black History (and Women History, Native American History, Hispanic History, Asian History and everything else) everyday of the year.

Happy Reading,
Laura