Another fabulous way to take a period in time and add a great storyline about three girls growing up to help children learn about the history of America.
Delphine (the oldest who's eleven-years-old), and her sisters younger sisters Vonetta and Fern begin their summer adventure when they board a plane destined to reach their mother in Brooklyn, New York. The girls were abandoned by their mother as infants and the plan was for them to get to know each other, but things didn't go as planned.
The girls learned so much more.....The Black Panther movement, devotion of sisters, and new ideas about motherhood. Delphine begins to understand why her mother is who she is and did what she did. Delphine begins to understand the complications of people. Delphine and her sisters see that their mother, with all of her shortcomings, has a place in their heart.
Rita Williams-Garcia blew me away with this story. No wonder she won so many awards (see link). Again, I can't think of a better way for children to learn about history than to read historical fiction like this. It brings history to life. Makes children want more.....I makes me say, "What happened next?" I immediately went in search of more information about The Black Panther Movement. There is so much more to learn this way.
I also went in search of more information on the Black Panther Movement. I was surprised to hear that children were involved with it, but it does make sense that that was the case. Delphine was such a strong character. I was glad to see she could break through to her mother by the end of the story so that she did not leave Oakland thinking the same way she had before she got there.
ReplyDeleteI was amazed by how brave Delphine was. At the age of eleven, I wouldn't ride a bus two blocks, let alone through the city. Her ability to stand up to adult strangers is also something to be admired. She knew right and wrong.
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