This book deals with the harsh and true realities of racism in the South after the court decision for integration of schools in 1954. Dawnie is one of the first black children to attend an all white school. She’s not only treated poorly at school, she’s also treated poorly by her previously black friends. Being the only girl that loves baseball doesn’t help, with any of her relations or with her peers.
Dawnie has a special needs brother, Goober who endures constant bullying. Dawnie is facing the challenges of prejudice as she attends the all white school and has the courage to be part of the change. She also struggles with the pain of having a brother who is different. Will Dawnie be able to keep her integrity and remain true to her family as she endures all the racism in her life? Will she be able to keep up her grades and her dreams of college? 336 pages Ages 8 and up
ISBN: 978-0545297059
336 pages 978-1338530957 Ages 9-13
Keywords: diary, historical fiction, integration, African American, African American author, desegregation, prejudice, racism, school, courage, grit, girls and women, 9 year old, 10 year old, 11 year old, 12 year old, 13 year old, part of a series, American history, Black Lives Matter, diversity, diverse books
Reviewed by: Alicia Romans, Information Specialist, Georgia, USA
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Bestselling author and Coretta Scott King Award winner Andrea Davis Pinkney presents a moving fictional account of school desegregation in the Civil Rights Era.
Twelve-year-old Dawnie Rae Johnson's life turns upside down after the Supreme Court rules in favor of desegregation in the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education. Her parents decide that Dawnie will attend Prettyman Coburn, a previously all-white school -- but she'll be the only one of her friends to enroll in this new school.
Not everyone in Dawnie's town of Hadley, Virginia, supports integration, though, and much of the community is outraged by the decision. As she starts school, Dawnie encounters the harsh realities of racism. But the backlash against her arrival at Prettyman Coburn is more than she's prepared for, and she begins to wonder if the hardship is worth it. Will Dawnie be able to hold on to the true meaning of justice and remain faithful to her own sense of integrity?---from the publisher
