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Tuesday Tidbits: Week of May 14, 2007

May 15, 2007

I just finished reading Abby Takes a Stand: Scraps of Time #1by Patricia McKissack.  It is on the Sasquatch Award list(Washington state’s readers’ choice)  for 2008. 

I love Patricia C. McKissack’s books. Abby Takes a Stand is now added to the list of books by her that I love.  I wondered at first how a book about the Civil Rights movement of the early 60’s might translate to younger readers. I had no need to be concerned.

McKissack creates a wonderful way to bring the past to us: an attic, “the way back place” with with Grandma’s treasures, her scraps of time.  In this first volume, a menu from a Nashville, Tennessee restaurant, is discovered.  Grandma (who is Abby) tells the story of being nine years old, going to a restaurant to eat and being told to leave.

The reader is transported back into time with the story. What a story it is! Abby’s mother and cousin get quite involved in staging the Nashville Sit-ins as they were called. There is plenty of excitement and drama throughout.  I was engaged in the story and really felt that I was there, in that time and place.

I love how McKissack includes information at the end of the book in regards to what is factual.  It was also great to see “The Rules for the Nashville Sit-ins at the end of the book.

Reading this book couldn’t have been more timely.   The fourth grade team focused heavily on slavery and the Civil Rights movement this year.  Books that are engaging, that children can relate to are a challenge to find.  Abby Takes the Stand will fit the bill next year for them.

And I can’t wait until the next Scraps of Time adventure  comes out.  Thank you, Patricia C. McKissack for a wonderful read.

What’s on your nightstand?

Happy Reading.
MsMac

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