Fiction - African American, African Americans - Fiction & Literature, Fiction - General & Miscellaneous, Fiction - U. S. People, Places & Cultures
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Overview
An evocative story about an African-American girlæs summer visit with her great-grandparents, who tell her wonderful tales of their family Of the many stories her great-grandparents tell all summer long, Lea Mae most likes those about her family: her great-great grandfather who was led to freedom by Harriet Tubman and another great-great grandfather who was a Buffalo soldier in the West. Lea Mae spends joyful days with her ÆMa dear and Pop Henry, going to church, flying in the air on a swing, looking at ÆMa dearÆs photo album. She will always remember her great-grandparentsÆ stories, which are like diamonds, sapphires, and rubiesàjewels to treasure forever. Complemented by Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa HuÆs evocative watercolors, Belinda RochelleÆs story is a shining example of the African-American tradition of storytelling and a tribute to the bond between generations.During Lea Mae's annual summer visit her great-grandmother 'Ma Dear tells her wonderful stories about their family members and the past, stories that are jewels of African-American history.
Editorials
Children's Literature -
Young Lea Mae loves visiting her great-grandmother who she affectionately calls "Ma dear." Every year she and her parents head out to the country for her vacation. The best time is evening when she sits on the front porch drinking cold glasses of lemonade and she gets to listen to Ma dear's stories. Many of them are true, such as the one about Harriet Tubman helping slaves escape to freedom in the North. Others tell about a distant relative who was a Buffalo soldier, and there's even one about Ma dear herself when she went to New York City and met Count Basie and Duke Ellington. Then before you know it, the summer vacation is over, but Lea Mae promises to write down the stories-for her "the stories are like jewels to treasure forever." The author and illustrator team has created a gem of a book that gives a positive look at life and the pleasures that come from intergenerational closeness.School Library Journal
K-Gr 3An affectionate intergenerational picture of an African-American girl's summer vacation with her great-grandparents. Lea Mae obviously looks forward to her time with her `Ma dear and her Pop Henry. `Ma dear is a storyteller and her tales are "jewels to treasure forever." She spins family stories of her ancestors' escape on the Underground Railroad, her grandfather's service as a Buffalo soldier in the Civil War and the West, and the birth of her own child when blacks were not admitted to local hospitals. Interspersed with these tales are depictions of the simple pleasures of attending church, going on walks, and dancing in the rain. `Ma dear's short episodic stories proceed in a relaxed, nonlinear progression. Pop Henry offers his great-granddaughter advice: "The secret of life is not to be bitter." The watercolor illustrations underscore the intrinsic warmth of Lea Mae's relationship with her remarkably chipper, aged relatives. Her expressive face is alight with joy. The picture-book format renders the high points of African-American history as snapshots that impart neither sufficient context nor in-depth information about important events such as the Buffalo soldiers, the Jazz Age, or pre-Civil Rights-era discrimination. Therefore, the book might be most useful as a starting point for a closer study of African-American history and for collecting oral family history.Kate McClelland, Perrot Memorial Library, Greenwich, CTBook Details
Published
January 29, 1998
Publisher
New York : Lodestar Books/Dutton, 1998.
Pages
32
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9780525675020