I love this book it is great for everyone in the family. You will love it I recoomed the book for evryone I've read all of candy dawson boyd's books and there all great.

Jessie Willams is a sixth grade student at Oakland Performing Arts Middle School. After a prejudice remark from her teacher, Jessie begins to believe that people do not like the color of her skin. She is forced to take on a large assignment with her ultimate rival Addie Mea. Her schedule is jam packed, but if she dosn't keep her grades up, she will be forced to return to her old middle school.

This book is about a young dark - skinned girl, named Jessie, who was having a lot of problems everywhere she went and she was withholding her anger. At school, she has had her feelings two years ago by a light skinned teacher, Mrs. Grant, who misjudge Jessie. Jessie had overheard Mrs. Grant say something to another teacher along the lines of... "I can't believe the William's girls are sisters. Cassandra was one of the prettiest black girls I have ever taught, and one of the smartest. That beautiful long, glossy hair, and white skin. It's hard to believe that Jessie is her sister. She's so dark and plain. Not even that smart- such a disappointment after Cassandra." ... That really hurt Jessie's feeling especially since she admired Mrs. Grant. I think everyone did up until Jessie recently let the secret out to her family. which was a big relief to Jessie because Jessie has been wating to confront Mrs. Grant, not only will Jessie be able to confront Mrs. Grant but also she has her family there for her.
Jessie's next problem is her group at school, a group of four who has to work on a major project and their is this one girl who an attitude, Addie Mae Collins and everytime the girl gets mad she changes her name, as of now her name is Addie Mae Copper. Copper is snotty and she thinks she knows everything.
At home there is nothing much to discuss outside of Mamatoo, Jessie's maternal grandmother, has always had open arms to cuddle Jessie and map of wisdom to lead Jessie. Cass {short for Cassandra} is always telling her boyfriend, Joe what to do. Well he wanted her now he has her.
Jessie's father, Mr. Williams, a light-shinned man, who worked at the bookstore. He was hard on Jessie and he would not let her work in the bookstore, nor do any extra curricular activty. She is lucky to be going to OPA {Oakland Performing Arts} Middle School. That is all extra-curricular activity that she is going to get.
Later Mrs. Grant still didn't apologize, sha played hard to get....
....Addie Mae Collins acted the way she did because she no one at home to pay her any attention, but she had a lot of talent. Addie was just reaching out for help and got it.
....Joe is still being bossed around by his girlfriend, Cassandra.
....Mamatoo still gives out good advise.
....The fours major project went very well, Corrine James. a famous person who was tired of being famous had let Jessie do part of her project on her and presnet her. Then Jessie present Addie Mae Copper and the story behind her name and how she was named after her cousin who died in Mississippi in a church that was caught on fire.
....Jessie's light - skinned father, who let her light -skinned sister and light - skinned Addie Mae work in the store just didn't want dark - skinned Jessie's grade to fall behind for the simple fact that dark children are labeled dumb and none of his daughter will ever be labeled dumb.
....Jessie is relieved, she has got all of that off her chest and an A with the Fours project and two new friend who have revealed their past history to sociey.
....

tHE BOMB!!! i lUVED THIS BOOK 'CUZ iT DEALT WITH REAL LIFE SITUATIONS(SWEET), PROBLEMS AND TRIUMPH!!! i CAN RELATE THIS BOOK TO KIDS AT MY SCHOOL AND i ALSO KNOW HOW IT FEELS.i LOVED THE WAY jESSI WILLIAMS DEALT WITH EVERYTHING. sHE EVEN GOT A BOYFRIEND!!! sWEET!!! YOU GO gIRL.!!! yA NEED TO READ THIS BOOK! i'TS tIZIGHT!!!!! tHE ENDIN' WILL MOVE YA! iT IS 2TIGHT + 2BE = $GOTTEN rEAD it

i thought that the book was really good. the author made it seem that she was talking about someone she knew, maybe herself as a child, or even someone that she knows. the reason that i gave it a 4 was because the pacing could have been slower, it just went by so fast. as soon as i started to read the book i couldn't put it down. i got so into the book that i felt like i was one of the characters in the book. i know that this is more realistic than unrealistic because everything that was going on a lot could relate to or had gone through something like that. i would recommend this book to anyone who is a teenager.

To me(my opinion because I'm entitled to it) This book was very good and the fact that it has many things going in it is because that's how a real urban girl thinks. Boyd was coming from inside Jessie head and the world and how she sees it. Including her attractions and crushes to boys. In my opinon this book was a good CLEAN version of real urban life. Like it or not I really don't care.

This book is very realistic when it comes to the problems of self image and siblings. I can't what to read the companian to this book.

I wanted to hear this book because Maddie, the main character, had thesame situation as I did (about our fathers). I didn't really like this book because it was a little boring. The book was about a girl that wanted to buy her mom a gold pin, but she didn't have a lot of money. Her mom would say things like this "Take off that red shirt your dad gave you," and the girl wore it all the time because her dad died and she liked it so much. she wrot an essay to win money for her moms pin. In a way I liked it only at the beginning because it made me want to read it more. I really don't know what the meaning of the book was. It could have been a real story because it felt really realto me. It is a sad story but it can have cheerful times too, and that's whatmade me hear more of that book. I give this book 3 stars because it made me feel like I was actually in the story, and it had a lot of wonderful parts , but it was little boring.

The main characters in this book are Mattie Benson, Matt Benson (Mattie's twin brother), and Ms. Benson. After Mattie's father died her family was never the same. Her mother was always working late and was hardly ever home. When she was home she was usually tired or in a very bad mood, and she rarely had time for her kids. As time passed things were getting worse and Mattie noticed that her mother was being put under more and more stress everyday because of her job. Mother's Day is coming soon and Mattie really wants to get her mom the perfect gift: a gold pin. She believes this perfect gift will be what it takes to bring her family back together for sure. Mattie runs into some trouble while trying to buy the gift for her mother: for one thing she doesn't have enough money. But that doesn't stop her, and in the end she finds out that she has actually given her mother and brother more than she could ever imagine, something a lot more precious than a gold pin.

I am 8 years old. I really hate reading,but when I read this book it gave me ideas about how you can imagine you being mat, matthew, mama, papa and of course MATTIE. She is the big sister and has a friend named Toni...and they are really cool! You will like this book.

I think this book, In a scale from 1-10 is a 5. There wasn't any major conflict in the story, and the worst thing the main character does is lose his stepfathers dog, and steel some cupcakes from a drugstore. The story is about a boy who's parents have just divorced, so he's having trouble in school. The main character, Joey, gets in fights with other school kids. His best friends are D. J.,(Not a good name on the authors part) and Denise. His only other troubles are his teacher Miss Hamlin, whom he hates. She is a new teacher and doesn't have a clue about teaching. In total I think this book STINKS!!!!!

I thought that Chevrolet Sarutdays was the greatest book ever. It talked about real life situations that some kids these days go through today. All the things that are explained in the book are situations that kids and step parents go through everyday, for example the step parent trying to dot hing with the child that the child doesn't want to do with them because they're are not their real parents. I recomend that you get your hands on this book fast, because it is flat out the best!!!!!

Chevrolet Saturdays is a wonderful novel! This is the first book I've read which discusses the themes of divorce and remarriage in the African-American home. As I read this book to my class, I began to realize how much divorce had become a part of the fabric of our society. By studying Joey and his coping mechanisms, I could then begin to understand some of my own classroom children who have experienced this same thing. I highly recommend this book.

I thought the book had a good storyline but the book did not build a good suspence.it was well written in detail but it didnt capture the reader.

Nice reviews, September 6th person. Hello, We'd like to hear a little bit about the plot here. When books were passed out in our school, I chose this one. I like historical fiction and the Vietnam War was something I didn't know that much about. I ended up reading in about a day and a half. It was not only really good as far as the war went it really had a believable story line. If and when you are studying Vietnam this book is NOT to be missed. Charlie is a great heroine as she struggles to find out secrets about her uptight and extremely strict father. Neither her Grandparents or family will tell her anything. Her father and uncle both fought and won't talk about it. Her report for school helps her understand what happened but not how it killed her father's dreams. Now my other friends are asking to have this book next. Way to go Candy Dawson Boyd!!!!

Buyer Beware! This is not just a sweet, sentimental "daddy" book. I was so excited when I picked up this book. I bought it for my infant daughter to give as her gift to Daddy on his first father's day. I thought it would be the perfect book for Daddy to read to our child. Well, here we were sitting closely reading "Daddy, Daddy" when my husband gets to this one page. It was like listening to a different book being read! I cannot remember the exact phrases, but they were something like "Daddy, Daddy, I saw you push Mama, I saw you drink too much out of the bottle." My husband was looking at me like, "What? " It was so out of character for the rest of the book! I have never torn a book in my life, but I carefully removed this page from Daddy, Daddy." Does any child really need to hear that? The rest of the book is beautiful, but this particular part RUINED it for us.

For a society that underestimates the power of the father in the home, this book is a must read. If you can get through two pages without identifying it to your own childhood needs, you indeed had a perfect father. if you can get through three pages without crying, you will understand the total need for a book like this one. If we as a society don't include and support our dads involvement in our kids lives, we indeed are being unjust and guilty of neglect to a resource that is right in front of our faces. Daddy's big hands can help eliminate a big source of our childhood injuries. Raising children in a home that is without the example of a father, is like forgetting the need for chocolate in fudge. It just doesn't turnout the same. thank you Candy

This book is about two girls who were really good friend. And one day when they were walking home from school, Susan went one way and Toni went the other way. The next day, in the morning, Toni received a phone call from the hospital, but Toni didn't pick it up. Her mom did. Toni thought it was one of here family members but it was about Susan. A drunk driver had hit her last night. Susan was dead. When Toni found out she didn't know what to do. She missed school for three weeks and when she went back to school her grades began to drop! At the end she found out how to fell better, but was it that made her feel better??
I really don't like reading book but this one was cool because it is something that actually entertained me and not a lot of books entertain me.

Breadsticks and Blessing Places- an Great Multicultural Book for kids!

This book is about a black girl named Toni who struggles with 6th grade math along with other growing issues. Her two friends, Mattie and Susan, stick by her. Mattie has no patience for flighty, fun-loving Toni and yet, she still helps her study. Susan, on the other hand, won't even answer Toni's letters while she's in New York!! That, on top of studying to get into King Academy, is making Toni even more depressed. Toni is very smart and gets "A's" in English and Reading but cannot get word problems and fractions in Math. To get into King Academy, you have to have good marks( A's and B's). Toni just has to get into King or else she'll have to go to an all Black school. She really wants to go to a Black and White school but she has to get her grades up in time!! Then, in the middle of the story, right after Susan and Toni and Mattie have a great day, Susan gets killed by a drunk driver!! Toni basically falls apart. She skips school, stops studying, and doesn't even want to go to her own friends funeral!! Will Toni pass the math exam and deal with the loss of her best friend?? Read the book to find out!

I liked this book because it talked about realistic things that could happen to anyone. It also it talked about how to deal with death and pressure. Toni didn't like it when her friend died because it made her sad. Toni didn't even want to go to her best friend's funeral. Toni was also mad because at the funeral her friend was dressed in a pink dress which she never wore. This was a great story.