This was the first book I remember reading by myself. I remember when my father use to take my siblings and I to the library and time after time I would pick up this book. Growing up in the eighties, there were not many children books that had African Americans as main characters. Therefore, this book facinated me as a six year-old child. The message of the importance of family and love, in this book, still remains with me at the age of twenty-one. From the beautiful illustrations to the love between mother and son, this will always be my number one book. And I know in the future I will encourage my children to read this wonderful book!

Although my daughter, at age 2, cannot read yet, she has managed to memorize most of this book. She absolutely adores it. My 1-year old is pretty fascinated by it as well. He has also managed to associate certain words with their respective pages. Buy it for your kids, they'll love it!!

This is a good book for Kwanzaa traditions. In the story Chris is un-happy because his birthday is on Christmas Day and he has a little sister that does somrthing! He is upset because if he has a birthday nobody will come because of the holiday observance. He gets a surprise. Also Chris wants to be a paperboy and get a bike, but his family is having finantial problems. He gets plenty of good surprises and heart warming moments with his family. This is an excellant, heart-warming book.

This book was written for teenagers, I think and has won at least one important award (Coretta Scott King, I think). But it's a very good introduction to an intricate political situation, actually a long history of oppression. Well researched and dispassionately written, these facts that show part of the injustices at every level during the Civil Rights Movement. It is everyone's history, but it's part of a large body of nearly erased history. Called a challenge because there is not a clear win, is demonstrates many of the shameful aspects of our democratic system. Particularly pertinent at a time of cries for campaign reform. Kudos to the author, Mildred Pitts Walter!

Interesting is what I would call this book. The reason I would call this book interesting is because it is about a black 18-year-old girl who goes to an almost all white school. It all starts with a white boy who makes fun of Emma in one of her National Honor Society meetings and a teacher won't do anything about it. After the meeting is over she is really mad at both the teacher, for not doing anything to the boy who made fun of her, and the boy, because he made fun of her, but after her meeting she goes to her English class anyway. Once she arrives in English class she remembers that she forgot to do an assignment that was do that day. Then once that class was over she went to lunch were she sees her English teacher. Once the teacher sees Emma she comes over to talk to her, and she put hand on Emma's shoulder, but Emma pushes her hand away and tells her to stop it. The teacher ends up taking it the wrong way and sends her to the principal's office. After she gets to the principal's office the principal talks to the teacher that sent her to the office, and then talks to Emma? It ends up that Emma has to go to another school because of what she did. At the end Emma realizes how much her education, teachers, friends, and parents mean to her, so then she tries her hardest to get a scholarship to a good school. At the end her friend Marvin gets a scholarship, but will Emma?

The book Because We Are is about a girl named Emma. She is an African American girl and a senior in high school who goes to a predominately white upper class school. She hangs out with the other few blacks at her school. She has a white boyfriend who is not giving her what she deserves and she has parents whom a couple years ago got divorced. So her life's is pretty average as far as teenagers life goes. When one day a sudden outburst at school gets her sent to the principal's office and transferred to a school a lot closer but not as respected called manning. She is afraid that she won't fit in with al the blacks that are not as fortunate as she is. She is also afraid that the golden slippers will not let her become a debutante. She befriends a guy named Allan and starts to relax a little. Will everything pan out will Emma become a debutante will she graduate find out in this awesome book. Read it you will be surprised how much you will like it.

I would give it five out of five stars.

I am an elementary education student and I have to read 25 childrens' literature books. I decided on this book by just randomly choosing this book. I like this book a lot! I like the fact that the man with the story took something ordinary and made it extraordinary. Using everyday items to make music just goes to show you that it's not what you have but how you use what you have.

This electric 34-page picture book makes language into music. Written in 1980, the story is set in about the 1930s, in the rural South.

A young boy's mother washed clothes and his father was busy unloading feed for the chickens. "The sun rose aflame. It quickly dried the dew and baked the town. Another hot, humdrum day."

Ty asked his brother to join him in a walk to the pond. When Jason declined, Ty went alone. He took in the big trees, which sank their roots deep and lifted the branches up, up, up toward the sky. Then he heard a step-th-hump, step-th-hump, step-th-hump, and compared the mystery sound to the churr-rrr-rrr of raccoon babies and the purr-rrr of kittens.

It came from a man carrying a bundle, a man with one leg and a leg made of a wooden peg. The man sat down by the pond and washed himself, unwrapped his bundle and ate apples, cheese and bread. After washing his dishes, he began to juggle them. His juggling made music, which the language creates: tink-ki-tink-ki-ki-tink-ki-tink. And so on, for a whole page.

Ty watched from the grass. Then came a rumble like thunder in the distance--a train. Woo-woo-woo-ee-ee-eee. Ty forgot the man as he listened to the clackety-clack of and the train whistle as the wheels died away. The man he had been watching leapt out of the grass and laughed, introduced himself as Andro, a one-man band. He asked Ty to borrow a washboard, two wooden spoons, a tin pail and a comb.

Ty returned home and stunned his brother, sister, father and mother with the story of the one-legged man, but borrowed everything he needed by sundown. The next 12 pages of the book bcome a veritable concert.

There are many lessons in this book. The primary one is how little one needs for happiness. The second is that language itself can be music.

Children love it. Alyssa A. Lappen

A Friendship Inside
This book is about two girls who both live in Mossville in 1957. One girl's name is Sophia who is mad because she found out that nine Negro students would be attending her high school the next year. Eva is one of the nine Negro students who was selected to go to that high school and is very excited and happy. The evening before the first day of school the National Guard showed up and were supposed to protect the nine. The judge announced that the nine were not to go to school the next day and he would say tomorrow if he would allow them to go there the rest of the year. Everyone was anxious to see what the judge decides and it turns out that he does allow them to go. The next day, Eva and Sophia find their friendship for each other. I enjoyed the book because the author allows you to feel like you actually know the two characters personally. I liked it because the two girls had similarities with me and I seemed to understand some of what they were going through.

I thought that this book was great. After reading it for school I felt a new appreciation for blacks in the 1950's. I realized what a struggle they went through to be treated like equaels. I was amazed be their determination. Read this book. It is wonderful!

If the ratings were one- ten I would give this book a ten. this book was great. This book showed how racism took place in the 1950s. This is one of the best books I've read. I couldn't put it down!

I would say that this book tells of the cruel actions committed onto slaves. It gives not very descriptive details of what is happening in the book in certain places, but manages to still sum up what's going on. I would recommend this book for people who like reading historically told books and for peopl ewho might need to get an image of what slavery was and how it affected peoples lives.

I live just a few short miles from the historical homsestead where Mum Bett served as a slave, and yet I did not know her story until I met Mildred Pitts Walter at a convention. This story does not simply tell of the cruelities of slavery, but more than any other children's book on this subject, it describes the harsh realities of the times for all peoples, the illnesses that took life early, the difficulties encountered in child bearing, and the shortages brought about by the revolutionary war. Although the reviews above criticize the story for its meadering plot, I appreciated the window it gave me on daily life at the time of the American revolution. Ultimately, it is a book about the courage of one woman who fought for what was rightly hers. My adult friends keep borrowing it ...this is not a book for children only.

I am a fifth grade student at Waldron Mercy Academy (AJPH.) This book is about an eleven year old boy who is over 6 feet tall and can't play basketball. Everyone calls him Xander. Kids make fun of him because he stinks at basketball and because he is tall. He is always the last one picked for basketball. His dad tells him every day to practice basketball, but he doesn't. Xander is frusterated because kids make fun of him and his dad telling him every day to practice basketball. So instead of him playing basketball he enters the City Spirit Art Festival Competition and won first prize. His whole family was proud of him. After the art festival no one made fun of him again. Everyone was so happy at school because he raised so much money.

Justin and the best biscuits in the world is about a little boy named Justin. Justin is not very tidy at all. When his grandpa comes to stay Justin gets to go back with his grandpa who lives on a ranch. When he believes in him self and tries he did all the stuff he could not do before.

I had my fifth graders read this book and they loved it. They couldn't put it down. It's an excellent look at an all too unknown group of people in history--Black Cowboys. It's also a wonderful coming of age story. It comes highly recommended from the students of St. Malachy School.

This is a great book about an African-American boy named Justin. Over the course of a stay with his cowboy grandfather, he learns that there is no such thing as women's work, you can do anything once you learn how, and a cool history lesson about black cowboys. My 4th grade students loved it and we had a great debate over whether there is a such thing as women's work!

The book Mariah Keeps Cool is about a girl named Mariah, she has a sister named Lynn and is about to get another sister named Denise there half sister at first she likes her but then it turns out they hate each other. Denise is 16. Mariah is on a swim team. The coach is very hard headed. I think this book is the worst book I have ever read in my whole life. The swim team is named Friendly 5. Mariahs favorite star is sheik. BY LINDSEY K.

In the story, Mariah's half sister(Daddy's daughter from a 1st marriage) enters her life.See how heer mother sister and her self adjust to this big change. At first Shek Bashara maniac Mariah,has low opinions of her half sister but as the Juneteenth celebration and a special swim meet for The Friendly Five(Mariah and her best friends) you see how the pull together as a family. The sequal is MARIAH LOVES ROCK.