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VOYA
On Christmas Day in 1915, Nellie Lee Love and her sister Erma Jean are given diaries by their mother. Nellie puts hers away until she begins with New Year's Day, 1919, recording her thoughts and the events involving her family and friends during a year of change. The Great War is over, but a different war is brewing in the United States. As black soldiers return from battle overseas, they are faced with discrimination and the fear of lynching in their hometowns. The violence of racism hits home for the Love family, becoming too brutal to ignore. Nellie's father moves his family from rural Tennessee to Chicago in search of opportunity. Although life is better in Chicago in some ways—the Loves no longer have to hide their NAACP membership or their reading of the works of W. E. B. DuBois and Marcus Garvey—it is also difficult. Mr. Love's application for a business loan is rejected several times, and the family experiences riots and endures prejudice within their own race. Through courage, perseverance, and family unity, however, the Loves eventually find hope and triumph and become comfortable in their new community. The diary format of the Dear America series makes for readable historical fiction that will appeal to history students and reluctant readers alike. Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Award-winner McKissack has written a story about a family whose strength and solidarity will touch readers, regardless of their cultural or ethnic backgrounds. The author's notes and illustrations additionally serve as an excellent introduction not only to the civil rights movement but also to the lives and works of prominent African Americans. This is the author's second book in theseries, following A Picture of Freedom: The Diary of Clotee, a Slave Girl (Scholastic, 1997). Illus. Biblio. VOYA CODES: 5Q 4P M J (Hard to imagine it being any better written; Broad general YA appeal; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9). 2000, Scholastic, 222p, $10.95. Ages 12 to 15. Reviewer: Elizabeth WethersonSOURCE: VOYA, October 2000 (Vol. 23, No. 4)
Overview
From Scholastic's best selling, award-winning book series comes a collection of home videos inspired by the diaries or real girls.
Nellie Lee Love moves north with her fmaily to Chicago -- the land of opportunity -- hoping to escape the racism of the rural south. Mamma believes a new start will help Nellie Lee's sister Erma Jean, who stopped speaking after a mysterious but horrifying event only she witnessed. Though life in this northern city, is exciting, Nellie Lee sees that ...