Author: Ntozake Shange
Illustrator: Michael Sporn
Type: Picture
Grade Level: 2-5
Rating: 4 out of 5
A young African American girl and her brother are walking home from school when they are ambushed by a gang of older white boys. The brother is beat up while Helene-Angel is held down and her face is painted white.
Parents might say this is an inappropriate and irrelevant book. Yet children can usually handle more than they are given credit for. And like Tunnel and Jacobs say, "Avoiding the harsh and often unsavory realities of life does not make them go away." Although their black classmates may not be getting whitewashed they still go through the shame and self-doubt brought on by other forms of daily racism. So no matter what parents may think, a book like this that shows the reality of racism and its effects. Plus, Ntozake Shange is a reliable source considering she had to handle racism since childhood.
Helene-Angel and her brother, Mauricio, are verbally abused by racial and ethnic slurs and are physically abused by the white thugs on the street. Afterwords, Helene-Angel is fearful, embarrassed and begins to see herself as ugly. Mauricio is embarrassed and emasculated. Yet with the love, strength and support of their family and friends of all races the two siblings are able to overcome this incident. This story evokes a lot of emotion out of me as a reader and I know it would effect my students the same. This book tackles racism and its effects on not just the people being targeted but everyone else around them. It is important that children are exposed to topics like racism so they can become aware of it and act as agents against it. I would read this book to my students and find out their reactions to it. This book opens up discussion on racism, the effects, equality, fair treatment and ways to battle racism.
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