Color Me Dark: The Diary of Nellie Lee Love, the Great Migration North (Dear America) [Hardcover]

Patricia C. McKissack (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up

Twelve-year-old Nellie Lee's family moves north to Chicago in search of a better life. Like many other African Americans, they hope to escape the racism of the rural south and take advantage of the opportunities in the city. Instead, they find themselves faced with a more sinister form of prejudice -- hatred within there own race.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"Some people are so color struck. They think being light-skinned is better than being dark! Mama says that's nonsense and I think so, too."

Nellie Lee Love is an 11-year-old African American girl living in the rural South at the end of World War I. In a year of tumultuous change, victory, and tragedy, she records her thoughts and feelings in a diary given her by her mother. After the white racism in their town becomes too brutally overt to ignore, Nellie and her family pack up and move to Chicago. Delighted with the seemingly endless opportunities in the big city, Nellie is blindsided by the more insidious forms of prejudice that northerners practice: hatred within their own race. But through family unity and integrity, and education by way of W.E.B. DuBois and Marcus Garvey's writings, Nellie and her family gradually discover a place for themselves in their new circumstances, and ultimately find hope and triumph.

Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Award winner Patricia McKissack writes the kind of historical fiction that will have history students and even reluctant readers and clamoring for more. The dignity and courage of the Love family provides a model for all families, regardless of ethnic or cultural background. The award-winning Dear America series is one of the most popular book series in America and includes another by McKissack, A Picture of Freedom: The Diary of Clotee, a Slave Girl. (Ages 9 to 12) --Emilie Coulter

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-6-Although 11-year-old Nellie Lee takes after her Mama's folks and "could pass," she proudly says "color me dark." Through the child's diary entries, McKissack explores the racism that existed in post World War I Tennessee, where a lighter skin was considered "better" than a darker one. In fact, a major story line involves Nellie Lee's sister, Erma Jean, as she learns to treasure her darker color. When Uncle Pace, returning from the war, is found badly injured, the family suspects the worst but can't prove it, and Erma Jean suffers hysterical muteness. His death propels Nellie Lee's father to join the Great Migration north to Chicago in search of a better life. The family discovers that although they do not face the Klan there, racism still exists, even within the black community. McKissack deftly explores the social unrest between blacks and whites and the social stratification within the black community, where newly arrived southern blacks were looked down upon by the more affluent residents. The time period is well developed, and serves as a compelling backdrop to the Love family's struggle to find a place. Nellie is a feisty and loyal protagonist, and although her voice sounds a bit mature for an 11-year-old, her observations carry the story line and interpret the action in a believable way. Secondary characters are distinct and add a richness to the telling.
Jennifer Ralston, Harford County Public Library, Belcamp, MD
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 222 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Inc.; Later Printing edition (April 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0590511599
• ISBN-13: 978-0590511599
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #162,399 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Great Migration North, January 4, 2001

By 

Sidra (Joplin, MO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Color Me Dark: The Diary of Nellie Lee Love, the Great Migration North (Dear America) (Hardcover)

This is the diary of Nellie Lee Love a girl born in Bradford Corners, Tennessee. The town is segregated. The Blacks call it Corners and the Whites call it Bradford. Nellie has called this place home for all of her life. Her family is much into equality for Blacks and other races, and are terrified when more then fifty lynchings done by racists are reported to have been committed in their area. The family is even more terrified when they learn that their Uncle Pace has been claimed to have been drunk that February 4th, 1919 and had laid himself down on the train tracks and gotten hit, and then had died. Nellie's father can't stand another minute of it. He decides to move up North to Chicago, Illinois. The move takes a while to adjust to, especially since the family were witnesses the day the Chicago Riot occured in the year of the Red Summer. This year was the worst for Blacks because Whites were fighting all over, but in Chicago, Blacks were fighting back. Now the Love family is in danger. Will the city ever calm down? What losses will occur during the situation? What lies will be revealed? Read this wonderful book to find out.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Want A Book That Is Good and You Can Use it For a Report, January 4, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Color Me Dark: The Diary of Nellie Lee Love, the Great Migration North (Dear America) (Hardcover)

The Dear America diary Color Me Dark by Nellie Lee Love is interesting story of a girls life with many sad, happy and serious times. The plot of the story is a black family trying to get their rights so that they can be equal with whites. Nellie's family owns a funeral home in Bradford Corners, Tennesse. In the book she moves to Chicago because her family thinks that Chicago will bring new hopes to blacks. When her father tries to get a license so that he can strat a funeral home in Chicago. Her father thinks that they want him to pay a bribe because he did all of the paperwork. Then Nellie finds out that she has to go to a new school where she finds different friends that are like her in a way. I would recommend this book for people of all ages who are willing to learn. People also read this book because it shows what some black families have to go through.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A young girl keeps a diary of the year 1919., August 6, 2000

By 

Rebecca Herman (USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Color Me Dark: The Diary of Nellie Lee Love, the Great Migration North (Dear America) (Hardcover)

It is with great hesitatation that eleven-year-old Nellie Lee Love begins her new diary on New Year's Day, 1919. The diary was an unwanted Christmas present from her mother that she doubts she will use much. But Nellie grows to like writing in the diary. The entries early on describe her family's fairly idyllic life in the small town of Bradford Corners, Tennessee. Nellie's best friend is her older sister, Erma Jean, who's just ten months older than her. There's Mama and Daddy, Nellie's grandparents, Papa Till and Aunt Nessie (who live with the family), and various aunts, uncles, and cousin. Their life is much easier than that of most southern blacks because Nellie's father owns his own business, a funeral home. But soon tragedy befalls the family, when Nellie's Uncle Pace, who has just returned from the war in Europe, mysteriously dies, possibly at the hands of the Ku Klux Klan. Erma Jean is with him when he dies, and something he tells her has made her mute, too disturbed to speak. Daddy decides to move the family north to Chicago, where their is more freedom and oppurtunity for black people. Nellie describes many more things, both tragic and joyous, that happen to her and her family, friends, and neighbors throughout the entire years. Her diary, although fictional, is a window to the past and describes a time period in American history I knew little about. This was an excellant addition to the wonderful Dear America series.