There were signs all throughout town telling eight-year-old Connie where she could and could not go. But when Connie sees four young men take a stand for equal rights at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, she realizes that things may soon change. This event sparks a movement throughout her town and region. And while Connie is too young to march or give a speech, she helps her brother and sister make signs for the cause. Changes are coming to Connie’s town, but Connie just wants to sit at the lunch counter and eat a banana split like everyone else.
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Editorial Reviews
From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 4–Connie likes to shop downtown with her mother. When they feel tired and hot, they stop in at Woolworth's for a cool drink, but stand as they sip their sodas since African Americans aren't allowed to sit at the lunch counter. Weatherford tells the story from the girl's point of view and clearly captures a child's perspective. Connie wants to sit down and have a banana split, but she can't, and she grumbles that, "All over town, signs told Mama and me where we could and couldn't go." When her father says that Dr. King is coming to town, she asks, "Who's sick?" She watches as her brother and sister join the NAACP and participate in the Greensboro, NC, lunch counter sit-ins. Eventually, Connie and her siblings get to sit down at the counter and have that banana split. Lagarrigue's impressionistic paintings convey a sense of history as they depict the pervasive signs of a Jim Crow society. An author's note about the 1960 Greensboro sit-ins concludes the book, pointing out the role young African Americans played in the struggle for civil rights. This book will pair well with Angela Johnson's A Sweet Smell of Roses (S & S, 2005).–Mary N. Oluonye, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Booklist
Gr. 1-3. Set in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1960, this picture book tells a story of desegregation from the viewpoint of one little girl. Growing up in the South, Connie understands that there are places where she and other African Americans can and cannot eat, drink, swim, and use the bathroom. But after Dr. King visits the local college chapel to preach and her older siblings become active in the NAACP, she also knows that her people are working for change. When her brother's friends sit down at a dime-store lunch counter that refuses them service, their act of peaceful protest starts a wave of similar demonstrations that brings better times to their community and throughout the South. An author's note gives background information about the events in Greensboro that year. Simple and straightforward, the first-person narrative relates events within the context of one close-knit family. Though rather dark, the well-composed, painterly illustrations show up well from a distance. A handsome book for classroom reading, even for middle-grade students. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By April
Format:Hardcover
As a teacher assistant and Sunday school teacher, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I read this book to my seven and 8-year-old Sunday school class and they really enjoyed the pictures and the message given. I live in North Carolina not to far from where the sit-ins took place and it's nice to be able to read about something that has happen within your community and the positive outcome that happened.
The book was very well written by Carol Weatherford not so much that only an older child could read it but I felt that even a younger child could understand the language with guidance.
This book has been added to my collection for Black History month.
The book was very well written by Carol Weatherford not so much that only an older child could read it but I felt that even a younger child could understand the language with guidance.
This book has been added to my collection for Black History month.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By Ulyyf
Format:Paperback
The civil rights movement was pivotal in our history, this should not have to be stated. However, most students learn about it only in passing, as the history curriculum in schools still tends to end just after WWII. Even treating this through picture books is better than that.
This book, featuring a young girl whose socially active brother and sister participated in the sit-ins, signed people up to vote, and got arrested for their troubles, takes a good look at the Greensboro sit-ins. I like how the main character acts like a real child - she's proud of her siblings, yes, but she also wants them to stop protesting and stay home and be safe. She's eight years old, and, given the wordiness of the book, that's probably about the right age for the reader.
The artwork is pretty enough, but it would have been better on a larger book. When sitting with a kid in your lap reading with the light dim for bedtime, they end up looking a bit muddled.
This book, featuring a young girl whose socially active brother and sister participated in the sit-ins, signed people up to vote, and got arrested for their troubles, takes a good look at the Greensboro sit-ins. I like how the main character acts like a real child - she's proud of her siblings, yes, but she also wants them to stop protesting and stay home and be safe. She's eight years old, and, given the wordiness of the book, that's probably about the right age for the reader.
The artwork is pretty enough, but it would have been better on a larger book. When sitting with a kid in your lap reading with the light dim for bedtime, they end up looking a bit muddled.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Twins moma
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
My boys loved this book. It was written so that kids can easily understand what sit ins meant and how to handle a situation without aggression. All parents should read this book to their kids. This book should be a required reader for all teachers.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great illustrations and story about a families involvement in gaining...
My 7 year old read this as one of his weekly reading assignments and found it hard
to believe that there were rules again being able to eat lunch at a store or that... Read more
to believe that there were rules again being able to eat lunch at a store or that... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Edwina A. Wilson Divins
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful story
I used this story as part of a unit that I taught to my 4th-graders. They loved it and it presented this slice of history at a level my students could understand. Read more
Published on March 21, 2009 by D. Huddle
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