Customer Reviews

Goin' Someplace Special

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I teach in a low socioeconomic neighborhood school and I struggle to find books for my African American 1st grade students that will help motivate them to aim high and value education. Usually books are too advanced and/or graphic in detail to interest or be appropriate for small children. Because elementary children do not really know of anything outside of current society, I think it is important that they see where we have come from. This book tastefully gives them a glimpse of black life in the past and the pride and determination that was necessary to rise above all that was wrong about those times. At the end of the story, "someplace special" is a pleasant surprise. It's a physical place that we can still go today, no matter what town you live in. This is a must read and must have for a multicultural or African American classroom library.

'Tricia Ann is going to her favorite spot..."Someplace Special", and today she's going all by herself for the very first time. As she skips out the door, her grandma, Mama Frances, calls after her, "And no matter what, hold yo' head up and act like you b'long to somebody." Wise words 'Tricia Ann will need as she faces the indignities and humiliation of the Jim Crow laws during the 1950s. She has to ride in the back of the bus, behind the Colored Section sign. Her grandfather was a stonemason on the beautiful fountain in the park, yet she can't sit and enjoy watching it, because the park benches are for whites only. She can't eat in Monroe's Restaurant, or enter the Southland Hotel's lobby, "No colored people are allowed!" And if she wants to see a movie, 'Tricia Ann has to use the back door, and sit upstairs in the "Buzzard's Roost" But there is one place she can go, her "Someplace Special", and it has a message she loves to read, chiseled in the stone across the front of the building...Public Library: All Are Welcome..... Drawing from her own life as a young girl in Nashville, Tennessee, Patricia McKissack has written a quiet, poignant, yet very powerful story, detailing and explaining what life was like for African Americans, during the Jim Crow era. Her simple and evocative text is complemented by award winning illustrator, Jerry Pinkney's beautifully expressive, watercolor artwork, and together, they transport readers back to the hurtful and unfair world of the 1950s segregated south. An Author's Note at the end, completes and enriches the story, and can be a starting point for further lessons and/or discussions. Perfect for youngsters 5 and older, Goin' Someplace Special is a thoughtful and engaging story of both injustice, and the triumph of the human spirit.

I've had a touch and go relationship with Jerry Pinkney's books over the years. He's one of those artists that I respect but that I've never really felt an undying affection for. His books tend to speak to the African-American experience but while I've always thought his pictures were effective I never became greatly attached to his stories. Author Patricia C. McKissack, however, won my heart with the splendid and multi-layered "Christmas In the Big House, Christmas in the Quarters". When combined with Mrs. McKissack, Jerry Pinkney suddenly becomes a lot more interesting. With their talents melded, the world has seen some breath-taking picture books. "Goin' Someplace Special" is probably the best of these. A smart book that introduces children to the notion of racism and Jim Crow laws, McKissack and Pinkney have given us a truly worthy book for our consideration.

'Tricia Ann is all ah-flutter. Her mother is finally letting her go all the way to Someplace Special. The trip is hardly carefree, though. After getting on the bus, 'Tricia Ann is forced to sit in the colored section. Then she can't even sit on a park bench, the words, "Whites Only" staring her in the face. Her friend Jimmy Lee commiserates, pointing out that even though blacks can work at the nearby restaurant, they can't sit down there to have a BLT and a cup of coffee. But the worst comes when 'Tricia Lee accidentally gets swept into a grand hotel. In the midst of an autograph signing the girl is loudly condemned and shooed out because she is black. In tears she finds a friend in an elderly churchgoer and becomes determined to finish her trip. The reader finally learns at the end that Someplace Special is none other than the public library. A place where all people are welcome.

In her Author's Note at the back, McKissack tells how the Nashville Public Library in the 1950s voted to integrate their facilities. As a girl growing up in Tennessee, McKissack based 'Tricia Ann's experiences on her own. Through this tale, the reader comes to understand just how difficult it would have been for a young black girl to travel alone in a racially segregated city. Suddenly 'Tricia Ann seems a whole lot braver, and her trip across town a whole lot bigger. The text is, almost throughout, a constant calm narrative of big and small bigotries. I found myself wishing that the section in which 'Tricia Ann finds peace in the church courtyard was a bit less hokey. It's the single flaw in an otherwise perfect jewel of a book.

As I mentioned before, previous Pinkney books have done little for me. And yet I loved what he chose to do with this book. Throughout the tale, 'Tricia Ann wears a memorable blue dress with yellow daisies. In almost every scene, other people are drab and colorless when compared to the bright sprightly girl and her eye catching outfit. Moreover, his protagonist's body language and posture often tell half the story in and of themselves. When 'Tricia Ann is being thrown out of the hotel she clasps on wrist in another. Her expression is part shock, part amazement. The fact that anyone could be so crude and cruel as to throw a girl out merely for her skin color.... Kids reading this section will sympathize.

This is by no means the first McKissack/Pinkney pairing ("Mirandy and Brother Wind" has that particular honor), but I hope it isn't the last. The book is an entirely respectful and creative way of introducing the notion of racism to small children. Kids might not immediately understand the importance of Brown vs. the Board of Education but a book like this will make that time period a little more real to them. It's an original story with great text and illustrations. I think you?ll be pleased with its presentation.

Growing up in Nashville, Tennessee in the 1950s was not easy for African-American children. Most public places--including hotels, restaurants, churches, movie theaters, parks--were open only to whites. On buses, only seats in the back rows were available to them, even if the front of the bus was empty.

But as the author explains in her endnote, the board of Nashville's public library in the late 1950s voted to fully integrate, and opened the main downtown branch fully to all. Like Andrew Carnegie, whose wealth helped to build it, her grandmother considered the library more exciting, interesting, informative than any place else. Her grandmother made it into a "doorway to freedom."

This is a fictionalized story of the author's youth--an afternoon on which the main character, Tricia Ann, took a bus from home to downtown and the public library. She encountered much hatred en route, but she also met some love. She gave up her seat to a friend of her mother when the rear section was full. Mrs. Granell called after her, "Carry yo'self proud."

Her friend Jimmy Lee instructed her, "Don't let those signs steal yo' happiness," and another gentleman at the Southland Hotel told her she resembled an angel from heaven. She also received encouragement from a kindly white gardener, Blooming Mary, to recall the lessons her deceased grandmother had taught her. Lots more happens here besides. In summation, a young woman is born.

"You are somebody, a human being," her grandmother had said. The author shows that arriving to a place is not always easy. But quitting is not the route to take.

Patricia McKissack's grandmother was right: Libraries give a special gift. Help your kids find out what and why with this book.

--Alyssa A. Lappen

I grew up in a town some thirty miles east of Nashville and can very much relate to Tricia Ann and her desire to find that special place. As an African-American I recall the "Jim Crow" laws that forbade me from going to the downtown soda fountain, shopping in certain stores, and riding in the front of the bus.

But, like the story's protagonist, the library was a haven,a place where, within the pages of a book, I could be what I wanted to be, I could do what I wanted to do, and I could go where I wanted to go.

This is a powerful book that can be used as a marvelous teaching tool at school and at home.

Goin' Someplace Special is a story of a little girl named Tricia Ann living in the South during the 1950's when segregation was occurring. The story follows her through her first day of going to a special place all by herself. Although the reader is unaware until the end of the story, Tricia Ann's special place is the public library where all are welcome, and there are no Jim Crow signs that keep African Americans out.
The illustrations are done in watercolor and help portray the emotional journey of Tricia Ann's first day traveling alone. The point of view is done to the effect that the reader is following along right next to Tricia Ann. Some, however, are seen as if the reader is hovering above looking down. The artwork is very colorful and detailed throughout, and all the illustrations are very realistic.

Goin' someplace special was a tremendous book! I really enjoyed the illustrations in this book; the pictures were very colorful the book almost looked like it was painted in all watercolors and it caused the pictures to really pop! This book was set in the 1950's so I think it would be a good way for children to understand how the everyday world used to be segregated. It's hard to imagine a world where they didn't treat everyone equal, this book follows a young black girl and shows how she has a colored section on the bus, and how she's not allowed to sit on a certain bench or allowed in a certain hotel. I think that it really opens up the eyes of the reader and lets them feel the pain and sorrow of this young girl's everyday life. Her "special place" is where she is trying to get to, it's one of the few integrated places in town her grandma called it "a doorway to freedom".

Synopsis: This is the story of a young girl venturing out on her own for the first time. This experience would lead to anxiety, excitement, and also trouble for most children. However this story has an added element to it. The main character, `Tricia Ann, is an African-American girl living in the south during the era of segregation. From the beginning of her journey, she encounters the Jim Crow laws of that time. Through everything, `Tricia Ann tries to keep from crying. She meets her friends along the way and they all remind her that she is somebody and to keep her head up. She continues on, trying to reach her special place. Finally, at the end of the story `Tricia Ann reaches her destination--the Public Library. And over the door in big letters it says--ALL ARE WELCOME.
Evaluation: This book is a great way to teach about segregation and civil rights. The book is written in an easy-to-read story format that allows children to read it on their own. Then, teachers can discuss the important topics with the children. This book is a great cross-curricular reference for social studies. Also, this book can be used to begin a research project on the civil rights movement. This is a great book to use during Black History month.

Goin' Someplace Special is a very powerful,moving book. This book foucuses a lot on the problem of segregation. I think that every person in the world should read this book. When you learned about segregation you learned a lot of things but this focuses on a lot more different things. It talks about the hard life that the colored people had. I think that every person shouldn't care about the color of the skin but the personality of a person. I think that everyone should be like the little boy in this story. In the book I thought it was wonderful that the library was not segregated.

The book Goin Someplace Special is very historic,it starts off with a 13 year old,black african american girl and her grandma.Her grandma was it the hot kitchen cooking up a storm while soing her grandaughter a dress for church a beautiful flower dress,when she came out the blue and asked, her grandma if she could go out in the world alone she responed very slowly,finally she said,yes.She rushed out the house while still soing.
So there she was walking down the street as happy as can be,when she reached the bus stop.When the bus finally came 4min. later she started to sit in the front when the white people was looking at her crazy,until she read the seats they said whites only.There was a lady in the back that she knew and was telling her to come to the back there wasn't much room.so every one had to share seats well blacks did.
Well her bus finally came to her stop,when she got off the bus the bus she was crying ,not because she was lost,but ecause every one wasn't atting right in the world.so she find Someplace Specail and felt better.