Toning the Sweep [Library Binding]

Angela Johnson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1993 | Age Level: 11 and up

With her grandmother, Ola, dying of cancer, Emmie uses a camcorder to record her grandmother's memories of her life, as well as her grandmother's neighbor's reminiscences about Ola.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Fourteen-year-old Emily learns the ritual of "toning the sweep," a way of drumming a plow to create a sound that honors the deceased, in this tale of mourning and healing. Emily, her mother and terminally ill grandmother, Ola, meet at Ola's home in the desert to pack her up for a move to Cleveland, where Ola will live out the rest of her days. The three extraordinarily strong females reveal stories of grief and hardship--including the lynching of Ola's husband in 1964 Alabama--that have undoubtedly fostered the inspirational resilience in each of their personalities. Narrated by all three, this bittersweet tale offers hope, humor and insight. It won the 1994 Coretta Scott King Award. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

With several picture books already to her credit, Johnson ( When I Am Old with You ) makes an especially promising foray into YA fiction with this thoughtfully nuanced and penetrating novel. Emily, the 14-year-old who serves as the principal narrator, spends a bittersweet few days with her much-loved grandmother, Ola, who lives in the California desert. Ola has been diagnosed with cancer, and Emily and her mother are helping to pack up the house so that Ola can move into their home in Cleveland. Ola, Mama and Emmie, all three African American, are almost extraordinarily resilient and independent, but Johnson portrays them believably. Traits that might have come across as quirky instead seem well integrated as Johnson delicately and gradually unfolds the past events that fostered such inner strength--events including the lynching of Ola's husband in 1964 Alabama. Although plagued by occasional moments of self-importance ("You can't get away from the things that make you sad, Mama says. I believe that. Sad can be bigger than happy sometimes"), the prose is generally understated, gaining added texture from passages narrated by Ola and Mama. Depicting a heroine who learns to balance the most urgent feelings of love and loss, Johnson herself balances powerful themes with poise and skill. Ages 11-up.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 11 and up
  
• Library Binding: 103 pages
• Publisher: Orchard Books (April 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0531086267
• ISBN-13: 978-0531086261
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,272,729 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Angela Johnson is the author of the Coretta Scott King Honor picture book When I Am Old with You; as well as A Sweet Smell of Roses, illustrated by Eric Velasquez; Just Like Josh Gibson, illustrated by Beth Peck; and I Dream of Trains, which was also illustrated by Loren Long. She has won three Coretta Scott King Awards, one each for her novels Heaven, Toning the Sweep, and The First Part Last. In recognition of her outstanding talent, Angela was named a 2003 MacArthur Fellow. She lives in Kent, Ohio.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Toning the Sweep, May 27, 2002

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Toning The Sweep (Mass Market Paperback)

Toning the Sweep is about Emily, a rebellious young adult who lives with her family in Ohio. However, the story is set in the desert where Emily's Grandma, Ola, lives. Unlike her mother, Emily loves the desert and is devoted to Ola and their annual trip to the desert is the highlight of her year. When Ola becomes ill with cancer, in their concern for Ola's health, Emily's family decides to have Ola come and live with them in Ohio. In her last summer in the desert,Emily makes a videotape of the desert for Ola and in the process finds out about her family history and the tradgic death of her Grandfather. I enjoyed this book because I think that it is well-writen and I admired the way that Ola is dying with grace in the story.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Toning the Sweep Review, November 21, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Toning The Sweep (Mass Market Paperback)

Angela Johnson's novel, Toning the Sweep, is a story about a family coming together after being apart for so long. Emily is a fourteen-year-old girl, who has just found out her grandmother, Ola, is dying of cancer. Emily gets a video camera and starts taping Ola and everyone around her. She discovers the real story of her grandfather's death, the reason mama is still upset about it, and how Ola is saying goodbye to the desert before she dies. This book gives a look into a family that makes sacrifices for each other and are there for each other. I gave this book four stars because it shows the real hearts of the people. If you read this book and do not see the real heart and soul of young, spirited Emily and her loving family, then you did not really read this book. * * * *

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars My reveiw, November 17, 2003

By 

Cheryl Webb (Columbus Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Toning The Sweep (Mass Market Paperback)

In my opinion Toning the Sweep was a good book. I think that Angela Johnson did a good job on this book the only thing that I really didn't like was how Ola's Husband died. The main Character's in the book is a young girl named Emily, and her mother Diane. The supporting Character would be Ola who is her grandmother. Throughout the book you can tell that Diane is jealous of the relationship that Emily and Ola have because she didn't and never had a chance to have a special bond with Ola. Emily's Grandfather dies in the beginning of the book but they don't tell you why until about the middle to the end of the book, after the funeral Emily and her mother move to California. In the first couple of chapters Emily and Diane Find out hat Ola has cancer then Emily and her mother then move to Cleveland to take care of her grandmother. Then at the end of the book Emily and Diane move to Ohio so they can spend the remaining time with Ola before she passes away.
I personally liked this book and I would recommend this book to someone that really gets along with his or her family and that liked to read family value books.