Pink and Say (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "I watched the sun edge toward the center of the sky above me..." (more)
Key Phrases: Moe Moe Bay, Master Aylee

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4 Up-This picture book set during the Civil War is a departure for Polacco in terms of content and audience. It is certainly the deepest and most serious book she has done. Sheldon Curtis, 15, a white boy, lies badly wounded in a field in Georgia when Pinkus Aylee, an African American Union soldier about Sheldon's age, finds him and carries him home to his mother, Moe Moe Bay. Sheldon, known as Say, is nursed back to health in her nurturing care. But then she is killed by marauders, and the boys return to their units. They are then are captured and taken to Andersonville, where Pink is hanged within hours of their capture. One of the most touching moments is when Pink reads aloud from the Bible to Moe Moe and Say. Say tells them that he can't read, but then he offers something he's very proud of: he once shook Abraham Lincoln's hand. This is a central image in the story, and is what ties the boys together for a final time, as Pink cries, "'Let me touch the hand that touched Mr. Lincoln, Say, just one last time.'" The picture of their clasped hands, with the hands of the soldiers wrenching them apart, is exceptionally moving. Polacco's artwork, in fact, has never been better. She uses dramatic perspectives, dynamic compositions, and faces full of emotion to carry her powerful tale. History comes to life in this remarkable book.
Lauralyn Persson, Wilmette Public Library, IL
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Ages 5-9. Hands and gestures have always been important in Polacco's work. Here they are at the center of a picture book based on a true incident in the author's own family history. It's a story of interracial friendship during the Civil War between two 15-year-old Union soldiers. Say, who is white and poor, tells how he is rescued by Pinkus (Pink), who carries the wounded Say back to the Georgia home where Pink's black family were slaves. In a kind of idyllic interlude, Pink and his mother nurse Say back to health, and Pink teaches his friend to read; but before they can leave, marauders kill Pink's mother and drag the boys to Andersonville prison. Pink is hanged, but Say survives to tell the story and pass it on across generations. The figure of Pink's mother borders on the sentimental, but the boys' relationship is beautifully drawn. Throughout the story there are heartbreaking images of people torn from a loving embrace. Pictures on the title and copyright pages show the parallel partings as each boy leaves his family to go to war. At the end, when the friends are wrenched apart in prison, the widening space between their outstretched hands expresses all the sorrow of the war. Then, in a powerful double-page spread, they are able to clasp hands for a moment, and their union is like a rope. Say once shook Lincoln's hand, just as Say held Pink's hand, and Say tells his children, who tell theirs, that they have touched the hand that touched the hand . . . Hazel Rochman

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Hardcover: 48 pages
• Publisher: Philomel (September 15, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399226710
• ISBN-13: 978-0399226717
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #17,951 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Literature for ALL Readers!, March 4, 2000

By A Customer

Pink and Say is appropriate for all readers, children and adults. I read it to my third graders and cry every time. It is a true story of a beautiful interracial friendship which is considered to be too complex and harshly realistic for young readers by some people. However, it is much more appropriate than what many children view on television and, in this day and age, I feel the emotions it evokes are extremely valuable as is the civil war/slavery history lesson it contains. Congratulations to Patricia Polacco for telling the story like it is. It's a shameful history but it happened and kids of all ages need to understand just how aweful it was. I say it's about time we stop sweeping these shameful parts of our history events under the rug. Thank you Ms. Polacco for giving it to us honestly. Every teacher should have this book on his/her shelf.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lyrical and Real, September 7, 2005

By	Patricia E. Boyd (Pittsburgh, PA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I read this book to my children when they were young. Now I enjoy reading it alone. Patricia Polacco tells a very personal Civil War story that will grab grade-school-age children. Two young men from opposite sides of the war meet, and we see how in their shared youth, they realize war is something dreamed up by the "big guys" who don't suffer on the battlefield. I can never read the end of the book out loud without crying. I didn't give the book a full five stars, because I believe one of the side characters is a bit stereotyped. But it's a minor flaw that the rest of the book rises above. Highly recommended for ages 6 to 106. A great, easy book to supplement grade school history class discussions of the Civil War.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pink and Say -- A Tale to Remember, August 1, 2005

By	nancyOinfo (San Francisco, USA) - See all my reviews

Pink and Say, is a poignant and disturbing tale of two young Union soldiers, one black, called Pink, and one white, known as Say, whose life paths cross on a civil war battlefield. Pink finds Say in deep pain with a broken leg, and though wounded himself, somehow carries the boy home to his mother, Moe Moe Bay, who cares for Say as her own. While healing, the two boys become true friends, sharing memories and secrets: that Pink can read and hopes never to be "owned" again, and that Say, though a deserter, once shook Lincoln's hand at Bull Run. Neither had ever had such a close (amicable) encounter with someone of the `other' race, and for Pink especially this required great compassion. But their arrival had jeopardized dear Moe Moe's safety, and she is murdered by marauders as the boys lay hidden in the root cellar below. After laying her to rest, the grief stricken son and his demoralized companion soon fall into Confederate hands and are sent to Andersonville, the notorious prison camp. Say eventually recovers to tell the tale, but Pink never had a chance -- he was hung only hours after arriving.

The tale is told in Polacco's version of casual boy talk for that era, region and race, at times, perhaps stereotypical, as may be the portrayal of Say's "sweet Moe Moe". Simple emotive colored pencil and gouache sketches characteristic of Polacco's hand take over the pages in somber blues, grays and browns with spots of pattern and colorful detail, their immediacy providing more than half the tale. The story was handed down through several generations on Say's side to author Polacco, who dedicates her rendition to Pinkus Aylee, "because he has no living descendants to do this for him." A parting plea, "when you read this...say [Pink's] name out loud and vow to remember him always,"asks readers to spread the word, preserve his memory and right the wrongs this terrible war was fought for.

Neither the picture book format nor heartwarming cover image of the two boys reading together hint at the mature content within. Part of an emerging genre of powerful picture stories for older readers, Pink and Say may be easily mistaken for a simple, happy tale of wartime friendship, which it is not. It is a page from our shameful past that begs to be read aloud and properly discussed. The universal friendship theme is intertwined with vivid insights into the horrors of war, racism and inequality, but also reveals a charitable spirit and a promise to keep the truth alive.