a friendship for today by patricia c mckissack

This simply told story will leave readers pondering our progress-or lack thereof-in race relations over the past 50 years. Rosemary is such a strong character that readers won’t be surprised when previously prejudiced Grace Hamilton recognizes her worth. Ironically, the friendship referred to in the title is the least interesting aspect of the narrative. Young readers may find Rosemary’s narration stilted at times, but McKissack’s style clearly evokes the more formal world of the 1950s. Using first-person narration, McKissack creates a convincing portrait of a young girl’s experiences. At home she copes with the disintegration of her parents’ marriage and nurses an injured cat back to life. After a care-free summer, Rosemary begins sixth grade in an integrated school, one of only a few African-American students.

'About this title' may belong to another edition of this title.The title may lead readers to expect a contemporary tale instead, McKissack chronicles the events of 19, a tumultuous time in the life of 12-year-old Rosemary Patterson. (Jan.)Ĭopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. One of the tale's most poignant threads is the evolving friendship between Rosemary and Grace in an especially incisive passage, after Grace confides that her abusive father believes white people are superior, Rosemary asks, 'You know better, don't you?' to which Grace answers 'Now I do.' Rosemary replies, 'That's what counts with me.' A real, at times raw tale about a winning and insightful young heroine during a bittersweet era. The graceful narrative splices together several survival stories, as Rosemary copes with her peers' prejudice and her parents' disintegrating marriage, and J.J.

And her assigned seat is right next to Grace, her neighborhood nemesis, who comes from a racist family ('They hate colored people and don't mind telling us'). Her first day, she wears a pink dress with lace, while the other kids have on pants and tennis shoes ('She looks like one of those dressed-up monkeys they have at the zoo,' a classmate says).

Since her best friend, J.J., contracts polio just before school starts, Rosemary is the only black child in her class at her new school. She enters sixth grade in 1954, just after her Missouri town acts upon the Supreme Court school desegregation decision and closes the 'colored school' the girl has attended.

McKissack ( Porch Lies) reaches into her own childhood to shape this immediate and affecting novel narrated by strong and smart Rosemary.

A friendship for today by patricia c mckissack