Goin' Someplace Special

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Goin' Someplace Special was written by Patricia C. McKissack and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. Patricia C. McKissack was the Newbery Honor, Coretta Scott King Award-winning author of The Dark-Thirty and Porch Lies an ALA Notable Book. She collaborated with Jerry Pinkney on Goin' Someplace Special (Coretta Scott King Award winner) and Mirandy and Brother Wind (Coretta Scott King Award winner and Caldecott Honor Book. [1] Retrieved January 31th, 2021

Summary

The story is about a young African-American girl named Tricia Ann, she lives in Nashville, during the 50s she eagerly sets off on her own for the first time, going across town to what she calls "someplace special." The prejudice and discrimination she meets along the way deflates her hopeful spirit somewhat, but her grandmother's words and the promise of the public library where "all are welcome" help her handle the hurt, and make it to her destination. [2] Retrieved January 31th, 2021

Pros

Kathryn commented this book on one site, she mentioned that we learn in the Author's Note at the end that this story is based on Patricia McKissack's own girlhood experiences. The Note is wonderful and really brought some aspects of segregation into a new light for me. For example, McKissack talks about how many families had long internal debates on when was the appropriate time to let their children experience the world beyond their own black communities. That is, when did they want to introduce their children to segregation? And, in 'Tricia's case, when to let them face it alone, with only the memory of their wisdom to guide them rather than their actual helping hand. In her own ignorance, she never thought about children in that time being shielded from segregation, she thought it was just part of everyday life that they always lived with. It adds a deeper poignancy to the issue to think that parents actually had to choose when to expose their children to something so ugly. [3] Retrieved January 31th, 2021

Kirkus explained on their site about this book, they mentioned that Pinkney’s trademark watercolors teem with realistically drawn people, lush city scenes, and a spunky main character whose turquoise dress, enlivened with yellow flowers and trim, jumps out of every picture. A lengthy author’s endnote fills in the background for adults on McKissack’s childhood experiences with the Nashville Public Library. This library quietly integrated all of its facilities in the late 1950s, and provided her with the story’s inspiration. A natural for group sharing; leave plenty of time for the questions and discussion that are sure to follow. [4] Retrieved January 31th, 2021

Library Things' members also had discussion about this book, some members dropped their thoughts on the website. This book is about a young girl who ventures out of her city to go to integrated places. This book was set in the 1950's in Nashville. This book has good historical information. This book can be used to teach about how our country used to be segregated by color. This could then lead on to a whole discussion about the types people took to make our country how it is today. It has an amazing job at highlighted just how difficult life was for African Americans. The lesson that is portrayed in this book were very important for, not only young children, but everyone to learn. The lessons is to always be strong and hold our head up no matter what differences our face. It would be good for all ages but personally do not read it to children until after the slavery and Martin Luther King Jr. lessons. This historical fiction book was a helpful book for students to understand the struggle young people had during The Civil Rights Movement. The main character was African American just wants to go someplace where she was not discriminated against, we didn't find out where this place was until the very end though. We saw the young girl got treated with hate on her journey to the place and we even saw her get discouraged from it saying, "getting to Someplace Special isn’t worth it." This demonstrates to readers that this time period was hard for African Americans, especially for kids coming of age, experiencing self-doubt and insecurity. But, just as it it demonstrated by the Civil Rights Movement, we had to persist through hardship to make a difference and get the change we want. [5] Retrieved January 31th, 2021

References