Abby Takes a Stand

Description

A historical chapter book series from three-time Coretta Scott King Award winner and Newbery Honor author, Patricia C. McKissack.

Why has their grandmother bothered keeping a menu from a restaurant that closed years ago, a restaurant that never served very good food in the first place? Three cousins listen to Gee’s own story, set in the early days of lunch counter sit-ins in Nashville, a time when a black child could sit up front in a city bus but still could not get a milk shake at a downtown restaurant. Through the eyes of ten-year-old Abby, young readers see what it was like to live through those days, and they’ll come to understand that, like a menu, freedom is about having choices. Each book in this series tells the story behind a different “scrap of time”; together they form a patchwork quilt of one black family’s past that stretches back for generations.

“A perfect introduction to an extraordinary time when regular people, even ten-year-old girls, make a difference.” —The Horn Book

“The book gives readers a kid’s-eye view of important happenings and reminds them that history is something that is in the making.” —Booklist“The book gives readers a kid’s-eye view of important happenings and reminds them that history is something that is in the making.” —Booklist

“This accessible, lively, and heartfelt chapter book reades like a memoir and makes a perfect introduction to an extraordinary time when regular people, even ten-year-old girls, make a difference.” —The Horn Book

“This easy chapter book, with simple sentences, plenty of white space, and a liberal sprinkling of Gordon’s expressive black-and-white drawings, is an appealing and welcome title.” —School Library Journal
Gordon C. James also illustrates the Scraps of Time series by Patricia C. McKissack. He lives in Charlotte, North Carolina.US