Culture 2 African American Literature

 LS 5653-20
Genre 2 Review
Shannon Hicks

We are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball

We are the Ship 

Bibliography

Nelson, Kadir. We are the Ship. Hyperion books for children, 2008. ISBN 978078680832-8

Plot Summary

Kadir Nelson’s We are the Ship opens with an introduction to baseball and the sad realization that Black players were not treated well and the inherit dangers for them to play at all since protective wear was nonexistent. Told from a first-person narration, the story flows as if the reader is truly a part of the story. Chapters labeled as “Innings” give insight into different players and specific baseball incidents, such as “The Negro Leagues vs. The White Leagues” and “Negro League Owners.” The coffee table-sized book delves into what it meant to be a Black baseball player in the Negro leagues right though Jackie Robinson’s integration in the Major Leagues. Nelson’s artwork is as moving as the words themselves.

Critical Analysis

Rube Foster proclaimed, “We are the ship; all else the sea” when he decided to organize “an entire Negro baseball league” not just a few Negro players on Major League teams. Nelson’s recounting of Negro baseball in this story turns any non-sport enthusiast into a cheering, champion of baseball history.

Short, first-person narration moves the story along at a lightning pace. Specific examples of segregation and discrimination are laid out, bare bones for readers. Players who were Black often had to travel hundreds of miles before they could find places to “serve Negroes” and even when they could find a store, some clerks made them put their money in an ashtray, rather than touch a Black player’s hands. “It was segregated in the North, too. They wouldn’t serve us inside a restaurant, so we had to get our food from the back door and eat on the bus” p.24. Nelson even describes how some baseball team owners did not treat their players well, trading them often and either paying them late or underpaying them.

Kadir Nelson illustrations are just as important as the written words. The earth tone colors of the pages add to the illusion of dust in a stadium while the giant fold-out ticket for the first Colored World Series invites the reader inside the story. Many of the players’ faces elicit strong emotions and the crinkle of uniform sleeves and pantlegs make one feel like the game is alive and in real time.

Review Excerpts

School Library Journal: “Nine chapters offer an overview of the founding and history of the leagues, the players, style of play, and the league's eventual demise after Jackie Robinson broke major league baseball's color barrier in 1947. Nelson's brilliant, almost iconic paintings vividly complement his account. Starting with the impressive cover painting of a proud, determined Josh Gibson, the artist brings to light the character and inherent dignity of his subjects.”

“We are the Ship.” School Library Journal 54.1 (2008): 145. Novelist, EBSCOhost, (accessed September 13, 2020).

Publishers Weekly: “As illuminating as the text is, Nelson’s muscular paintings serve as the true draw. His larger-than-life players have oversized hands, elongated bodies and near-impossible athleticism. Their lined faces suggest the seriousness with which they took their sport and the circumstances under which they were made to play it. A gatefold depicting the first “Colored World Series” is particularly exquisite—a replica ticket opens from the gutter to reveal the entire line-ups of both teams.”

“We are the Ship.” Publisher Weekly 255.1 (2008): 56. Novelist, EBSCOhost, (accessed September 13, 2020).

Awards

•         Odyssey Award – honor 2010
•         Coretta Scott King Book Awards – illustrator honor 2009
•         Coretta Scott King Book Awards – author winner 2009
•         Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal – winner 2009
•         Orbis Pictus Award – honor 2009
•         Notable Children's Books – commended 2009
•         CCBC Choices – selection 2009
•         Notable Books for a Global Society – selection 2009
•         Fanfare – selection 2008
•         Best Illustrated Children’s Books – selection 2008

 Connections 

·        Listen to Kadir Nelson read a chapter from the book. https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/videos/teaching-content/kadir-nelson-reads-we-are-ship/ Does hearing the author read from their book make you like it more? Why or why not?

·        Baseball card collections were part of the Negro Leagues. Choose one player and create a baseball card for them. Include a picture of the player and their statistics.

·        The Smithsonian Anacostia Museum here in Washington, D.C. has exhibited Kadir Nelson’s work. Check to see if his work is currently on exhibit nearby.

·        Nelson is a 3 time Caldecott winner so it would be a great opportunity for a co-curricular study with the art teacher or department.

       Brown Girl Dreaming

Brown Girl Dreaming

Bibliography

Woodson, Jacqueline. Brown Girl Dreaming. Puffin Books, 2016. ISBN 9780147515827

Plot Summary

Brown Girl Dreaming is a novel in verse. Woodson’s memoir begins with the retelling of her birth juxtaposed with current affairs at the same time. “In Birmingham, Alabama, Martin Luther King Jr. is planning a march on Washington…In Harlem, Malcolm X is standing on a soapbox…”p.3. As Brown Girl Dreaming continues, Woodson eloquently illustrates the feelings of growing up in two different places, Greenville, North Carolina and Brooklyn, New York. She struggled with feelings of belonging but found comfort in her family, especially her Grandfather, whom she calls Daddy. Bursts of political events intertwine with Woodson’s childhood and we catch glimpses of the 1960s and 70s through her eyes, while also co-experiencing her childhood moments.

Critical Analysis

Woodson’s Brown Girl Dreaming shares her own experiences growing up during the 1960s and 70s with the Civil Rights backdrop running parallel to her childhood. Woodson illustrates some of the hurdles African Americans faced in the south during this period.

“There are white men working at the printing press
beside Daddy, their fingers blackened
with ink so that at the end of the day, palms up
it’s hard to tell who is white and who is not, still
they call my grandfather Gunnar,
even though he’s a foreman
and is supposed to be called
Mr. Irby.”

 In a delicate approach, Woodson recounts the marches and quest for equality that she sees in her hometown.

 “The trainings take place in the basements of churches

And the back rooms of stores,
On long car trips and anywhere else where people can
Gather. They learn
How to change the South without violence,
How to not be moved
By the evil actions of others, how to walk slowly but
With deliberate steps.”

 Brown Girl Dreaming is open and does not hold back exploring multiple topics. As Jehovah’s Witnesses, Woodson shares her family’s religion and describes the Bible studies her grandmother hosts and their door-to-door evangelizing. Her uncle Robert begins wearing an afro and Woodson begs her mother for one too. This specific Black experience resonates with all children who have wanted to alter their appearance to fit cultural norms and yet been told no by a parent. Jacqueline struggles with following in her sister’s academic footsteps as she has difficulty reading but eventually finds comfort in a picture book “filled with brown people” and it is at this moment she discovers that her story matters. An uplifting read of family, friendship and coming-of-age.

 Review Excerpts

School Library Journal (July 1, 2014): “Her perspective on the volatile era in which she grew up is thoughtfully expressed in powerfully effective verse, (Martin Luther King is ready to march on Washington; Malcom X speaks about revolution; Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat only seven years earlier and three years have passed since Ruby Bridges walks into an all-white school). She experienced firsthand the acute differences in how the "colored" were treated in the North and South…With exquisite metaphorical verse Woodson weaves a patchwork of her life experience, from her supportive, loving maternal grandparents, her mother's insistence on good grammar, to the lifetime friend she meets in New York, that covers readers with a warmth and sensitivity no child should miss.”

“Brown Girl Dreaming.” School Library Journal 60.7 (2014): 126. Novelist, EBSCOhost, (accessed September 13, 2020).

Publishers Weekly (May 26, 2014): “Written in verse, Woodson’s collection of childhood memories provides insight into the Newbery Honor author’s perspective of America, “a country caught/ between Black and White,” during the turbulent 1960s. Jacqueline was born in Ohio, but spent much of her early years with her grandparents in South Carolina, where she learned about segregation and was made to follow the strict rules of Jehovah’s Witnesses, her grandmother’s religion. Wrapped in the cocoon of family love and appreciative of the beauty around her, Jacqueline experiences joy and the security of home.”

“Brown Girl Dreaming.” Publishers Weekly 261.21 (2014). Novelist, EBSCOhost, (accessed September 13, 2020).

Awards

·        Coretta Scott King Book Awards – author winner, 2015

·        Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal – honor 2015

·        John Newbery Medal – honor 2015

·        Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards – honor 2015

·        Notable Children's Books – commended 2015

·        E.B. White Read-Aloud Award – winner 2015

·        CCBC Choices – selection 2015

·        Notable Books for a Global Society – selection 2015

·        The Claudia Lewis Award for Poetry – winner 2015

·        We Are Kid Lit Collective Summer Reading Lists – selection 2015

·        National Book Award for Young People's Literature – winner 2014

·        Junior Library Guild Selections – middle selection 2014

·        Center for the Study of Multicultural Children's Literature Best Books – selection 2014

·        SLJ Best Books of the Year – selection 2014

·        Fanfare – selection 2014

·        Lasting Connections – selection 2014

Connections (related books, activities, etc)

·        View the video, “Meet the Author” with Jacqueline Woodson where she discusses why she writes realistic fiction. https://www.teachingbooks.net/author_collection.cgi?id=50&mid=90&a=1

·        Use the book The Watson’s Go to Birmingham 1963 as part of a literature circle.

·        Brown Girl Dreaming is written in verse. Discuss other books in verse (The Crossover, Love that Dog) and why authors may choose to write in verse instead of prose. 

Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut

Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut

 Bibliography

Barnes, Derrick and Gordon C. James. Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut. Agate Publishing, 2017. ISBN 9781-57284-224-3

Plot Summary

Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut gives an insider the view into a barbershop as a young boy gets a haircut. A fresh cut gives him confidence to ace a test and feel like a star. We follow the child’s journey from sitting in the barber’s chair while being draped with the cape, to admiring other’s customers’ new haircuts, to the wiping of his neck with the “golden horse tail” brush. The rhythmic, excited fervor of the writing makes the reader excited for the “fresh cut” finale.  

Critical Analysis

Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut is an uplifting and insightful look into the African American male barbershop while still conveying the universal experience of a haircut. It allows Black children, specifically boys, to see themselves reflected in a shared experience of the barbershop visit. Through the language and content of Crown we see positive images of the African American community “he looks presidential. Maybe he’s the CEO of a tech company that manufactures cool,” p.10 which highlights the confidence the boy hopes to gain through his fresh cut. He will enter the world, feeling, “magnificent, flawless, like royalty” p. 26.

The setting is within the “Heads Up” barbershop and the plot, although seemingly simple on the surface, is actually a complex experience of the African American trip to the barbershop. The Illustrator, Gordon C. James uses bold, lifelike oil paintings to bring the characters to life while also drawing readers and nonreaders in.

Review Excerpts

Booklist (September 1, 2017): “Colorful images illustrate all of the patrons, including a woman. Barnes mixes fresh and sharp lines with an integral part of the African American experience: maintaining one’s hair. Illustrator James deftly uses bright colors including teal and fuchsia, and a colorful galaxy complements Barnes’ words well. The strong voice will resonate with readers, soothe any young child scared of their first cut, and give a boost of confidence to the seasoned pros.”

“Ode to the Fresh Cut.” Booklist 114.1 (2017): 11. Novelist, EBSCOhost, (accessed September 13, 2020).

School Library Journal (September 1, 2017): “Oil paintings illustrate the intricacies of the haircuts, details in the characters' faces, along with the sense of well-being that is conveyed along the way. While a trip the barbershop is the main story line, the themes of confidence-building, self-esteem, and joy of young black boys are the important takeaways, and the illustrations jump off the page and invite readers to share in the experience.”

“Ode to the Fresh Cut.” School Library Journal 63.9 (2017): 98. Novelist, EBSCOhost, (accessed September 13, 2020).

Awards

·        Coretta Scott King Book Awards – illustrator honor 2018

·        Coretta Scott King Book Awards – author honor 2018

·        Kirkus Prize for Young Readers' Literature winner 2018

·        Ezra Jack Keats Book Award– illustrator honor 2018

·        Ezra Jack Keats Book Award – author honor 2018

·        Randolph Caldecott Medal – honor 2018

·        Notable Children's Books – commended 2018

·        CCBC Choices – selection 2018

·        Charlotte Huck Award – commended 2018

·        John Newbery Medal – honor 2018

·        Fanfare – selection 2017

·        Center for the Study of Multicultural Children's Literature Best Books – selection 2017

Connections (related books, activities, etc)

·        Another great book to share about hair, told by a female protagonist, is Hair Love by Matthew Cherry. Reading both books and then comparing them with a Venn Diagram may be a useful tool in teaching students to look for similarities and differences between two texts.

·        For slightly older students, have them write about a haircut. This may be a good time to work on writing step by step details. Example: First they put the cape around your shoulders. Then they wash your hair. Next, they cut it and finally they style it.