Gr 5 Up—The Littles—Loretta, Roly, and Aggie B.—each grew up facing different obstacles, from sharecropping and
living under Jim Crow laws to fighting for civil rights. The family members take turns boldly voicing their stories and
experiences in this deeply emotional and powerfully hopeful "stage on a page" novel. Andrea Davis Pinkney's
narrative is complemented by Brian Pinkney's evocative illustrations in this fresh and invigorating historical fiction
come to life.

It took me a while to ease into this one, despite the excellent narrators in the audio book. By the end I was swept away, and really, blown away -- the messages delivered all along are strong. The messages at the end, about telling your own truth, and the importance of using your voice were amazingly powerful. Parts reminded me strongly of Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry -- not jut because of the time period and the setting, but something in the language and the cadence of the characters. The book feels like a carefully woven tapestry of African American family experience and could not be more effective at pointing out how much further we need to go. There are some graphically violent moments. There are parts that are hard to listen to and some that are transcendent. It's a really neat trick to have such a powerful written tribute to oral history, but I think Pinkney pulls it off. ( )

RGG: Quite wonderful, but hard to place. For readers who are adventurous in their reading genre--the complex and diverse format, the poetic language, and the historical references will make this a difficult read. The characters' age ranges from 12-18, so despite a cover that presents young, can be for older readers. Reading Interest: 9-14

RGG: Quite wonderful, but hard to place. For readers who are adventurous in their reading genre--the complex and diverse format, the poetic language, and the historical references will make this a difficult read. The characters' age ranges from 12-18, so despite a cover that presents young, can be for older readers. Reading Interest: 9-14

RGG: Quite wonderful, but hard to place. For readers who are adventurous in their reading genre--the complex and diverse format, the poetic language, and the historical references will make this a difficult read. The characters' age ranges from 12-18, so despite a cover that presents young, can be for older readers. Reading Interest: 9-14