{"id":37059,"date":"2020-03-19T22:21:35","date_gmt":"2020-03-20T02:21:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=37059"},"modified":"2020-03-19T22:21:35","modified_gmt":"2020-03-20T02:21:35","slug":"review-of-this-promise-of-change-by-jo-ann-allen-boyce-and-debbie-levy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=37059","title":{"rendered":"Review of This Promise of Change, by Jo Ann Allen Boyce and Debbie Levy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>This Promise of Change<\/p>\n

One Girl\u2019s Story in the Fight for School Equality<\/em><\/p>\n

by Jo Ann Allen Boyce
\nand Debbie Levy<\/p>\n

Bloomsbury Children\u2019s Books, 2019. 310 pages.
\nReview written January 20, 2020, from a library book
\nStarred Review
\n2020 Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Honor<\/p>\n

Jo Ann Allen was one of the \u201cClinton 12\u201d \u2013 black children who went to the white high school in Clinton, Tennessee, in 1956 when the Supreme Court so ordered. It started out calmly enough, but things got worse and worse.<\/p>\n

The main story is told in Jo Ann\u2019s voice, in verse. Many are free verse, but many are also in rhyme, using poetic forms. There\u2019s an immediacy about the poems, and we get the story of how it felt to be Jo Ann in the middle of such big events. I wouldn\u2019t have necessarily liked an author making this up, but I like that Jo Ann herself was an author of this book, so we can trust that she got the feelings right.<\/p>\n

Between the poems are headlines from all over the country talking about the events that Jo Ann was part of. There are photos at the back of Jo Ann and her classmates.<\/p>\n

Because this book is in verse, it\u2019s all the more readable, and helps the reader understand how it felt to be there.<\/p>\n

I think my favorite poem in the book is this one toward the end:<\/p>\n

A REAL VICTORY
\n(THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6)<\/p>\n

The day before yesterday,
\nthe same day
\nwe went down the Hill with Reverend Turner
\nand all that happened
\nhappened,
\nthere was also an election.
\nNot an election for president
\n(that was in November; Ike won again)
\nbut for local officials
\nlike the mayor and the city aldermen.<\/p>\n

The results are in and<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know if people voted
\nafter hearing what happened at school.
\nI don\u2019t know if people felt
\nthings have gone too far.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know if A<\/em> led to B<\/em> but \u2013
\nevery single
\nwhite supremacist
\nsegregationist
\ncandidate
\nlost.<\/p>\n

Before all this,
\nbefore all that happened
\nhappened,
\nI thought there was nothing I could do
\nabout segregation.
\nI\u2019m just a girl, I thought,
\none girl who tries
\nto look at the good side of things,
\nbecause there\u2019s nothing I can do
\nabout the bad.
\nI\u2019m still that good-side-looking girl,
\nbut now when I see the bad, I\u2019ll think \u2013
\nI\u2019ll know<\/em> —
\nthere\u2019s something I can do about it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

debbielevybooks.com<\/a>
\nBloomsbury.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Childrens_Nonfiction\/this_promise_of_change.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

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