Author | Patricia McKissack |
---|---|
Illustrator | Gordon C. James |
Country | USA |
Language | English |
Series | Scraps of Time |
Subject | Children's literature, Historical Fiction |
Published | 2005 (Viking Press) |
Media type | Print (hardback, paperback) |
Pages | 104 |
ISBN | 9780670060115 |
OCLC | 56591046 |
Abby Takes a Stand is a 2005 book by Patricia McKissack. It is the first book in the Scraps of Time series and is predominantly set in the 1960s. It concerns an African-American grandmother, Abby, talking with some of her young relatives about the time she was a young girl in Nashville, Tennessee, her experiences with racial segregation, and her involvement with the Civil Rights Movement.
Booklist , reviewing Abby Takes a Stand, wrote "Although short and simply told, the book gives readers a kid's-eye view of important happenings and reminds them that history is something that is always in the making.", [1] and School Library Journal found "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." [1]
The Horn Book Magazine wrote "McKissack deftly weaves all the familiar details of the time into this entry in the Scraps of Time series for emerging readers .. This accessible, lively, and heartfelt chapter book reads like a memoir and makes a perfect introduction to an extraordinary time when regular people, even ten-year-old girls, made a difference." [2]
Abby Takes a Stand has also been reviewed by Kirkus Reviews , [3] Publishers Weekly , [4] and Multicultural Review. [5]
Patricia C. "Pat" McKissack was a prolific African American children's writer. She was the author of over 100 books, including Dear America books A Picture of Freedom: The Diary of Clotee, a Slave Girl;Color Me Dark: The Diary of Nellie Lee Love, The Great Migration North; and Look to the Hills: The Diary of Lozette Moreau, a French Slave Girl. She also wrote a novel for The Royal Diaries series: Nzingha: Warrior Queen of Matamba. Notable standalone works include Flossie & the Fox (1986), The Dark-Thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural (1992), and Sojourner Truth: Ain't I a Woman? (1992). What is Given from the Heart was published posthumously in 2019.
Never Forgotten is a 2011 picture book by Pat McKissack about a blacksmith father in West Africa who has Musafa, his son, kidnapped by slavers and with the assistance of the four elements discovers that Musafa is working in Charleston as a blacksmith's apprentice.
Flossie & the Fox is a 1986 picture book by Patricia C. McKissack about a girl, Flossie, who takes some eggs to a neighbor, meets a fox on the way and manages to outwit it. In 1991, a film adaptation of the book was made with the author narrating.
Sojourner Truth: Ain't I a Woman? is a 1992 children's biography by Patricia and Frederick McKissack. It tells the story of African-American abolitionist and women's rights activist, Sojourner Truth.
A Million Fish ... more or less is a 1992 children's picture book by Patricia McKissack. It is about a boy of the bayou, Hugh Thomas, who has a fishing adventure.
Red-Tail Angels: The Story of the Tuskegee Airmen of World War II is a 1995 Children's picture book by Patricia and Frederick McKissack. It is about the African Americans of the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group of the USAF who were known as the Tuskegee Airmen.
Christmas in the Big House, Christmas in the Quarters is a 1994 Children's book by Patricia McKissack and Frederick McKissack. It is about the preparations and workings around the Christmas season on a slave plantation in 1850s Virginia.
The All-I'll-Ever-Want Christmas Doll is a 2007 picture book by Patricia McKissack and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. It is about a girl, Nella, living during the Great Depression who amazingly receives a doll for Christmas, initially doesn't share with her sisters but then relents after discovering that it's not fun to play by herself.
Run Away Home is a 1997 book by Patricia McKissack. Set in the late 19th century, it is about an African-American girl, Sarah Jane, who finds an Apache boy in the family barn and the subsequent affects on their lives.
Color Me Dark: The Diary of Nellie Lee Love, The Great Migration North is a 2000 book by Patricia McKissack about a girl, Nellie, who from 1919 records her thoughts and experiences in a diary including her home in rural Tennessee, as a part of The Great Migration, and her new home in Chicago. It is part of the Dear America book series.
Days Of Jubilee: The End of Slavery in the United States is a 2002 book by Patricia McKissack and Fredrick McKissack which sets out the history of Abolitionism in the United States.
A Friendship for Today is a 2007 book by Patricia McKissack about the life of a girl, Rosemary Patterson, attending one of the first integrated Missouri schools during the 1950s.
Rebels Against Slavery: American Slave Revolts is a 1996 book by Patricia and Fredrick McKissack.
The Clone Codes is a 2010 science fiction novel by American writers Patricia and Fredrick McKissack. It is about a girl, Leanna, who lives in 22nd century America where human clones and cyborgs are treated like second-class citizens, and what happens when she discovers that her parents are activists and that she is a clone.
Porch Lies: Tales of Slicksters, Tricksters, and Other Wily Characters is a 2006 book by Patricia McKissack, and illustrated by Andre Carrilho, published by Schwartz & Wade Books. It is a collection of tales based on oral stories that McKissack heard from her grandfather and his friends when she was a child.
Ma Dear's Aprons is a 1997 book by Patricia McKissack about the relationship between a son, David Earl, and his mother, Ma dear.
Scraps of Time: 1879, Away West is a 2006 book by Patricia McKissack about a farmboy, Everett Turner, who runs away and joins the Exodusters, travelling to Nicodemus, Kansas.
Scraps of Time: 1928, A Song for Harlem is a 2007 book by Patricia McKissack about a girl, Lilly Belle, who spends the Summer of 1928 in Harlem attending a writers' workshop led by Zora Neale Hurston.
Let's Clap, Jump, Sing & Shout; Dance, Spin & Turn It Out!: Games, Songs & Stories From An African American Childhood is a 2017 book by Patricia McKissack. It is a collection of games, songs, proverbs, stories including those from McKissack's childhood.
Stop That Girl: A Novel in Short Stories is a 2005 novel by Elizabeth McKenzie. It is a series of nine short stories telling the life of Ann Ransom, the narrator, from when she is an eight-year-old girl through to her failed marriage.
By personalizing events, historical fiction can bring the past alive for children, whose concept of time is unformed. McKissack succeeds admirably. An excellent introduction to a promising new series.