BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - OPTIONAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
Bessie the Motorcycle Queen competes in races and performs exhibition rides. People are often surprised to see her dark face when she takes off her helmet. Most places are welcoming and friendly, but the further south Bessie travels, the more careful she needs to be, as there was a lot of racism in the deep south, and it wasn't safe for a black woman, alone on the road.
Bessie the Motorcycle Queen is another look at the prejudice African Americans faced in the 20s and 30s. I enjoyed the illustrations, and the story - I love these short biographies. Kristensen's illustrations of the racist signs in the town said more than the text ever could. I struggled with the text on and off throughout the story - Smith expands the vowels to make it sound like a carnival barker, but if pronounced the way it's written would not be understood. The text is lyrical, but some of the rhymes are a stretch. There's a point, however, in the middle of the story, when Bessie is being pursued by a truck of men - most likely KKK, where the text is brilliant - it reads like the thrum of the motorcycles on the road. I wish the rest of the story was so well written.
Lisa Librarian
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