BUYING ADVISORY: EL -ADVISABLE
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
Thelma and her family enjoy watching the trains go by their town of Vacherie, Louisiana. She dreams of one day being able to ride on a train. But in the meantime, she has the schooltrain. She and her friends walk to school every morning, single file picking up children on their way. As they walk they chant "Schooltrain! Schooltrain! Don't be late!" The school bell rings at half past eight!" In school, Thelma learns that reading is the ticket to a good education and a better life. Thelma is also learning about Jim Crow laws. She is learning why she is not allowed to ride on the same bus or go to the same school as her white friend; and how the laws are causing many of her friends and family to leave the South for better lives elsewhere. After her father stands up for himself at work and loses his job as a result, Thelma and her family join the Great Migration by boarding a train for California and a new life. I enjoyed this story about the Great Migration. It is based on the life of the author's mother in the 1920s and 1930s.
I like how the young girl at first thinks that her friends are moving away because of a mean man named Jim Crow. Later she learns from her father that it is because of Jim Crow laws, not a man named Jim Crow. This would be a great read-a-loud book that would allow the adult the opportunity to explain the difficult concepts of Jim Crow laws and the Great Migration. The end of the book includes a note from the author about the subjects in the book, family photos, and source information.
A. Snow
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