THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 11, 1996 TAG: 9602080633
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J2 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Book Review
SOURCE: BY YOLANDA ROBINSON COLES
LENGTH: Medium: 97 lines
A School for Pompey Walker, by Michael J. Rosen (Harcourt Brace, $16, ages 7-12): Jeremiah, a young white man, and Pompey, a slave, are an unlikely pair in pre-Civil War America. With the dream of opening a school for newly escaped or freed slaves, Pompey and Jeremiah travel the South from auction block to auction block. At each sale, Jeremiah sells Pompey to a new master. Later on, he visits the plantation and steals him back. How long will it take before the slave owners catch on to this scheme?
Reverend Thomas's False Teeth, by Norfolk writer Gayle Gillerlain (Bridgewater, $14.95, ages 4-8): On his way to dinner at a parishioner's house, Reverend Thomas drops his false teeth into the Chesapeake Bay. Many people gather to try to find them, but to no avail. What does Gracie know that the others have overlooked?
Big Boy, by Tololwa Mollel (Clarion, $14.95, ages 4-7): Oli is either too big to play a game with the other children or too small to go on a journey with his brother. Then he is granted a wish to be bigger than even the tallest mountain.
The House in the Sky, by Robert D. San Souci, (Dial, $14.99, ages 4-8): The lazy Rabby tries to share his source of food with his brother, Boukee. When Boukee sees the amount of food available, he becomes greedy. The brothers learn the value of hard work.
When I Left My Village, by Maxine Schur, (Dial, $14.99, ages 6-10): Thousands of Ethiopian Jews once lived in the mountains in the Gondar province. Menelik and his family have lived in their mountain home for many generations. But when Menelik turns 14 things begin to change. Persecuted by neighbors outside their village, members of Menelik's family risk death from starvation or military execution to escape. Can he and his family ever hope to see an Israel where they can live in peace and harmony with their neighbors?
Down the Road, by Alice Schertle, (Browndeer/Harcourt Brace, $16, ages 4-8): One day Hetty is sent alone to the market. On the way home she sees some apples that she thinks will make her market day a success. But should she risk what she has to get those beautiful apples?
The Freedom Riddle, by Angela Shelf Medearis (Lodestar, $14.99, ages 5-8): Jim will win his freedom if he can come up with a riddle that Master Brown cannot solve. This puzzler is based on a true story.
JoJo's Flying Side Kick, by Brian Pinkney (Simon & Schuster, $15, ages 5-8): Getting ready for competition is hard. JoJo won't be able to compete unless she can devise a new strategy. Will she be controlled by her fear of failure or pushed forward by her desire to succeed?
Wagon Train: A Family Goes West in 1865, by Courtni Wright (Holiday House, $15.95, ages 5-8): For Ginny's family, the trip west means more freedom and better opportunities. But they must endure hardships en route before they reach the fertile valleys of California.
Swinging on a Rainbow, by Charles Perkins (African World Press, $14.95, ages 4-8): Patrice wonders what it would be like to swing on a rainbow. Is there any way for her to find out?
Gollo and the Lion, by Eric Oyono (Hyperion, $14.95, ages 4-8): When a greedy lion eats Gollo's sister, Kaye, Gollo must find a way to get her back. His task is to outwit the lion without losing his own life.
Junebug, by Alice Mead (Farrar, Straus, Giroux, $14, ages 8-12): Junebug wants to cancel his 10th birthday because it means joining a gang. Is there any escape from the negative influences that thrive in his housing project?
The Well, by Mildred D. Taylor (Dial, $14.99, ages 9-12): The Logan children remember a story of adolescence and prejudice when their father and uncle were little boys. One drought-filled summer changed the Logan legacy forever.
If you please, President Lincoln, by Harriette Robinet, (Atheneum, $15, ages 8-12): Moses Lincoln Christmas is 14 when he boards a ship to Haiti. Will his new life be any better than the slave life he's known in America?
Black Frontiers: A History of African American Heroes in the Old West, by Lillian Schlissel, (Simon & Schuster, $18, ages 8-12); and Black Women of the Old West, by William Loren Katz (Atheneum, $10, ages 10 and up): Before African Americans made movies about their experiences in the Old West, Hollywood simply ignored their existence. These books detail lives and contributions of African-American men and women in the settlement of the American West.
One More River to Cross: An African American Photograph Album, by Walter Dean Myers, (Harcourt Brace, $40, ages 12 and up); and Middle Passage, by Tom Feelings, (Dial, $40, ages 12 and up): These two exquisitely organized books capture the emotional impact of the road traveled by African Americans from slavery to the early 20th century. In One More River, Myers uses photographs and excerpts from letters and publications to describe the feelings of blacks and to provide a continuum of African-American experience.
Middle Passage is a collection of drawings and sketches that capture the pain caused by slavery. It explains with pictures how slaves could exist. Both books answer children's questions about where a race of people has been. It is up to young people to decide where they will lead the race in the future. MEMO: Yolanda Robinson Coles is a children's book reviewer who lives in
Norfolk and Durham, N.C. by CNB