Another Review at MyShelf.Com

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Release Date: September 8, 2004
ISBN: 0374326819
Awards:  
Format Reviewed: Hardcover
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Genre: Children’s fiction / African American interest [9-12]
Reviewed: 2004
Reviewer: Carisa Weeaks
Reviewer Notes: Social Situations - Prejudice & Racism  
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Going North 
By Janice N. Harrington

Pictures by Jerome Lagarrigul

     Life in the segregated south of the 1960s was poor and stressed for African Americans, and for one girl and her family, enough is enough. When Jessie finds out that she and her family are moving north, her imagination takes off, wondering if the North is really as wonderful and free as her parents say it is. Not wanting to leave Big Mama and the only home she’s known, Jessie is reluctant about moving away up north and leaving her life in Alabama behind. What will happen? Will they even make it? Will they be able to stop when they need to or will all the gas stations be labeled “Whites only” like most of the other places they aren’t allowed in?

     This is a heart-warming story written in poetic form about a girl and the view-altering changes she has to go through. The storyline is view-changing and wonderfully true to the situations black families were faced with in the 1960s and before that when segregation was unfortunately considered a part of life. The illustrations are vivid and beautifully done. I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants a way to enlighten someone about the way that period of time formed the viewpoint of a young child.