The University of Texas at Tyler Libraries

Normal view MARC view ISBD view

Osceola : memories of a sharecropper's daughter / collected and edited by Alan Govenar ; illustrated by Shane Evans.

By: Mays, Osceola, 1909-.
Contributor(s): Govenar, Alan B, 1952- | Evans, Shane [ill.].
Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Hyperion Books for Children, c2000Edition: 1st ed.Description: 63 p. : col. ill. ; 24 cm.ISBN: 0786823577 (alk. paper); 9780786823574 (alk. paper); 0786804076 (trade pbk. : alk. paper); 9780786804078 (trade pbk. : alk. paper).Subject(s): Mays, Osceola, 1909- -- Interviews -- Juvenile literature | Mays, Osceola, 1909- -- Childhood and youth -- Juvenile literature | African American women -- Texas -- Harrison County -- Interviews -- Juvenile literature | African American women -- Texas -- Harrison County -- Biography -- Juvenile literature | African Americans -- Texas -- Harrison County -- Interviews -- Juvenile literature | African Americans -- Texas -- Harrison County -- Social life and customs -- Juvenile literature | Sharecropping -- Texas -- Harrison County -- History -- 20th century -- Juvenile literature | Harrison County (Tex.) -- Biography -- Juvenile literatureDDC classification: 976.4/19200496073/092 | B Awards: ALA Notable Children's Book, 2001.Summary: A sharecropper's daughter describes her childhood in Texas in the early years of the twentieth century.
Tags from this library: No tags from this library for this title. Log in to add tags.
Awards: Click to open in new window
Item type Current location Call number Status Date due Barcode
CML Dewey University of Texas At Tyler
CML Dewey Area 		976.4 M4744OS (Browse shelf) Available 0000001617943
CML Dewey University of Texas At Tyler
CML Dewey Area 		976.4 M4744OS (Browse shelf) Available 0000001488451

A sharecropper's daughter describes her childhood in Texas in the early years of the twentieth century.

ALA Notable Children's Book, 2001.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

School Library Journal Review

Gr 3-7-Over a period of 15 years, Govenar talked with and recorded the reminiscences of Osceola Mays, now 91 and living in Dallas. He has selected and edited these recollections to form a thematically arranged look at rural life in East Texas, almost a century ago, from the viewpoint of an African-American girl. Bite-sized chapters (each less than 500 words) address such topics as her hometown, getting baptized, slavery, "Santa Claus Night," the death of her mother, and school. The narrative style reflects her Southern heritage, and the voice is that of a storyteller. The casual tone should draw in readers, especially as her memories will seem so foreign to most-a world with few cars, strict segregation, and sharecropping. Likewise, the tales that her neighbors shared with her of slavery personalize that great evil in a way that history books cannot, just as her recollections of family members and friends make it clear that emancipation did not mean equality. Nevertheless, the book's tone reflects that the woman's spirit is not weighed down by bitterness or anger; the text provides a rounded look at the society into which she was born. Evans's plentiful illustrations are brightly colored and naive, making them a sympathetic complement to the artless narration. Although easily read independently, the book-owing to the brevity of the chapters-also works well as a read-aloud.-Coop Renner, Moreno Elementary School, El Paso, TX (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

There are no comments for this item.

Log in to your account to post a comment.