When the course structure was first released the lit students looked into what books we got to study over the 4 years of learning to be a High School English teacher. Sdly the initial list was disapointing to nearly the entire class who looked into it mainly because the books were by dead, white, old men. First years subjects were Classic English Literature so it consisted of Chaucer, Shakespeare, Donne and Milton. Contemporary Children's Literature was next and in that one we got several female writers and based on the structure of the time our one indigenous author Doris Pilkington when we studied Beyond the Rabbit Proof Fence.
Now that i've seen the newer list of childrens books there is actually one more by a non-white author. And that is this book. I'm sure I studied this book in high school but none of it came back to me as I was reading it so it seemed like a fresh book to me. It was powerful, brilliant and sad. It is the story of Cassie, a 9 year old black girl living in Mississippi in the 1930's. Racism and prejudice are still well ingrained in the South and with the exception of young Jeremy who tries to befriend Cassie and her brothers and Mr Jamieson who supports the African American community as best he can there is nothing positive to say about the white characters.
Cassie and her family on the other hand are wonderful. Her mother is strong willed and proud of her family and her position as teacher at the local school for black children, her grandmother is warm and supportive - working their land and giving advice to the children and trying to shelter them from the world at the same time as trying to show them how to get by in it with as little trouble as possible. Cassie's father is often away trying to make money so that the family can keep their land but when he is at home he is a powerful and well respected man of his community. His parents bought the land they are living on the first 200 acres outright and the next 200 is mortgaged so he's always worried about taxes and the bills involved in keeping his land but he does not want to ever lose it. The connection to the land is important to the whole family who are proud to have something that is their own. Considering David's father and mother were born into slavery this is an important symbol for them.
The racial conflicts are constant. The book opens with a "burning" and there are references to "night men" and lynchings throughout the story. When Cassie's Uncle Hammer returns in a big car that is his own her grandmother worries that it will anger the white community who cannot afford such things and instead bring them down to hurt him and "put him back in his place". Hammer's temper is often spoken of and when trouble brews up the most he is quickly told to leave town rather than stay and exacerbate the problems even more.
The other books I have read for the childrens course have all been aimed at the under 10 age group. This is definitely for older readers and I found it both enjoyable and interesting. It's beautifully written and a book that I would have no problems teaching a high school class out of.
No comments:
Post a Comment