Title: Coming On Home Soon
Author: Jacqueline Woodson
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Publish Date: 2004
ISBN: 9780399237485
Bethany's Rating:3/4
Summary: This is story about a little girl named Ada Ruth, living during World War 2. She is an African American who lives with her mom and her grandma. Her mom tells her that she is going to Chicago to work on the railroad since all of the boys have gone into war. She says that she will write and send money back but Ada Ruth and her Grandmother watch as the post man walks by and do not receive a letter for months. The Grandmother tells Ada Ruth to be strong and that her mother will be home son but Ada Ruth Knows even her Grandma starts to get worried. They wait and wait and finally the postman stops with a letter from Mama saying she is okay. The last page on the book has Mama walking towards the house.
Evaluation: The story is interesting but I would not pick this book as a good historical fiction book to read to children. A parent or teacher would have to give background information before or after reading the book. The only reason I knew they were talking about World War 2 was from my previous knowledge and then I looked up some reviews just to make sure. I did feel like the emotions felt real and a child would be able to see that Ada Ruth was missing her Mama and was waiting for her to come home. The watercolor pictures in the book were very serene, dark colors were used through the whole story to portray Ada Ruths longing.
Sometimes I think that we can forget about the child's perspective during difficult times, like WWII. This book seems to do a good job in describing Ada's uncertainty about whether her mother is safe.
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice if the book offered additional background knowledge about the history that its talking about. I've seen that done in some of the historical texts that I blogged about and think it would help kids understand better what they are reading about.
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