Horn Book

In this picture book set in the 1960s (and inspired by the author's childhood memories), Michael and his granddaddy are fascinated by the powerful trains that rush by their Alabama farm going North. Michael's dream to ride one comes true when his grandma takes him to Ohio to visit relatives. As they board the train, they are directed to the "colored only" section ("no whites allowed"). When the train departs Atlanta, the conductor removes the sign, and a boy Michael had seen in the station comes running up to him from the white section. Michael and Bobby Ray begin exploring the train, racing through the cars, and finally return to Bobby Ray's car, where they talk and play until the train reaches Chattanooga. The sign returns and the conductor leads Michael back to his seat as he laments, "Seemed like the rules on [that] train were always changing. It just didn't make any sense at all." When the train arrives in Cincinnati, Michael's destination, the sign comes down again, and the new friends are able to say goodbye. In his signature watercolor style with collage, Ransome perfectly delivers the wonderment of a boy's first train ride with beautifully rendered picturesque landscapes, and sensitively captures the innocence of children whose friendship defies the unjust laws of segregation. The author's note provides brief context for the story, beginning with the 1887 Interstate Commerce Act that regulated railway transportation across state lines.

Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews

A friendship blossoms despite the segregation that would keep two young boys apart.Trains often interrupt Michael and Granddaddy's farm work, and Michael dreams of riding on one of them. He gets his wish when Grandma decides to take him from Alabama to Ohio to visit cousins. They board the "colored only" car, and Michael marvels at the landscape and towns whizzing by. He sees a boy his age in the White section of the train as he explores, but he knows not to enter. When the train leaves Atlanta, however, the signs labeling the cars come down, and Michael befriends Bobby Ray. Together they explore both the White and Black sections of the train and the amazing dining car and sleeping berths. They discover a mutual love of drawing, playing with little green army men, and trains. But when the train reaches Chattanooga and the segregation signs return, their play comes to an abrupt halt. In these lushly illustrated watercolor and collage images, Ransome effectively captures the boys' kinship amid the senseless, racist Jim Crow laws that separate them. The bucolic landscape outside the train's windows sharply conflicts with the train conductor's removal of Michael from the White car. Backmatter addresses the laws that created this unjust travel condition, beginning in 1887 with the Interstate Commerce Act.Painful history portrayed honestly and beautifully to help children understand the very personal impact of racism. (Picture book. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

A friendship blossoms despite the segregation that would keep two young boys apart.Trains often interrupt Michael and Granddaddy's farm work, and Michael dreams of riding on one of them. He gets his wish when Grandma decides to take him from Alabama to Ohio to visit cousins. They board the "colored only" car, and Michael marvels at the landscape and towns whizzing by. He sees a boy his age in the White section of the train as he explores, but he knows not to enter. When the train leaves Atlanta, however, the signs labeling the cars come down, and Michael befriends Bobby Ray. Together they explore both the White and Black sections of the train and the amazing dining car and sleeping berths. They discover a mutual love of drawing, playing with little green army men, and trains. But when the train reaches Chattanooga and the segregation signs return, their play comes to an abrupt halt. In these lushly illustrated watercolor and collage images, Ransome effectively captures the boys' kinship amid the senseless, racist Jim Crow laws that separate them. The bucolic landscape outside the train's windows sharply conflicts with the train conductor's removal of Michael from the White car. Backmatter addresses the laws that created this unjust travel condition, beginning in 1887 with the Interstate Commerce Act.Painful history portrayed honestly and beautifully to help children understand the very personal impact of racism. (Picture book. 5-8)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

The team behind Granddaddy-s Turn introduces readers to the cruelty of U.S. segregation through the eyes of a child. Michael, the Black boy who narrates, is wide-eyed with anticipation when he learns that he and his grandmother are taking the train from Alabama to visit family in Ohio. From the -Colored Only- train car where they sit, his first sight of Atlanta thrills him: -I had never seen so many different kinds of people all in the same place.- There, the conductor takes down the -Colored Only- sign, and Michael is free to explore. -Hi, I-m Bobby Ray,- says a white boy his age; they wander the train, then return to Bobby Ray-s seat, where they play with toy soldiers, talk, and Bobby Ray begins to draw. When the train enters Tennessee, a segregated state, the conductor whisks Michael back to the -Colored Only- car, and Bobby Ray is lost to him. The only evidence Michael has of their short friendship is his drawing: -white folk sitting next to black folk in the same train car.- Vivid, tightly focused watercolor portraits by Ransome straightforwardly convey the racist policy-s effect on two children, and Bandy and Stein let Michael draw his own thoughtful conclusions in this narrative: -It just didn-t make any sense at all.- Ages 6-9. (Oct.)