School Library Journal

Gr 2-4-A 1956 summer visit to their grandmother's home exposes two African-American girls to segregation and prejudice unlike anything they have experienced in the North. As they travel south by bus, their mother explains that the best seats are at the back. At a rest stop, most travelers head for the lunch counter, but Mama reminds her daughters that she has packed them a delicious lunch. When they arrive at their destination, six-year-old Sarah Marie notices the two separate waiting rooms and wonders why her grandmother is waiting in the one without seats. The gentle tone of Birtha's writing reflects the quiet dignity with which the adults in Sarah Marie's family meet the indignities of Jim Crow laws. When they return the following summer, the Supreme Court has desegregated the schools, buses, and public places. The strong, sensitive writing is enhanced by beautiful watercolor paintings filled with chips of light. This story will generate discussions on a range of topics including racial segregation, bullying, and self-respect.-Mary Hazelton, Elementary Schools in Warren & Waldoboro, ME Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

<p>Young African-American Sarah Marie travels by bus from her Northern home to the South to visit her proud grandmother, both before and after segregation. Her first-person narrative conveys wide-eyed wonder, and each of the superbly detailed watercolor illustrations is a short story in itself. Sarah Marie and her little sister experience the fun of making paper dolls and playing on a rope swing and sewing with Grandmama and their Aunt Marie, but also visit a lunch counter and bus station torn by segregation. When she returns a year later, the separate bus station bathrooms have been eliminated and Grandmama's public face changed from a proud scowl to a warm smile. Bittersweet nostalgia and a gentle introduction to an important and painful piece of our national past. A lengthy author's note gives the story a helpful historical context. (Picture book. 7-10)</p>

Horn Book (Sat Apr 01 00:00:00 CST 2006)

African-American Sarah Marie loves going down South every year to visit Grandmama, but in 1956 she learns to read--and discovers the segregation her proud grandmother has always sheltered her from. The moving, thought-provoking text is illustrated with watercolor paintings that capture Grandmama's strength and determination. An appended author's note provides historical context.

ALA Booklist (Tue Nov 01 00:00:00 CST 2005)

Birtha contributes another picture-book remembrance of the days when African Americans were forced to sit at the back of the bus, this one distinguished by superb watercolor artwork that makes segregation personal. Every summer Mama, Sister, and Sarah Marie take the bus from their home in the North to the South to see Grandmama. This year, 1956, will be different; when Sarah Marie's aunt teaches her to read, the child discovers the consequences of the signs that say Whites only and Colored People, and learns the import of civil rights. The straightforward text and arresting watercolor illustrations (the evocative cover says it all, showing the determination on Grandmama's face) bring home the fierce pride, the dignity, and the emotional impact of the times: Grandmama's pride was too tall to fit in the back of the bus. Told in Sarah Marie's voice, this slice of dramatic history will touch both heart and mind. An author's note provides historical context.