My Selma : true stories of a Southern childhood at the height of the civil rights movement

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Title:

My Selma : true stories of a Southern childhood at the height of the civil rights movement

Alternate title:

True stories of a Southern childhood at the height of the civil rights movement

Author:

Brown, Willie Mae, author.

Summary:

"As the civil rights movement and the fight for voter rights unfold in Selma, Alabama, many things happen inside and outside the Brown family's home that do not have anything to do with the landmark 1965 march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Yet the famous outrages which unfold on that span form an inescapable backdrop in this collection of stories. In one, Willie Mae takes it upon herself to offer summer babysitting services to a glamorous single white mother--a secret she keeps from her parents that unravels with shocking results. In another, Willie Mae reluctantly joins her mother at a church rally, and is forever changed after hearing Martin Luther King Jr. deliver a defiant speech in spite of a court injunction. Infused with the vernacular of her Southern upbringing, My Selma captures the voice and vision of a fascinating young person--perspicacious, impetuous, resourceful, and even mystical in her ways of seeing the world around her--who gifts us with a loving portrayal of her hometown while also delivering a no-holds-barred indictment of the time and place." -- Amazon.com.

Audience:

Ages 10-14 Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers.

Grades 7-9 Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers.

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

229 pages ; 22 cm

Genre:

Autobiographies.

Personal Subject:

Brown, Willie Mae-Childhood and youth-Juvenile literature.

Subject Term:

African American children -- Juvenile literature.

African Americans -- Biography -- Juvenile literature.

Civil rights movements -- Juvenile literature.

Geographic Term:

Selma (Ala.) -- Juvenile literature.

Publisher:

Farrar Straus Giroux,

Publication Date:

2023

ISBN:

9780374390235

Publication Information:

New York : Farrar Straus Giroux, 2023.

Call Number:

J 305.896 BROWN

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003601146	New Juvenile Nonfiction	305.896 BROWN	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

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Summary

Perfect for fans of Jacqueline Woodson's Brown Girl Dreaming , debut author Willie Mae Brown crafts an unforgettable memoir about growing up amidst the civil rights movement in a town at the crossroads of history.

As the civil rights movement and the fight for voter rights unfold in Selma, Alabama, many things happen inside and outside the Brown family's home that do not have anything to do with the landmark 1965 march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Yet the famous outrages which unfold on that span form an inescapable backdrop in this collection of stories about the everyday and the extraordinary. In one, twelve-year-old Willie Mae takes it upon herself to offer summer babysitting services to a glamorous single white mother--a secret she keeps from her parents that unravels with shocking results. In another, Willie Mae reluctantly joins her mother at a church rally, and is forever changed after hearing Martin Luther King Jr. deliver a defiant speech in spite of a court injunction.

Infused with the vernacular of her Southern upbringing, My Selma captures the voice and vision of a fascinating young person--perspicacious, impetuous, and resourceful in her ways of seeing the world around her--who gifts us with a loving portrayal of her hometown while also delivering a no-holds-barred indictment of the time and place.

Author Notes

Willie Mae Brown left Alabama at the age of seventeen in 1970 to start a new life in Brooklyn, New York, where she worked for the New York Telephone Company until 2003. A visual artist as well as an author, she began writing stories about her childhood in 2012 and reading them in public in 2015. Known for infusing her personal narratives with the vernacular of her Southern upbringing, Brown has read at numerous public events including Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebrations at Brooklyn Borough Hall, as well as at many special events across the city, in her home state, and beyond. My Selma is her first book.

Reviews (1)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Brown's debut is a poignant collection of short stories that chronicles her upbringing in Selma, Ala., during the apex of the 1960s civil rights movement. The opening selection, "My Selma," depicts Brown's hometown as a beautiful place to grow up, populated by preachers, teachers, doctors, and candy store owners who make her life feel rich. Even so, Brown doesn't shy away from painting a picture of a town where "white men and white women rode through Negro neighborhoods in posses," terrorizing residents. Alongside this menacing element, Brown centers familial and community anecdotes, such as her family's buying a home and navigating what their passive-aggressive white neighbor Mr. Randall calls a "changing" neighborhood. White Selma residents' resistance to progress, and the civil rights movement taking place around them, grounds this intimate story in real-life events. By balancing personal struggles with racism with everyday joys of community, family, and resilience, Brown authentically imbues this clear-eyed tale with salient detail and historical resonance. As outlined in an introductory preface, Brown acknowledges that "everyone has his or her memories of a place and time when and where they lived," and that this depiction of Selma is one that she "knew and loved." Ages 10--14. (Jan.)

Preface	ix
My Selma	3
A New Neighborhood	21
First Week of Summer	38
Growing Up in Selma	71
Dah Finds Out	119
Puppy	129
An Unfriendly Visitor	137
A Defiant King	153
A Baptism	173
One Christmas	177
Camden	192
Frankie	213
Afterword	230

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Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Reviews (1)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Table of Contents