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The other side
Woodson, Jacqueline.
| Publisher: |
Putnam's, |
| Pub date: |
2001. |
| Pages: |
1 v. (unpaged) : |
| ISBN: |
0399231161 |
| Copy info: |
16 copies available at Aspen Hill Library, Bethesda Library, Chevy Chase Library, Damascus Library, Davis Library, Marilyn J. Praisner Library, Germantown Library, Potomac Library, Quince Orchard Library, Twinbrook Library, Wheaton Library, White Oak Library, and Longbranch Library.
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Clover wonders why a fence separates the black side of town from the white side. When Annie, a white girl from the other side, begins to sit on the fence, Clover grows more curious as to why the fence is there. Illustrations.
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Woodson (If You Come Softly; I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This) lays out her resonant story like a poem, its central metaphor a fence that divides blacks from whites. Lewis's (My Rows and Piles of Coins) evocative watercolors lay bare the personalities and emotions of her two young heroines, one African-American and one white. As the girls, both instructed by their mothers not to climb over the fence, watch each other from a distance, their body language and facial expressions provide clues to their ambivalence about their mothers' directives. Intrigued by her free-spirited white neighbor, narrator Clover watches enviously from her window as "that girl" plays outdoors in the rain. And after footloose Annie introduces herself, she points out to Clover that "a fence like this was made for sitting on"; what was a barrier between the new friends' worlds becomes a peaceful perch where the two spend time together throughout the summer. By season's end, they join Clover's other pals jumping rope and, when they stop to rest, "We sat up on the fence, all of us in a long line." Lewis depicts bygone days with the girls in dresses and white sneakers and socks, and Woodson hints at a bright future with her closing lines: "Someday somebody's going to come along and knock this old fence down," says Annie, and Clover agrees. Pictures and words make strong partners here, convincingly communicating a timeless lesson. Ages 5-up. (Jan.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.
From: Reed Elsevier Inc.
Copyright Reed Business Information
Born on February 12th in Columbus, Ohio, Jacqueline Woodson grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, and Brooklyn, New York. She graduated from college with a B.A. in English. She now writes full-time and has recently received the Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults. Her other awards include two Newberry Honors, a Coretta Scott King award, two National Book Award finalists, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Jacqueline Woodson currently resides in Brooklyn. (Bowker Author Biography)
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