Show Way

Show Way

Written by: Jacqueline Woodson
Illustrated by: Hudson Talbott
Genre: Multicultural 
Grades: 3-5
Awards: Newbery Medal

This story reflects the many generations that the author has written about her family. There's a girl named Soonie, whose  great-grandma was sold to a plantation at the age of 7. Soonie's great-grandma was able to learn how to sew colored thread into stars, moons, and roads that soon slave children will follow with a piece of quilt, leading them to freedom. She eventually got married and had a child, Mathis May, who is Soonie's grandma. Mathis May was 7 when she was sold away. Mathis May had a piece of her mother's blanket and held it close to her face whenever she wanted to feel back at home. She learned how to sew stars, moon, and roads that will show a way for slaves into freedom. Mathis May got married, but the husband soon died before he was able to meet his baby girl, Soonie. Soonie grew up picking cotton on a farm, but they stayed with other people that were no longer slaves. Soonie was 7 when she learned to sew stars, moons, roads, fields, trees, rivers on patches of quilts, that her mother sold in markets. Soonie eventually got married and had a baby called Georgiana. Georgiana became an avid reader and a teacher in a small school and had twin girls, named Caroline and Ann. When Caroline and Ann were 7, they experienced the separation between whites and blacks everywhere. Caroline and Ann grew up to writing poems and creating art. Ann ended up having the author of the book. The author describes that when she was 7, she didn't work in a field, walked in a Freedom line, but she read like Georgiana and wrote like Ann. Whenever the author did not feel like writing, she would sew just like all the women in her family history. The author grew to have a baby girl named, Toshi Georgiana. The author would hold her baby tight and tell a story of all those who came before her.

I really enjoyed reading this sweet book and would love to have this in my own classroom library. This book is good for third to fifth graders. A way to incorporate this book is reading it aloud to your class over a unit about Black History Month. Another activity is by having your students draw in a square their own family history and explain it to the class.