Module 5: Goin' Someplace Special

Book Summary:  Set in the segregated 1950s in Nashville, Tricia Ann, a very brave African American girl goes through a lot to get to the integrated public library.  The statement, “You are somebody, a human being – no better, no worse than anybody else in this world” went through her head throughout the story.

My Impressions: Goin' Someplace Special, with its vivid illustrations and vocabulary, made me feel as if I were in the 1950's in the midst of the segregation issues. I believe that the author's use of language as well as the watercolor illustrations taking us back in time helped it stand above the rest for the Coretta Scott King award.

Professional Review:  Young `Tricia Ann is off to Someplace Special--and about to "burst with excitement" because her grandmother is letting her go there alone for the very first time. The journey is not an easy one: she must face the indignities of life in the Jim Crow South. She has to sit behind the sign on the bus that says "COLORED SECTION." She is not allowed to sit in the park by the Peace Fountain her stonemason grandfather helped build. She visits her friend the doorman at the elegant Southland Hotel and is asked to leave. "What makes you think you can come inside? No colored people are allowed!" the manager says. Despite these humiliations, `Tricia Ann is strengthened at every turn by people who care about her and who bolster her with reminders to "Carry yo'self proud" and "Don't let those signs steal yo' happiness." Soon she reaches her beloved Someplace Special--the public library. The words carved in stone proclaim: "Public Library: All Are Welcome." Jerry Pinkney's illustrations place `Tricia Ann at the center of each page, willing to face the challenges the outside world throws at her. Whether `Tricia Ann is in her grandmother's kitchen (surrounded by bountiful fresh fruits and vegetables and the love they symbolize) or fearfully looking over her shoulder on the bus, Pinkney makes it clear that she will triumph. Though this story takes place in an unnamed Southern city, the helpful author's note states that McKissack was raised in Nashville, where, unlike many other Southern cities of the 1950s, the public libraries welcomed African Americans. The library pictured on the final pages, bathed in hopeful lemon sunshine, is the downtown library of 1950s Nashville. There are many books about a child's first trip alone, and many books about racism and the struggle for civil rights, but this book is about more than either: it is the story of a child facing a difficult time sustained by the support of the adults in her life. McKissack and Pinkney strike just the right balance in a picture book for young readers and listeners: informative without being preachy; hopeful without being sentimental.

Library Uses:  Goin’ Someplace Special can be used in a variety ways to support history curriculum through the library:

·       Black History Month

·       Civil Rights

·       Segregation History

·       Human Rights

All of those topics can be discussed and reinforced, but can be taken to a deeper level by asking the listeners to put themselves in the place of the main character in reference to the above topics.

McKissack, P. (2001). Goin’ someplace special. New York: Athenuem Books for Young Readers.

Smith, R. (2012, February 19).  Book Review. [Review of the Book Goin’ Someplace Special, by P. McKissack].  The Horn Book Magazine 77 (6), p736.