Loretta Little Looks Back
Three Voices Go Tell It
From a bestselling and award-winning husband and wife team comes an innovative, beautifully illustrated novel that delivers a front-row seat to the groundbreaking moments in history that led to African Americans earning the right to vote.
"Right here, I'm sharing the honest-to-goodness." — Loretta
"I'm gon' reach back, and tell how it all went. I'm gon' speak on it. My way." — Roly
"I got more nerve than a bad tooth. But there's nothing bad about being bold." — Aggie B.
Loretta, Roly, and Aggie B., members of the Little family, each present the vivid story of their young lives, spanning three generations. Their separate stories — beginning in a cotton field in 1927 and ending at the presidential election of 1968 — come together to create one unforgettable journey.
Through an evocative mix of fictional first-person narratives, spoken-word poems, folk myths, gospel rhythms and blues influences, Loretta Little Looks Back weaves an immersive tapestry that illuminates the dignity of sharecroppers in the rural South. Inspired by storytelling's oral tradition, stirring vignettes are presented in a series of theatrical monologues that paint a gripping, multidimensional portrait of America's struggle for civil rights as seen through the eyes of the children who lived it. The novel's unique format invites us to walk in their shoes. Each encounters an unexpected mystical gift, passed down from one family member to the next, that ignites their experience what it means to reach for freedom.
"Right here, I'm sharing the honest-to-goodness." — Loretta
"I'm gon' reach back, and tell how it all went. I'm gon' speak on it. My way." — Roly
"I got more nerve than a bad tooth. But there's nothing bad about being bold." — Aggie B.
Loretta, Roly, and Aggie B., members of the Little family, each present the vivid story of their young lives, spanning three generations. Their separate stories — beginning in a cotton field in 1927 and ending at the presidential election of 1968 — come together to create one unforgettable journey.
Through an evocative mix of fictional first-person narratives, spoken-word poems, folk myths, gospel rhythms and blues influences, Loretta Little Looks Back weaves an immersive tapestry that illuminates the dignity of sharecroppers in the rural South. Inspired by storytelling's oral tradition, stirring vignettes are presented in a series of theatrical monologues that paint a gripping, multidimensional portrait of America's struggle for civil rights as seen through the eyes of the children who lived it. The novel's unique format invites us to walk in their shoes. Each encounters an unexpected mystical gift, passed down from one family member to the next, that ignites their experience what it means to reach for freedom.
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Praise
Praise for Loretta Little Looks Back:
*"Art adds elegant portraits of land and family to these vivid tales..." —Publishers Weekly, starred review
*"Art adds elegant portraits of land and family to these vivid tales..." —Publishers Weekly, starred review
*"..timely and important read."
—Kirkus, starred review
*"...an unforgettable reading experience. Perfect for every library."
—School Library Journal, starred review
*"As always, Pinkney's writing sings, rich with metaphor, lyricism, and touches of magic realism..."
—Booklist
*"...a compelling testimony of resilience."
—The Horn Book, starred review
"...a gratifyingly unconventional format and a musical sequence of storytelling that may illuminate some stark moments of our country's history."
—BCCB
"Sparkling with Southern diction and rhythms, peppered with poems and songs, Pinkney's monologues invite readers' outloud participation."
—The New York Times