Tar Beach written and illustrated by Faith Ringgold. Crown Publishers, 1991. ISBN 0-517-58030-6
Summary: On hot summer evenings in Harlem, Cassie's family heads up - to the cooler air on the tar-papered roof to enjoy picnic style dinners with the neighbors. As Cassie and her brother lie on a mattress gazing at the stars, she floats up to fly above the George Washington Bridge and the construction projects her high-steel worker father has helped to build.
Cassie believes that her power of flight allows her to raise her family above the racial prejudice and financial struggles that they face at ground level. She will buy the bridge, the skyscrapers, and an ice cream factory and give them to her father. Her mother will be happy, and she will teach her little brother to fly too. There is just no stopping this brave heroine in her search for freedom and equality.
Critical Evaluation: Ringgold provides an approachable explanation, even for the very young, for the discrimination that many minority families experienced in our nation's history. By telling the narrative from the perspective of an eight-year-old girl, children can more easily grasp what life was like for a biracial child of this era.
Ringgold based the illustrations and text on a story quilt that she created in 1988, and portions of the quilt's fabric squares are shown within the colorful patchwork border on each page. The acrylic on canvas paintings are folk-like in style, and the colors Ringgold uses are vibrant and hopeful, just like Cassie's spirit.
The author has captured this family's summer evening experiences so clearly, you can almost hear the buzz of adult conversation in the background, and feel the warmth of the day's heat rising from the tar paper rooftop.
Age or Interest Level: Kindergarten to Grade 3
Lexile Level: 790L
Awards:A Caldecott Honor Book
Winner of the Coretta Scott King Award
A New York Times Best Illustrated Book
Winner of the Parents' Choice Gold Award
Why Included? The colors! The patchwork! Cassie's dream of freedom!