Crossing Jordan ANNOTATION
Twelve-year-old Cass meets her new African-American neighbor, Jemmie, and despite their families' prejudices, they build a strong friendship around their mutual talent for running and a pact to read Jane Eyre.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Cass is dreading a long, lonely summer until Jemmie and her family move in next door. The two girls hit if off right away, but there's just one probem: their parents don't want them socializing with each other.
The two girls challenge each ther to a race, and soon they secretly become best friends. Cass quickly realizes that a summer with Jemmie will be anything but boring. But when echoes of the past and voices from the present threaten to separate them, Cass and Jemmie must prove how far they'll go to save their friendship.
Adrian Fogelin's unforgettable characters make us laugh, yet poignantly remind us of fences that too often continue to separate us from one another. --BOOK JACKET.
ADRIAN FOGELIN was moved to write this story of prejudice and friendship after an incident in her neighborhood. A librarian and a fiction reader for the International Quarterly, Adrian lives in Tallahassee, Florida, with her family. This is her first book for children.
SUZY SCHULTZ is an award-winning fine artist and illustrator. Her art is regularly exhibited, and her portraits are found in collections across the United States. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia.
--BOOK JACKET
SYNOPSIS
A moving, coming-of-age story of a young white girl who overcomes family prejudice and cultural differences when she befriends a black girl in a small working-class town.
FROM THE CRITICS
Children's Literature - Childrens Literature
This excellent middle-grade novel shows Cass Bodine spying on the new neighbors through a knothole. She hears the mother say, "I'm sorry. I can't love a bunch of crackers who put up a fence as soon as they hear a black family is moving in next door." But Cass and Jemmie soon meet. Even better, they discover they're the same age, twelve, and both are 'way better than average runners.' They keep reading Jane Eyre together and running track in the early mornings, meetings that must be kept secret, except from Nana Grace, Jemmie's grandmother. She tells them about the Civil Rights movement, lets them know "crossing Jordan" was code in slave times for reaching freedom. Adrian Fogelin's characters are spunky and competitive, and her portraits of the prejudiced families are drawn with a loving hand--they're good folks who accept equal rights in theory without knowing how to put them into practice. The incidents chosen to illustrate prejudice's myriad subtleties may evoke a jolt of recognition. Compliments to Fogelin for a smoothly written story that will keep kids good company as they struggle to excel as runners or make friends across racial lines. 2000, Peachtree Publishers, Ages 9 to 13, $14.95. Reviewer: Nancy Tilly
Alan Review
In her first novel for young readers, Fogelin writes a moving story of two adolescents females, Cassie, who is white, and Jemmie, who is African American. Through their common interest in running, and because they are neighbors (whose yard are separated by a fence through which they talk) the girls develop a friendship that even their parents' racist traditions and attitudes cannot prevent. Inspired by her actual experience in a mixed race neighborhood in Tallahassee, Florida, Fogelin gently shows the reader that negative attitudes can be absorbed by children and teenagers, and that sometimes, it is through the innocence of children that adults can learn about tolerance and appreciation for those who are racially or otherwise different. Fogelin does not paint either family as more at fault than the other; both Cassie's and Jemmie's families believ the girls should avoid contact with a person who has a different skin color. Cassie and Jemmie are talented runners who challenge each other on the track, but they are also thoughtful adolescents who support each other when their families try to keep fence between them. At no point in the book does Fogelin preach to her readers, yet her message about the negative potential for prejudices to be inherited, and the strength of teens to transcend long-established prejudices, is clear and inspiring. Genre: Overcoming racism/Young female athletes. 2000, Peachtree, Ages 9 to 12, $10.97. Reviewer: Sissi Carroll
School Library Journal
Gr 5-8-A contemporary story set in Tallahassee, FL, of interracial friendship despite parental opposition, with a clear purpose and predictable outcome. Twelve-year-old Cass befriends African-American Jemmie when her family moves into the house next door. The girls both love to run and become instant friends, racing each morning. They also read Jane Eyre together, analyzing and alternating chapters. Calling themselves "Chocolate Milk," the girls derive inspiration from Jemmie's wise, gospel-singing grandmother and set an example of understanding for both families. Cass, however, must keep their friendship a secret from her racist father until her baby sister's heatstroke compels Jemmie's indignant mother to volunteer her nursing skills. From then on, Cass's grateful parents are solicitous of their new neighbors and both families cheer the girls to a dramatic finish in a fund-raiser race. Jemmie is wisecracking and confident, challenging her responsible and reflective friend to be the first in her family to aspire to a college degree. Some of the parental reasons for racial mistrust are exposed, civil rights history is touched on, and an upbeat ending results. Although several clich d remarks and reactions seem contrived, Jemmie and Cass are likable, lively characters, and readers will enjoy the repartee between them.-Gerry Larson, Durham School of the Arts, NC Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|
Home
