Is a story about 7 year old Anna's experience having a new African American teacher, Sister Anne, at school. Through Anna's first experience with someone not the same race as her this book addresses the issue of race during the 1960s. In particular, there is one scene where a racial note is given to sister Anne and she uses that to educate the class about racism in the U.S. However, the story is told in first person from the little girl's perspective so words like racism, inequality, aren't used. Even when Sister Anne teaches them about racism in the U.S., the way she does so is through pictures and having them imagine what it feels like if they couldn't go to the bathroom because of a sign.
Something that struck me about the story was the end, where Anna talks about how after that school year she always liked to draw hands with all different colors. I think this is a realistic portrayal of a child's perspective. An adult answer would've been a statement about diversity yet Anna's focus on hands just shows how seemingly small experiences or details (like Anna's first encounter with Anne and noticing her hands) leave a big impression on them. A strong point of the book is the author's consistency in telling the story through a child's eyes. I wondered if maybe it is based on the author's personal experience from her childhood.
This book would be good for classroom discussion in several ways. It could be used as an introduction to or review of U.S. history in the 1960s and civil rights because of the brief references to events during that timeperiod. It could also be used to discuss how the teacher reacted to racism by choosing to educate instead of getting fighting back.
