Sweet Land of Liberty – Deborah Hopkinson, illustrated by Leonard Jenkins

        Sweet Land of Liberty – Deborah Hopkinson, illustrated by Leonard Jenkins, Peachtree Publishers, 9781682631249, 2019 (originally published in 2007)

Format: Paperback (there is a hardcover edition)

Rating: 1-5 (5 is an excellent or a Starred review) 5

 What did you like about the book? This is a wonderful book about having the courage and determination to change how people are treated in our world. This is a story of a little-known civil rights advocate named Oscar Chapman. Oscar was born in the late 1800s and lived a poor life in Omega, Virginia. One day, Oscar was given the task of purchasing a picture to hang on the wall of their bare schoolhouse. He went to a rummage shop and found a picture of a very distinguished man and thought it would be perfect for his schoolhouse. The next day, Oscar’s teacher visited him at home and told him the school board was planning to expel him because of his choice of artwork. Unbeknownst to Oscar, the picture was of Abraham Lincoln and many people in his community were very prejudiced and did not believe that African Americans should have equal rights so any picture of Abraham Lincoln was against their community. Eventually the school board decided to let Oscar return to school but the experience was something he would never forget. Flash forward about 35 years and Oscar is now working for the US government as Assistant Secretary of the Interior. A new set of events has developed that is showing the prejudices still remaining in the community. An Africian American singer named Marian Anderson was invited to sing in Washington DC. Despite her international success, venues were not allowing her to perform and this situation brought back all the memories of prejudices Oscar saw as a child. Oscar and his coworker made arrangements for Marian Anderson to sing at the Lincoln Memorial to a crowd of 75,000 people!

 Anything you did not like about the book. Nothing

To whom would you recommend this book? This is perfect for children ages six and older. This is a biography but reads like a story so if children like such books as The Story of Ruby Bridges, I Have A Dream, and Amazing Grace they would enjoy this book. Also, children that are interested in the history of America will see people that fought for civil rights, Marian Anderson, and Martin Luther King Jr. in the pages of this book.

Who should buy this book? Public and elementary school  libraries, social studies classrooms.

Where would you shelve it? Biography

 Should we (librarians) put this on the top of our “to read” piles? Yes

 Reviewer’s Name, Library (or school), City: Kristin Guay, former youth services librarian.

Date of review: November 20, 2019