Show Way

I really liked this kid focused explanation of the experiences of enslaved peoples. ( )

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Soonie has just turned seven years old. She lives on land in South Carolina as a sharecropper. She sews pieces on a patchwork quilt called a Show Way. Like most quilt patterns, a Show Way tells a story — but beyond that, a Show Way can serve as a guidebook or map. Soonie, like her mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, makes these quilts, even though it is past reconstruction. They might not be needed as maps to escape to the North any longer, but Show Ways are still needed. This method of quilting unites 8 generations of Black women (which features the ancestry of the author), showing how the impacts of enslavement as well as the legacy of enormous courage, artistry, storytelling, and way-finding live on. I loved and was moved by this genius work of storytelling, both visual and written. ( )

SHOW WAY tells the generational story of a family from days of slavery to the days of civil rights. I really liked the personal touches it added and the true relationships that developed throughout. The characters mentioned in the stories were written so beautifully and honestly that they were real, as was there story. I realize that there story, though maybe not entirely their own, was true for many at the time. Woodson did not generalize the experience of many African Americans in her stories, she gave them a face and name to be remembered in her beautiful books so that history would not go on and "lose their name". ( )

I loved how some of the pages were painted as if they were quilts telling the story.
This story was very nicely told. The main characters family has been in slavery for years, and the way they coped was through sewing and family. They all worked hard and got through it together, and eventually even became a free family. They made extra money selling the quilts they hand made. At the end of the book, the whole family is highlighted by the amazing things they grew up to do. ( )