Book 32: The Legend of Buddy Bush, by Sheila P. Moses

This book is so terrific that it makes me remember why I took that Literature for Pre-Adolescents course in college in the first place. Kids' literature is abundant with wonderfully-written stuff, and this book received a nomination for the National Book Award as well as being an honor book for the 2005 Coretta Scott King Award. The story is elegant in its simplicity as it tells of a transitional time when racial relations were strained, though African-Americans were beginning to stand strong for themselves. The story is told from the point of view of Pattie Mae, a 12-year-old who has big dreams of moving to Harlem along with her sister and brother some day. She lives in a former slave house with her mother, and down the road from her kindly grandparents, who proudly own their own home and have the strength to challenge long-standing notions about acceptable treatment from whites. Buddy Bush is her uncle, a young man who her grandparents had adopted into their own family as a youngster. He has returned to their North Carolina home after living in Harlem himself, and works in a local sawmill. Things are turned topsy-turvy when a white woman (wrongly) accuses him of attempted sexual assault. Moses based many of the characters in the book on real historical figures and family members, which lends a true air of authenticity to the events. I'd recommend it as excellent reading for any youngster.