A Memoir of 1963
Written by Sharon Robinson
This is a memoir of a singular year in the life of Sharon Robinson, daughter of baseball great Jackie Robinson. As a newly minted teenager in 1963, Sharon is witness to the civil unrest in the “Deep South” and feels guilty about her comfortable, if not separate, life in rural Connecticut. More than most teens who are trying to find their place in the world, Sharon is challenged by trying to find her place as a Black girl in a predominantly White community. Being able to participate in social activities for Black youth gives her a taste of what it would be like to truly fit in, but she is also learning that there is courage in standing out and that real change can be initiated by those who are strong enough to stand up and call for change. Sharon is delighted when the family joins the March on Washington and she gets to hear Martin Luther King’s now famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Her recounting of the Civil Rights movement of 1963 is honest and hopeful and gives the history of the time a human perspective fraught with the fears and sympathies of a thirteen-year-old-girl.
Reviewed by Marni Allred, Media Clerk, Robert Frost Elementary
Rating: ★★★★½ (4.5 stars)
Interest Level: Grades 4-8
Author Website: http://www.sharonrobinsonink.com/
Child of the Dream
Written by Sharon Robinson
Scholastic Press
227 pages
Release Date: September 3, 2019
ISBN: 9781338282801
A review copy was provided by the publisher.
