Kizzy Ann Stamps
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4.4 • 35 Ratings
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
Taking things in stride is not easy for Kizzy Ann, but with her border collie, Shag, stalwart at her side, she sets out to live a life as sweet as syrup on cornbread. In 1963, as Kizzy Ann prepares for her first year at an integrated school, she worries about the color of her skin, the scar running from the corner of her right eye to the tip of her smile, and whether anyone at the white school will like her. She writes letters to her new teacher in a clear, insistent voice, stating her troubles and asking questions with startling honesty. The new teacher is supportive, but not everyone feels the same, so there is a lot to write about. Her brother, James, is having a far less positive school experience than she is, and the annoying white neighbor boy won’t leave her alone. But Shag, her border collie, is her refuge. Even so, opportunity clashes with obstacle. Kizzy Ann knows she and Shag could compete well in the dog trials, but will she be able to enter? From Jeri Watts comes an inspiring middle-grade novel about opening your mind to the troubles and scars we all must bear — and facing life with hope and trust.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Watts, author of the picture book Keepers, displays sure footing in this strong foray into middle-grade fiction, about a 12-year-old black girl from Virginia navigating significant life changes. Set over the course of a year starting in the summer of 1963, Watts's epistolary novel consists of candid letters Kizzy writes to Miss Anderson, her soon-to-be teacher at a newly integrated public school, and journal entries addressed to her teacher during the school year. Kizzy is apprehensive about sharing a classroom with white students: she wears the hand-me-down dresses of one white girl, and another classmate is responsible for the accident that left her with a prominent facial scar. Prevalent racism threatens Kizzy's aspirations, as well as those of her athletic older brother, but with help from within and without as well as the support of her beloved border collie, Shag Kizzy prevails, and does so triumphantly. Watts offers an evenhanded, insightful evocation of a turbulent time and of a girl's perseverance, with Kizzy's writing exposing both widespread prejudice and the determination and will that countered it. Ages 9 12.
Customer Reviews
Kizz Ann Stamps Review!
This book was very good if you want to learn about equal rights for any skin color. Also if you want to know how blacks were treated when the whites didn't care about equal rights and wanted everything to themselves. Like when Kizzy Ann got whipped. Jake Melendez
kizzy ann stamps
it was a very good book so if you want to now about the separation of whites and blaks at a diferint
MUST READ!!!
At my schools book fair I saw this book, Kizzy Ann Stamps. It looked like a cool book so I read the back. I got this book, Kizzy Ann stamps because I wanted to see how Kizzy Ann stamps felt about having to be the only African American at school. Funny because I got it in February.