Book Review: Goin' Someplace Special

McKissack, Patricia C., Pinkney, Jerry. Goin’ Someplace Special. New York: Scholastic Inc., 2001.

The Monarch Award:Illinois' K-3 Children's Choice Award. 2007 Nominee

Goin’ Someplace Special is the story of Tricia Ann’s travels through a day in the life of a young colored girl during a segregation period. She is on her way to someplace special alone for the first time where she discovers the “White’s only” signs. She is confused and saddened but finally reaches her final destination of the public library where the sign reads “All are welcome”.

McKissack and Pinkney focus their readers on the segregations of the Jim Crow signs of the past. They allow one young girls journey to tell the story of which places are off limits to those of color. This book allows readers to get a glimpse of what life was like for a young, impressionable, African American girl. Multiple signs are pointed out throughout the book and all the while Mama Frances’ voice is in the background telling Tricia Ann she is someone special and she belongs to somebody. The text is written using old southern language when switching characters, and the kind characters are represented in a caring light. The illustrations aide readers in discovering the trials and hardships people of color had to deal with in the past. People of color are clearly defined as well as the areas within which they are expected to abide by. This is a great illustration of what can be learned from the past about segregation and how far we have come as a society since the past. Children can gain a cultural sense of what others before them had to go through to experience the freedom we now carry. This is a great portrayal of multicultural literature and should be considered a viable resource for personal and classroom libraries.