Book Description
for Sugar Hill by Carole Boston Weatherford and R. Gregory Christie
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
“Sugar Hill, Sugar Hill where life is sweet and the 'A’ Train stops for the black elite. Where apartments are the height of style and watchful eyes train every child.” An homage to the Sugar Hill district of Harlem in the 1920s and 1930s references many of the artistic and cultural icons who lived and worked and played in the vibrant area. “Where Duke and Count plunk out new tunes and Zora spins stories by the moon ... Where Aaron Douglas births black art and a young Faith Ringgold gets her start ... Where DuBois outlines social tracts and Thurgood Marshall plots legal attacks.” An irresistible Who’s Who folded into a lively rhyming narrative that affirms African American cultural history and richness is set against dynamic illustrations full of color and energy and their own visual references, such as the allusion to Ringgold’s Tar Beach on the page mentioning her. A detailed author’s note provides more information about Sugar Hill and brief biographical statements about each individual referenced in the text. (Ages 7–11)
CCBC Choices 2015. © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2015. Used with permission.