Berries Goodman

I was amazed to find out that this book has virtually disappeared from the Chicago Library System---that really oughta be remedied! This book was a Newberry Award winner and as such, contains lessons that possess lasting value for readers. I read the book in the 7th grade and was looking for a copy for my daughter. I discovered that it has been allowed to lapse out of print! This is astonishng, since it is a priceless story about the entrenchment of bigotry in contemporary American life and how it is experienced through the eyes of a young boy. The vehicle of mom's entry into real estate provided a plausible and realistic framework for lessons about prejudice and inequality in American life, and how much farther we all have to go. This book should be required reading in today's elementary and middle schools.

I read this book when I was 10, and still remember the lessons learned from the story of Berries, his mother's jaunt into real estate, his family's response, Sidney's accident, etc. The civil rights movement was in its heyday when I read Berries for the first time. Berries brought the true lessons of the time home in a timeless manner. Berries still lives with me. Its lessons were timely then and it's timely now. I am now buying a copy for my youngest daughter, and I expect for it to become a life-classic for her as it remains for me.

Berries Goodman is a book that I read in my youth and continue to remember well into my adulthood. It is a story about courage and growing up as a minority in a world that is troubled by difference. It is a wonderful book for people of all ages and one that I will have in my library for my children. Don't miss this treasure. You will be happy that you have read it.