Author/Illustrator: Susan Lynn Meyer
Genre: Historical Fiction
Awards: N/A
Grade level:
Ella Mae's excitement about being able to choose brand new shoes is dampened when she realizes that she won't be able to try on those shoes in the store. Instead, her mother must trace around her foot so that the clerk can then find the right size shoes for her to wear. Since she has watched another girl, a white girl with blonde hair, try on shoes, she experiences for the first time how unfair and how unjustified prejudices are. Rather than wallow in misery over something that she is too young to change, she and her cousin Charlotte do chores to earn extra money or used shoes, and then open their own used shoe store where other African Americans can actually try on shoes before buying them.
The Illustrations are detailed and serve to make the reader experience how Ella Mae feels. They reach the reader on an emotional level.
Students can learn about the progress we have made in racial prejudice as well as the history of segregation and what we can do to diminish it. Students can discuss any personal experiences they have had with racism and how to overcome it.
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