White Socks Only

by Evelyn Coleman, Tyrone Geter (Illustrator)

Overview

1996 Notable Book for Children, Smithsonian Magazine
Pick of the Lists, American Bookseller

In the segregated south, a young girl thinks that she can drink from a fountain marked "Whites Only" because she is wearing her white socks.

When Grandma was a little girl in Mississippi, she sneaked into town one day. It was a hot day—the kind of hot where a firecracker might light up by itself. But when this little girl saw the "Whites Only" sign on the water fountain, she had no idea what she would spark when she took off her shoes and—wearing her clean white socks—stepped up to drink. Bravery, defiance, and a touch of magic win out over hatred in this acclaimed story by Elevelyn Coleman. Tyrone Geter's paintings richly evoke its heat, mood, and legendary spirit.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807593615
Publisher:	Whitman, Albert & Company
Publication date:	01/01/1996
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	17 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

Read an Excerpt

White Socks Only

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By Evelyn Coleman, Tyrone Geter

ALBERT WHITMAN & Company

Copyright © 1996 Evelyn Coleman
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-8075-8956-4

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CHAPTER 1

Grandma, can I walk into town by myself?" I asked, one hot summer's day. I knew what she was going to say. She was going to tell a story. Not just any story, but my favorite story.

I watched her turn toward her spit can. Ping! The snuff juice hit the bottom, sounding like a chime. She rocked one or two times, her eyes closed, and then she looked up at me.

"You know you ain't big enough to walk into no town alone, girl. I sho' don't know why you asking me that. You ain't big enough 'til you gon' do some good there."

I smiled and plopped down on the step. She was about to begin the story.

Grandma laughed.

YOU KNOW ... when I was a little girl, like your-self, I sneaked into town once. Yep, all by myself. Wasn't planning on doing no good. Had just been waiting for a scorching hot day. I had two eggs hid in my pockets. Not to eat, mind you. But to see if what folk said was true.

I slipped on my finest Sunday dress and my shiny black patent-leather shoes and my clean white socks. I pulled my plaits back with a bow. Why, I though I looked pretty grown-up. Lord, you should a'seen me strutting, the dust flying behind me! I had to hold my arms steady on account of them eggs, though. Now that I think about it, I must'a been a mighty funny sight.

I sneaked on up that road a'singing, "Jump back Sally, Sally, Sally. Walking up the alley, alley, alley" to nobody but myself. And child, was it hot! On that kind of day a firecracker might light up by itself.

I was feeling pretty fine until I spotted that old Chicken Man, sitting on his porch, with his mouth like a smile. I just looked down at the dirt.

My mama had told me how the Chicken Man still did things he knowed all the way from Africa. Stuff that his grandmother done taught him. Mama also had told me he could heal the sick by the laying on of his hands. And that one time he made a blind man see just by looking deep into his eyes. And folk said he turned people into chickens if he didn't feel what they were doing was right. That's why he was called the Chicken Man.

I was kinda scared he might think I wasn't doing right, so I started walking faster. I still held my arms out steady, though, so I wouldn't break the eggs.

Anyway, when I got to town, I didn't see many folk that I knew. I wandered around, with my mouth gaped open, looking at the white women in their fancy hats. That's when I saw Mama's friend Miss Nancy turning the corner. I was going to sho nuff be in trouble if she saw me. She told Mama everything. So I took off running toward the first big tree I saw and hid behind it.

I stayed there for a minute, panting, until I saw Miss Nancy walk out of sight. Then I tiptoed out. But in my rush I'd burst one of my eggs, and it was slinking down my dress and legs.

I figured I'd better do what I come to do and get back home. I was standing in front of this big old building where there was a statue of a soldier sitting up on a horse. I read what it said on the building: "Cole County Court-house, Mississippi."

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from White Socks Only by Evelyn Coleman, Tyrone Geter. Copyright © 1996 Evelyn Coleman. Excerpted by permission of ALBERT WHITMAN & Company.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Editorial Reviews

Subtle and stirring, this tale-within-a-tale begins with an affectionate exchange between an African American girl and her grandmother, then telescopes to encompass an electrifying moment fraught with personal and political significance. Grandma tells of sneaking off to town one sizzling summer day when she was a child, 'planning on doing no good.' Approaching a water fountain, the thirsty girl mistakes its 'Whites Only' sign to mean that she should take off her shoes so that only her white socks will touch the step stool. A 'big white man' grabs her and removes his belt to whip her-prompting African American bystanders to remove their shoes, too, and defiantly drink from the fountain. At home, the narrator's mother proclaims she can now go to town by herself, ' 'cause you're old enough to do some good'; in town, 'the 'Whites Only' sign was gone from that water fountain forever.' Though Coleman (The Footwarmer and the Black Crow) complicates the story with some unnecessary subplots, the impact is strong. Geter's (Dawn and the Round-to-it) full- and double-page paintings can be hazy, but they conduct the story's considerable emotional charge.

Publishers Weekly - Cahners\\Publishers_Weekly

Subtle and stirring, this tale-within-a-tale begins with an affectionate exchange between an African American girl and her grandmother, then telescopes to encompass an electrifying moment fraught with personal and political significance. Grandma tells of sneaking off to town one sizzling summer day when she was a child, "planning on doing no good." Approaching a water fountain, the thirsty girl mistakes its "Whites Only" sign to mean that she should take off her shoes so that only her white socks will touch the step stool. A "big white man" grabs her and removes his belt to whip her-prompting African American bystanders to remove their shoes, too, and defiantly drink from the fountain. At home, the narrator's mother proclaims she can now go to town by herself, " 'cause you're old enough to do some good"; in town, "the `Whites Only' sign was gone from that water fountain forever." Though Coleman (The Footwarmer and the Black Crow) complicates the story with some unnecessary subplots, the impact is strong. Geter's (Dawn and the Round-to-it) full- and double-page paintings can be hazy, but they conduct the story's considerable emotional charge. Ages 5-9. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Gr 2-4In this story, a grandmother relates an incident from her childhood to her granddaughter. On a scorching hot Mississippi day, a little girl walks into town by herself to learn whether it really is possible to fry an egg on the sidewalk. Mission accomplished, she is on her way home when she stops for a drink of water. Interpreting the "whites only" sign on the water fountain to refer to socks, the African American child takes off her patent-leather shoes and has just begun to drink when an angry white man grabs her and pushes her to the ground. He threatens to "whup" her, but the black townspeople come to the girl's aid by taking off their shoes and drinking from the same fountain. The angry bigot then receives punishment at the hands of a local conjure man. Atmospheric paintings, smudged and moody, will draw readers into this gripping tale. However, the story has some unsettling elements. The protagonist is old enough to go into town alone, yet she is oblivious to the meaning of the "whites only" sign. Her certainty that the sign refers to white socks is also curious; knowing that is what it means implies some prior knowledge, but she clearly does not have the facts straight.Anna DeWind, Milwaukee Public Library

School Library Journal

This begins with a grandmother telling a tale of her childhood in the segregated South: "You know, when I was a little girl, like yourself, I sneaked into town once. Yep, all by myself." All dressed up and hiding eggs in her pockets, the little girl walks down the road past the feared and revered Chicken Man, who supposedly has powers, including the ability to turn his enemies into chickens. In town, the girl breaks an egg on the sidewalk to see if it will really fry. Seeing a drinking fountain with a sign that says "Whites Only" and a step stool for children, she takes off her black shoes and steps up in her clean white socks. After a white man throws her to the ground, other black people step up to the fountain and drink. Then the Chicken Man joins them, he drinks from the fountain, points at the white man (a chicken later turns up at the fountain), and tells the child to go home. Impressionistic oil paintings sensitively illustrate the place, the time, the heat, and the child's emotions. Although the last part of the story is somewhat confusing, the book works as an effective portrayal of a child's innocence and her awakening to racism.

Carolyn Phelan

1996 Notable Book for Children, Smithsonian Magazine
Pick of the Lists, American Bookseller

"A quiet, stunning foray into segregated Mississippi: one hot afternoon, a little girl from the country, venturing for the first time alone into town, drinks from the 'Whites Only' fountain. Eventually, in places like this, courage would transcend hate; this extraordinary book helps us, and our children, to understand how that transformation came to be. The most outstanding title for 1996."—Smithsonian Magazine

"Subtle and stirring, this tale-within-a-tale begins with an affectionate exchange between an African American girl and her grandmother, then telescopes to encompass an electrifying moment fraught with personal and political significance."—Publishers Weekly

"The book works as an effective portrayal of a child's innocence and her awakening to racism."—Booklist

"It's an important [story] that will help young children start thinking and talking about race relations in this country both historically and in the present."—Children's Literature

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