Monday, June 28, 2010

Pink and Say

Author/Illustrator: Patricia Polacco

Publisher: Philomel Books, New York

ISBN: 0-399-2261-0


My interest in this book was sparked during my first Reading course at the College of Staten Island's Childhood Education Master's program. My professor introduced it during our first class and described it as one of his favorite books. He explained he would not have enough time to read it aloud and instead used it to model a book talk. After hearing that it was a true story, passed down through Patricia Polacco's family, of two young Union soldiers, one African-American and the other Caucasian, who befriended each other during the Civil War, I knew it would be something that I had to read.


When considering books to choose for this week's multicultural topic this book immediately came to mind. Recently, a friend of mine lost her young son in the war in Afghanistan, and Pink and Say seemed to make a perfect connection. The book is dedicated to Pinkus Aylee, one of the main characters in the story. The book begins with a brief introduction explaining the background and how the other character, Sheldon Russell Curtis (Say), told the story to his daughter who promised to keep it alive.


Sheldon, a young Caucasian soldier from Ohio, was severely injured with a bullet wound in the leg in a Civil War battle and was lying in a pasture, unable to move, and slowly losing consciousness for two days. Pinkus, a young African American soldier came across Sheldon after being separated from his company. Although he also was injured, and he knew saving Sheldon would be a great risk, he knew he could not just leave him to die. Pink carried Say all the way to his home so that his mother could nurse him back to good health. Pink and his family were slaves whose masters had left after the war began. Say soon recovered with the help of Pink's mother Moe Moe Bay. The boys shared stories of their lives before the war and soon grew very close. They knew they were bringing great danger to Moe Moe Bay by staying there so against Say's and Moe Moe Bay's wishes, they were going to set out to find their companies once again. Before they were able to leave marauders arrived. Moe Moe Bay hid the boys in the root cellar where they would be safe, but the marauders killed her before they left. After burying Moe Moe Bay, the boys knew they had to go find their companies. While walking to find the Union troops, they were captured by the Confederate Army and sent to a camp. Once there the boys were separated. Say was released months later and Pink was killed immediately after arrival. Since Pink had no family to mourn him, Say vowed to pass the story on for generations so that the world would be aware of the young soldier who saved his life.

This story is extremely touching. It does a great job of introducing the reader to what lives were like during the Civil War. Patricia Polacco's choice of writing the first and last page of the story as a narration provides a sense of authenticity. While both boys were fighting for the Union, Pink was the first African American that Say had ever seen up close. The relationship that was built by the characters is something unheard of at the time. At one point in the book, they consider themselves family, which is something that is hard to imagine considering Pink's family was held as slaves by a white family.

While Patricia Polacco did an incredible job writing the story, I thought the illustrations were absolutely astounding. The mood of the story was set by the illustrations that allowed the reader to see and feel the emotions of the characters. It is very rare that I come across books with illustrations that are able to tell the story, such as this one. Just by looking at the drawings, I felt as though I was actually there watching all of this unfold before my eyes.

While I feel this story somewhat difficult for younger readers to truly understand, I would reccommend it's use for upper elementary students. It provides a wonderful opportunity for students to delve into the Civil War era and see the importance of seeing beyond differences and accepting people for who they are.