Busing Brewster

Busing Brewster
by Richard Michelson, illustrated by R.G. Roth. 2010. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. (9780375933349)

Media: ink, watercolor and collage

Author Website: http://richardmichelson.com/

Illustrator Website: none

Awards and Honors: New York Times: 10 Best Illustrated Books of 2010,
New York Times: 8 Notable Children’s Books of 2010, National Council for the Social Studies and Children's Book Council Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People 2011

Annotation: In 1971, Brewster becomes one of the first African American children to integrate the fictional Central School after the Supreme Court implements forced 'busing'.


Personal Reaction:
     In 1971, the United States Supreme Court implemented forced busing in an attempt to integrate public schools. Some black children were bused to white schools outside their neighborhoods and were met with racial hostility from the families of the new schools they were attending. This is the fictional story of Brewster, a young boy who becomes one of the first students to integrate Central School. Richard Michelson presents a short, simple story on a large topic as told through the eyes of a very young child just entering first grade. Because Brewster is too young to understand the implications of much of what is happening around him, it's a gentle introduction to a complex issue. In this regard Busing Brewster is much like Benno and the Night of Broken Glass, which introduces a troubling period of history by telling the story of Kristallnacht through the eyes of a neighborhood cat in Berlin. R.G. Roth's child-like illustrations, rendered in watercolor and collage, are even reminiscent of Josée Bisaillon's non-threatening illustrations from Benno and the Night of Broken Glass. Though Michelson does touch on the violence and ignorance Brewster experiences (a rock is thrown through the bus window by protesting parents and a student makes a racist comment to Brewster at school), it's kept at a gentle level to make the story accessible by younger kids. The ignorance is also tempered by an encouraging librarian, Miss O'Grady who reads to Brewster and encourages his dream of one day becoming president

Curriculum Connection: Elementary social studies, Civil Rights