42. My Mother the Cheerleader by Robert Sharenow

My Mother the Cheerleader by Robert Sharenow
ISBN: 9780061148965
Harper Teen, New York, 2007
289 pages

Teaser: The book explores the early 1960’s segregation in schools and the students and their parents, or “cheerleaders” who expressed their views on the integration of blacks into public schools.

Summary: The book explores the struggles of the young black children and white parents who were forced to deal with the introduction of blacks into public white schools. The children were much more accepting of the black students, while the parents grouped and heckled the poor black students just trying to get an education and lay low in their surroundings. The book explores friendships; bias and acceptance that will make you want to cry. Looking back it was not too many years ago that such beliefs existed and the cruelty of the participants was very surreal.

Evaluation: I found the book fairly predictable if you know your New Orleans history and the segregation movement. It was touching in the portrayal of both students and parents during these challenging times. The book would pair well with teaching the Civil Rights movement in schools and also deals with group violence, alcoholism and abandonment of ideals and possessions. I thought the portrayal of the struggles was very nicely done, as well as probably very accurate and simply laid out for both sides of the segregation struggle to understand.

Challenges issues and age recommendation: The segregation struggle, violence and torment that the individuals dealt with during these times may be hard to read about for some younger readers. The shadows are still apparent today in not only racial issues, but poverty and inner struggles as well. It was an easy read, but again dealt with some offensive material and discussion of the materials would add greatly to the book, such as in a school educational setting. I would recommend this book for readers 12 and up.