During my childhood (50s and early 60s) I lived close enough to the ocean to hear waves crashing in the quiet my house settled into at night. Needless to say, I spent a lot of summer time at the beach: swimming, floating on blow up rafts, shell hunting, sand castle building, tide pool exploring, and, of course, heeding the call of the ice cream man. I did not know then that in so much of the country this experience and others involving swimming were denied Black children. So when I got my hands on Karyn Parsons' Blue Beach before autumn arrived I was over the moon. It's got a truly engaging plot to hold the interest of the YA set and is seasonally spot on.
"It would be hours before they found her...She lay perfectly still on the shore of Blue Beach, her body moving only as the tide rushed up and nudged her gently before rushing away again. A sand crab traveled across her hand, then burrowed itself into the wet shoreline."
Just that morning Dottie had been one of the stars of her town's annual Poseidon's Trident parade--riding a float dressed as a mermaid, smiling, waving, and throwing candy to children. Her outfit was a just for her creation. Now less than a day later she's caught in seaweed.
Blue, Parsons' protagonist, and her best friend, Ben, discover Dottie's body. There's a shock that comes from seeing someone who had been fully robustly alive just hours ago lying inert and vacant eyed. And there's also fear of what could happen if Dottie's body is found specifically on Blue Beach. They return her to the ocean closer to Breakers Beach.
You see the year is 1929, only a decade after deadly racial conflict was triggered in Chicago when a Black teen strayed into the water of a white beach and was killed by a white man. Blue Beach is a a Black Beach bordered on two sides by white beaches. It's owned by Blue's family. Her mother runs a concessions stand, selling everything from sandwiches and sunscreen to bathing suits. Despite the segregation a lot of whites don't want to share the ocean with Blacks. They'd love to see Blue Beach shut down.
When Ben becomes a suspect he has to go into hiding to stay out of the grasp of people who would make themselves judge, jury, and executioner. Blue resolves to save his life by finding the real killer.
One terrifying night Blue wakes up to see robed and hooded Klansmen on horses rally on the beach and burn the concessions stand. The adults insist that they were trouble makers from elsewhere. But Blue knows better. "I knew that the people who'd trespassed onto our beach in the night to terrorize and threaten us were people we knew. They were people we passed in the streets regularly. People we possibly traded polite smiles with at the market on Sundays."
Parsons as a child and teen spent lots of summer vacations at a nearby beach. It wasn't until much later that she learned about segregated beaches and the fight for recreational inclusion.
"This book is for them--for the people who refused to be denied outdoor recreational spaces where their families and their communities could share joy and a sense of belonging. I thank them for helping to create a world where children don't have to wonder if the ocean is theirs, too."
On a purrrsonal note, yesterday was quite a day. I decided against my better judgment (being warned of extreme heat by the meteorologist the night before) to make a Goodwill/Hannaford run. I was able to make it there and back without collapsing. I did make some good finds at Goodwill and got a great deal on berries at Hannaford. At home I gave Tobago a Fancy Feast entree (tuna) to celebrate my $1,000 in sponsors. I went to the end of the readathon party in late afternoon. It was fun. Amber was there too and she won a really good prize. I was glad she was there. We found the grand total for the readathon. $1,300 which is pretty darn good. Today I am going to heed the extreme heat warning and stay home.
A great big shout out goes out to all who participated in the readathon by reading and sponsoring readers.
Jules Hathaway
Sent from my Galaxy
