Module 10: Historical Fiction

Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco

Summary: Pink is Pinkus Aylee and Say is Sheldon Russell Curtis; both are teenage boys fighting for the North in the Civil War.  Say gets injured and left for dead during a battle in the South.  He is found by Pinkus who takes him home to his mother and she helps to nurse him back to health.  When they go to try and find their units again, the boys are captured by a Southern officer and taken to Andersonville Prison Camp.  Pinkus is killed but Sheldon survives the war.

My Impressions: I really liked this story, and especially liked that it’s a true story (or at least claims to be a true story).  I think it’s a great story for teaching students about tolerance and also teaching about the Civil War.  Pinkus’ mother nurses Sheldon back to health, and I like that the mother calls Sheldon “her baby too” now.  This really helps kids to understand that caregivers feel strongly about the people they take care of, and it really is like having another child. 

Reviews: This book, the story of Polacco's great-great-grandfather, has been passed down from generation to generation in the author-artist's family. Fifteen-year-old soldier Sheldon Russell Curtis - Say to his family - has been left for dead on a Civil War battlefield somewhere in Georgia. A fellow Union soldier, Pinkus Aylee, who is African American - "I had never seen a man like him so close before. His skin was the color of polished mahogany" - discovers him and, with much effort, drags the feverish Say home, where his mother, a slave named Moe Moe Bay, nurses Say back to health. As the boys regain their strength, they become as close as real family and discuss things close to their hearts. Pink shares his special talent: Master Aylee, his owner, had taught him how to read. "'To be born a slave is a heap o' trouble, Say. But after Aylee taught me to read, even though he owned my person, I knew that nobody, ever, could really own me.'" Say receives special comfort from Moe Moe when he admits that he deserted his troop and is afraid to return to the war. On the morning the two boys plan to leave and search for their respective troops, marauding Confederate soldiers arrive and kill Moe Moe. Pink and Say are later captured and become prisoners of the Confederate Army, in Andersonville. Although Say lived to tell this story of friendship and brotherhood, Pink was hanged within hours of arriving at the dreaded prison. Told in Say's colorful, country-fresh voice, the text incorporates authentic-sounding dialect and expressions - such as darky - that would have been used at the time. Polacco's characteristic acrylic, ink, and pencil illustrations are suitably dramatic and focus on the intense physical and emotional joy and pain of the story's three main characters. The remarkable story, made even more extraordinary in its basis in actual events, raises questions about courage, war, family, and slavery. A not-to-be-missed tour de force. - Ellen Fader

Library Uses: This book would be good when classes are studying the Civil War.  Students could be asked to put themselves “into the shoes” of one of the characters and talk about what they think that would be like.  For younger children, a librarian could read the story and then have the class draw themselves on a paper doll.  The librarian could then chain the dolls together and have each class become a family.

References:

Fader, E. (1994). [Book Review of Pink and Say by P. Polacco] Horn Book Magazine, 70(6) Retrieved from http://archive.hbook.com/magazine/

Polacco, P. (1994). Pink and say. New York, NY: Philomel Books