New Shoes

New Shoes

Illustrator

Eric Velasquez

Publisher

Holiday House

Publication Year

2015

ISBN

9780823435739

Pages

32 pages

Genre

historical

Format

picture book

Item Type

Fiction

Annotation

Set in the South during the time of segregation, this lushly illustrated picture book brings the civil rights era to life for contemporary readers as two young girls find an inventive way to foil Jim Crow laws.When her brother's hand-me-down shoes don't fit, it is time for Ella Mae to get new ones. She is ecstatic, but when she and her mother arrive at Mr. Johnson's shoe store, her happiness quickly turns to dejection. Ella Mae is unable to try on the shoes because of her skin color. Determined to fight back, Ella Mae and her friend Charlotte work tirelessly to collect and restore old shoes, wiping, washing, and polishing them to perfection. The girls then have their very own shoe sale, giving the other African American members of their community a place to buy shoes where they can be treated fairly and "try on all the shoes they want."

Grade Level

K-3

Lexile Measure

490L

Diversity Topics

Racial Diversity; Family Relationships; Single parent; Race discrimination; single mother; segregation; racism; racial prejudice

Main Character

female child

Race/Ethnicities

Black (African American)

Family Formation

single mother

Awards

Best Children's Books of the Year, 2016
Best of the Best Books, 2015
Choices, 2016
Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People, 2016
Golden Sower Award, 2017-2018, Nominee
Monarch Award: Illinois' K-3 Children's Choice Award, 2017, Master List
Charlotte Huck Award for Outstanding Fiction for Children, 2016, Honor
Cybils Awards, 2015, Nominee, Fiction Picture Book
Massachusetts Book Award, 2016, Longlist, Picture Book /Early Reader
NAACP Image Award, 2016, Nominee, Outstanding Literary Work Children

Keywords

shoes; friendship; shoe store; bullying; cousin; money; store clerk; shopping

Diversity Impact

direct

New Shoes

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