Pink and Say

Polacco, P. (1994). Pink and Say. New York: Scholastic.

Summary

Sheldon Russell Curtis, known as Say, was only fifteen when he joined the Union Army as a flag bearer during the Civil War. Lying wounded and dying in a field in Georgia, he was found by Pinkus Aylee, a former slave who had joined the Union Forty-eighth Colored division, and no older than Say. Pink carried Say home to him mother who nursed both boys back to health with good food, clean clothes, and lots of love. Say, who once shook President Abraham Lincoln's hand, unexpectedly finds friendship and safety in the arms of Pink and his mother. The author tells this true story passed down through her family about her great-great-grandfather, Say, learning firsthand the difficult truths of the Civil War and the suffering of those who knew that "when you owned, you ain't got no name of your own".

Worth a bookmark?

Patricia Polacco has long been one of my favorite authors, but this book was new to me. Her style of writing is so appealing because she tells her stories from the heart, using authentic dialogue and dialects, and creates vivid illustrations that add so much emotion to the story. Her stories are always enthralling because of the truth that rings through them, truth coming from stories of her own life. This book was particularly gripping because it tells the story of how Polacco's great-great-grandfather was saved as a young boy serving in the Civil War. It is amazing to think of events, both large and small, that completely alter the course of a person's life. Without Pinkus Aylee, without this story, there would be no Patricia Polacco.

In my library…

A picture book written for older readers, Pink and Say would be an excellent addition to any study of the Civil War because it skips the dates and battles to focus on the people who lived, fought, suffered, and died during that time. As Pink tries to make Say understand why he must go back to the war instead of staying with his mother, readers come to understand the heart of the reason America warred in the first place.

Reviews

The heart-wrenching true story of Civil War valor in which a 15-year old Yankee soldier, Say, alone and bleeding, is dragged to safety by a fellow Union soldier from the Forty-eighth colored regiment. They are ultimately captured and separated, and Say survived to pass the story down through the author's family.

"Unglamorized details of the conventions and atrocities of the Civil War target readers well beyond customary picture book age." — Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books.