First published 2013
A simple rope is passed down through generations of an African American family, binding their history as they flee the Jim Crow South and find new lives in the industrialized North. As the Great Migration transforms their world, the family clings to this humble cord, using it to build a home, to play, to fray and unravel—and to finally transcend the painful past. Jacqueline Woodson's poetic prose weaves the family's intimate story into the larger tapestry of America's troubled history, revealing the resiliency of the human spirit.
Genres: family, american-fiction, 20th-century, american, african-american, 21st-century, family-drama, african-american-historical-fiction
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, lyrical
Tropes: found-family, intergenerational
Setting: Jim Crow South, Industrialized North
Period: 20th Century, 21st Century
32 pages · Hardcover · Nancy Paulsen Books