My Mother the Cheerleader
4/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
Share this "harrowing and painfully honest historical novel"* at home or in the classroom. Through this "extraordinary" debut effort from the Sydney Taylor Award winner Robert Sharenow, readers will explore how "ingrained prejudices—whether acted upon or not—help destroy lives and shatter a community."**
In 1960 New Orleans, thirteen-year-old Louise is pulled out of class by her mother to protest court-ordered integration of her school. Louise’s mother is one of the jeering “Cheerleaders.” Each morning the Cheerleaders gather at the school to harass the school's first black student, six-year-old Ruby Bridges, as she enters the building.
After a mysterious man from New York named Morgan arrives in town and takes up residence in the family's crumbling boarding house, Louise's acceptance of "the way things are" begins to crumble.
Through conversations with Morgan and firsthand observations, Louise begins to wonder about the morality of the Cheerleaders’ activities—and everything Louise thinks she knows about her mother, her world, and herself will change.
In a starred review, Booklist commented: "Readers will be held fast by the history told from the inside as adult Louise remembers the vicious role of ordinary people."
*School Library Journal (starred review) ; **Chicago Tribune
Robert Sharenow
Robert Sharenow is an award-winning writer and television producer. He is the author of the middle-grade novel The Girl in the Torch, as well as the teen novels My Mother the Cheerleader and The Berlin Boxing Club. Since its publication in 2012, The Berlin Boxing Club has been named a Sydney Taylor Book Award winner and an Amelia Walden Award finalist, and has received multiple received multiple starred reviews, as well as a spot on ALA’s Best Books for Young Adults list. The novel has been published in several countries and languages and is perennially taught in high school curriculums in the United States and around the world. Sharenow lives in New York with his wife and two daughters.
Related to My Mother the Cheerleader
Related ebooks
The Mighty Franks: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fascinator Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSummary of Dawn Turner Trice's Three Girls from Bronzeville Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsQuest for Eternal Sunshine: A Holocaust Survivor’s Journey from Darkness to Light Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChasing North Star: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Girl Before: A Novel by JP Delaney | Conversation Starters Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGravity Hill Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsField Notes on Letting Go: A Memoir of Truth-Seeking, Healing, and Personal Freedom Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBad Habits: A Novel of Suspense Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Armadillos Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Lavender Girl Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Kindness Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5This Is How You Say Goodbye: A Daughter's Memoir Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Log-Cabin Lady — An Anonymous Autobiography Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSummer People: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Our Little Racket: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Cross Body Lead Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dear Inmate: Paddy Series Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Girl Who Shot JFK: A Cold War Spy Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsElephant in the Sky: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Geographies of the Heart Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFriends and Other Liars: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAway to Stay Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAn Unfinished Season: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhatever Happened To Sofie Le Saux?: The Lenny Moon Series, #3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Trouble with the Truth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Transformation of Things: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I’ll Raise You Ten Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Curious Kidnapping of Nora W Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHomegoing Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
YA Historical For You
Chain of Thorns Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Blue Castle Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Witch of Blackbird Pond: A Newbery Award Winner Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5East of Eden Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Librarian of Auschwitz Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Out of Darkness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Chain of Iron Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Chain of Gold Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Slave Dancer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Foul Lady Fortune Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Great Gatsby Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRomanov Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Dweller on Two Planets Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSo Many Beginnings: A Little Women Remix Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Whipping Boy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Have Lived a Thousand Years: Growing Up in the Holocaust Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dread Nation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Queen's Resistance Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Game On!: Video Game History from Pong and Pac-Man to Mario, Minecraft, and More Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Endurance Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRomeo and Juliet Complete Text with Extras Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Cure for Dreaming Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Surviving the Angel of Death: The True Story of a Mengele Twin in Auschwitz Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Steve Jobs: The Man Who Thought Different: A Biography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Enola Holmes and the Black Barouche Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Story of Mankind (Illustrated Edition): History of the Human Civilization Retold for Children Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5We Are Not Yet Equal: Understanding Our Racial Divide Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for My Mother the Cheerleader
74 ratings6 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wonderful book! It's the kind of young adult fiction that makes me wonder, "Would kids like this?" because it's so good that as an adult I couldn't put it down.
Can't wait to hear more from Robert Sharenow. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5History looks different when it is seen through the eyes of a child! Very thought-provoking book...it would be great to read in a history class when talking about Ruby Bridges & desegregation
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sharenow takes the reader into the world of white supremacists like the Cheerleaders, the women who jeered at six-year-old Ruby Bridges as she walked into her elementary school in New Orleans's Ninth Ward in 1960. Louise is thirteen, and her mother Pauline has pulled her out of school to protest desegregation. Pauline spends her mornings screaming with the Cheerleaders and her afternoons drinking herself into oblivion while Louise runs her boarding house, Rooms on Desire.When Morgan Miller, a Jewish editor from New York, briefly stays at the boarding house, both Louise and her mother are fascinated. Morgan has come south to renew his broken relationship with his family, but quickly becomes involved in a conflict with members of the Klan. By eavesdropping on her mother's conversations with Morgan, Louise finds out things about herself and her mother she had never known. Pauline is both more broken and more loving than Louise had ever realized. What comes as a result of the book's tragic ending shows how courage and strength are imperfect yet present, even within the most racist of characters.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Louise's mother is one of the group of people that arrive each morning to taunt a little black girl, Ruby Briudges, as she enters the school building. Forced integration was not popular in this community and it resulted in viciousness and cruelty.This story takes place in the 1960's and tells of public school integration from the viewpoint of the white people living in the community.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Interesting view of life in the 60s in the South. It's always so chilling to watch horrific events through a child's eyes.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A terrific read for teens and adults. This story deals with integration and the effect of it on one 13 year old teen. Her mother was one of the ladies that was dubbed a "cheerleader" or one of the many adults that taunted and disgraced Ruby Bridges upon her entry into an all white school.