Busing Brewster – SAVE 60%!

One of the Ten Best Books of the Year, The New York Times

Brewster is excited about starting first grade . . . until Mama announces that he’ll be attending Central, a school in the white part of town. Mama says they have art and music and a library bursting with books, but Brewster isn’t so sure he’ll fit in.

Being black at a white school isn’t easy, and Brewster winds up spending his first day in detention at the library. But there he meets a very special person: Miss O’Grady. The librarian sees into Brewster’s heart and gives him not only the gift of books but also the ability to believe in himself. This story set in the desegregation era of the 1970s introduces readers to brave, young heroes who helped build a new world.

Critical Praise for Busing Brewster

“I loved its understated honesty, the way it introduces violence without melodrama, and avoids the easy ending. Busing is an opportunity. It is also a pain. No one is immediately converted away from racism and prejudice, but the book does not reject the possibility of redemption… Recent news accounts suggest that some parents have lost faith in the picture book…Busing Brewster could change their minds.”
—The New York Times

“Though broaching the idea of segregation with young children is a sensitive proposition, Busing Brewster helps put a human face on an important issue and shows what “forced busing” felt like to those on the inside.”
—San Francisco Book Review

“This memorable book looks at what it was like to be a part of the desegregation of schools in America. In addition, it shows readers how books can open up doors in the minds of children; books can help children to see that they do have the power to change their world if they want to.”
—Through the Looking Glass Review

“This powerful and tender story of desegregation busing in the 1970s introduces readers to the brave young heroes who helped to build a new world.”
—Powell’s Books

“Richard Michelson, has succeeded, again, in writing an engaging picture book about tough race relations with great sympathy and interest.”
—The Odyssey Bookshop

“While many teachers cover desegregation in their curriculum, they haven’t had as fine a resource as Busing Brewster. This is definitely a title to add to your classroom collection.”
—Picture Book Review

Godine, Publisher is distributed to the trade by Two Rivers Distribution, an Ingram brand. For more info, click here.

Richard Michelson’s many books for children, teens and adults have been listed among the “Ten Best Books of the Year” by The New York Times, Publishers Weekly, and The New Yorker; and among the “Best Dozen of the Decade” by Amazon.com. He is a three-time Massachusetts Book Award Finalist, a two-time Skipping Stones Multicultural Book Award Winner, and a National Parenting Publication Gold Medalist. Michelson has also received an International Reading Association Teacher’s Choice Award, two Sydney Taylor Gold Medals from the Association of Jewish Libraries, a Harlem Book Fest Phillis Wheatley Honor, and the 2017 National Jewish Book Award.

Michelson served two terms as Poet Laureate of Northampton, MA and hosts Northampton Poetry Radio. His work was chosen to represent the Commonwealth of Massachusetts at the 2018 Library of Congress National Book Festival. www.RichardMichelson.com