Amazing Grace & Boundless Grace
Title: Amazing Grace
Author: Mary Hoffman
Illustrator: Caroline Binch
Picture Book
Grace loves stories. She loves all kinds of stories from historical stories to fantasy to movies to traditional stories. Most of all Grace loves to act out these stories. One day in school, Grace’s teacher announces that their class is going to present the play Peter Pan. Grace wants to be Peter Pan even though her classmates tell her she can’t because she is a girl and because she is African American. Then Nana takes her to the ballet, “Romeo and Juliet.” Rosalie Wilkens, an African American women, is playing Juliet. Now Grace is sure that she can be anything even if she is an African American girl!
Title: Boundless Grace
Author: Mary Hoffman
Illustrator: Caroline Binch
Picture Book
In the sequel to Amazing Grace, Grace goes to visit her father. Her mother and father split up and her father returned to Africa. In Africa, he has a new family. Grace thinks he has forgotten her and her mother. Then her father mails her tickets. Grace and her Nana fly to Africa to be with her father and his new family. In Africa, she learns that her father still loves her and families can still be loving even when they are not picture perfect. Honestly, these books really good and showcase a part of American culture that is not often thought of in our conservative circles. That said, these books aren’t quite appropriate for a conservative school library. However, I would allow my kids to get them at a public library and have a discussion about different cultures.
