Sharon Dennis Wyeth

Corey Birdsong is a lively young boy in search of freedom in the same country that made an economy of slavery. He and his family are owned by the Hart family of Kentucky. But, when Corey's father flees to the North, Corey and his mother follow.

Corey records his daily life on the Hart farm with insight and honesty, and later he describes the difficult journey along the Underground Railroad to the North to be reunited with his father. With the help of many kind strangers, Corey, his parents, show more and his new baby sister arrive safely in Canada. show less

Everything that Chris Soentpiet illustrates is very beautiful. His illustrations accompany stores of joy in the midst of poverty, hope in the midst of sadness, beauty in the simple celebration of visiting a grandmother every Saturday, and he also incorporates history in some of his books. The tale of the Chinese immigrants, treated terrible, they were poor and longing for work and thus performed back-braking labor to build the trans continental railroad. He illustrates faces of America, and show more every book he illustrates is better for having him be the artist.

In Something Beautiful lovingly written by the author, Soentpiet shows sadness, hope and beauty in the facial expression of the main character, a little girl living in an impoverished area of town, where the alleys are dark, the buildings are scribbled with messages of hate, and there seems to be anger hanging in the air everywhere.
On her way to school, she sees a homeless woman, sleeping on the sidewalk, covered by a sheet of plastic.

When a little girls sees the word DIE written on the front door of her building, she immediately is scared, and sad. At school that day, her teacher her teacher taught the word Beautiful as something that is in your heart and makes you feel happy.

She then begins to ask those around her if they have something beautiful. The responses are positive from a boy who has new shoes, a girl who owns a jumping rope, another who has pretty beads. The man who owns a fruit stand is happy because his store contains lots of shining, beautiful fruits.

An elderly man is happy for the shiny stone he has carried for many years. Her Aunt Carolyn is happy for a beautiful baby boy who giggles.

When the girl returns home, she cleans the word die from the door. She picks up the broken glass from a bottle, and she is happy because others have told her what they define as beautiful.

Life is open to all who see beauty and who can look past the darkness.

I'll be sure to look for more books by this author. show less

I love this book from the bottom of my heart. The word choice, sentence structure, and pattern all build the character of the unnamed main character who seems to live in an impoverished American neighborhood filled with garbage and sinister graffiti. I appreciated how the author plunged the reader into the setting and mindset of the main character by having the character think “When I look through the window, I see a brick wall. There is trash in the courtyard and a broken bottle that show more looks like fallen stars.” Through this introduction, I also noticed how the author showed the innocence of a little girl and saved the reader from falling into a state of hopelessness by having her think of something positive out of her seemingly negative situation. Despite all the side effects poverty has casted onto her neighborhood, the little girl searches for something beautiful by visiting her friends and family and asking them what they think is beautiful. This story encourages me to never give up and to actively find what I think is beautiful in life and to accept the different perspectives other people have of life.
I appreciate how Sharon Wyeth, the author, depicted a warm community regardless of the struggles the members of that society probably face everyday. Overall, this story appropriately captures the quest to find what is beautiful in and about life by having the reader venture through a seemingly culturally appropriate journey. show less

I read this book for my "YA of the 80's & 90's" challenge. I vividly remember reading this series in school, and not only do I remember reading the series, but I found a few penpals through the books as well. It's hysterical to read the book now as an adult, and there definitely some things I wanted to nickpick about the book (for example, all of the friends were so supportive & understanding off one of the girls when she decided to lie. 13 year old girls are not known to be understanding of show more anyone!) But the charm of the book just shines through, and I admit to laughing out loud, literally, on more than one occasion & sharing bits of the book with my coworkers (of my age group) who I knew would enjoy the flashbacks (for example, one of the characters dresses up as She-Ra for a costume party). This is a must read! show less