num_pages: 240
description: From highly acclaimed, award-winning author Patricia McKissack comes a powerful, poignant, and timely tale of segregation, family, and one surprising friendship.The year is 1954, the place is Missouri, and twelve-year-old Rosemary Patterson is about to make history. She is one of the first African American students to enter the white school in her town. Headstrong, smart Rosemary welcomes the challenge, but starting this new school gets more daunting when her best friend is hospitalized for polio. Suddenly, Rosemary must face all the stares and whispers alone. But when the girl who has shown her the most cruelty becomes an unlikely confidante, Rosemary learns important truths about the power of friendship to overcome prejudice.
language: English
title: A Friendship for Today
titlecomplete: A Friendship for Today
genres: Historical, Childrens, Juvenile, African American, Young Adult, Middle Grade, Divorce, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Realistic Fiction
ratings_count: 959
awards: awardedAt: 1262332800000
name: California Young Readers Medal
category: Intermediate, awardedAt: 1293868800000
name: Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award
publisher: Scholastic Press