I also loved fishing when I was a kid. I still love to fish today. The things I hear from kids make me feel really good about their clarity of vision. They make comments about the book that are more perceptive than adults, who tend to reject the racism. Adults say the book is an overstatement.
Kids say they see it every day.
They say what happened to Tunes was unfair but was realistic. We adults have a lot more baggage. Suzanne Fisher Staples worked for many years as a journalist in Asia, where she wrote her first book, Shabanu, winner of the 1989 Newbery Honor Award.