Bessie Smith and the Night Riders
Grade 2-5–On a hot July day in 1927, the townsfolk of Concord, NC, gather to greet the most famous blues singer in all the South as she disembarks from her touring train. Emmarene Johnson, a youngster who longs to attend the evening's tent show by Bessie Smith and her Harlem Frolics, can't afford a ticket and must be content with peeking through the tent flaps for a look at her idol. From this vantage point, she notices Ku Klux Klan members removing the tent stakes and alerts the singer to the danger. She marches outside, draws herself up to her full six feet, sends the Night Riders packing, and then continues her performance. While Smith's hard-drinking and often-violent lifestyle are not mentioned here, Holyfield's brilliantly colored acrylic spreads aptly depict a larger-than-life individual. Clad in red with feather boa flying, she takes center stage whenever she appears. The horizontal shape of the book affords a wonderful view of Bessie's decorative red train; seen atop a hill, the train and the Blues Queen seem to dominate the town. Klan riders, torches blazing, extend across a subsequent spread. The book is based on a true event, dressed up a little for dramatic effect; Stauffacher replaces the musician who actually sounded the alarm with Emmarene and tells the story from her point of view. This tale of courage would make a fine addition to units on the Civil Rights movement.–Marianne Saccardi, Norwalk Community College, CTCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.