Easter Parade - Softcover

The year is 1943 and two cousins--Leanna in Chicago, and Elizabeth in Washington, D.C.--are getting ready for the Easter parade. This will be Leanna's first Easter parade ever, and even though she doesn't quite know what to expect, she can barely contain her excitement. For Elizabeth and her father, however, getting ready for the parade is just another reminder of how much they miss Elizabeth's father who's fighting in the war . From Publishers Weekly In this holiday story set in 1943, Leanna, an African American girl in Chicago, and her older cousin Elizabeth in Washington, D.C., look forward to their respective Easter celebrations. The joys of black patent-leather shoes and hats with ribbons?de rigeur for the promenade to church?are mingled with the more serious concerns of tight finances and Elizabeth's father, who is off fighting in the Second World War. Greenfield's careful, emotionally astute writing convincingly portrays the girls' viewpoints and takes an original approach to the arrival of a long-awaited letter from the front: Elizabeth "sits across the room from her mother, facing away from her. She wants to be alone and try to hear her father's voice." Gilchrist, who previously collaborated with Greenfield on For the Love of the Game, contributes realistic, smudgy sepia drawings in the oval format of old photographs. The last one uses a burst of color to convey the excitement of the parade for little Leanna. This petite, Easter-egg-bright book would add a sweet-spirited and affecting touch to a holiday basket. All ages. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.