Eleanora E. Tate

A Blessing in Disguise
Isn't Zambia something in A Blessing in Disguise? She's one of those little hardheaded wannabe fly girls who deep down inside wants to do the right thing. Some say she has a smart mouth, but Zambia believes she has to say what she feels. Sometimes her dark side gets the best of her.
Zambia lives with her "dull" Uncle Lamar and Aunt Limo in itsy bitsy do-nothing Deacons Neck, SC, but she'd rather live with her father Snake. "Snake" however, is too busy selling drugs and running his criminal operations. When he opens a nightclub on her street in Deacons Neck, she figures now's her chance to get to know him and be with him -- and maybe go a little wild like his customers do.
She has to learn the hard way that you can't always get what you want, unless you want to pay the price.
Theme: You can love your parents, but you don't have to love the wrong things that they do, or do them, either.
A Blessing in Disguise is on the Children's Defense Fund recommended reading list. A Blessing in Disguise is published by Just Us Books, Inc. Visit its website for more discussion.

THE SECRET OF GUMBO GROVE
TEACHER'S GUIDE
Copyright 1991 by Eleanora E. Tate
School Library Journal (Starred Review): "An echo of similarity with Virginia Hamilton's The House of Dies Drear ... prevails through the portrayals of Black family life and the searches for important historical connections."
Kirkus Reviews (Pointer): "A vividly evoked piece of Americana that should be widely enjoyed."
Themes: Neighborhood and community history; coastal lifestyles; folklore; oral history; family relationships; heroes and heroines; African American history.
Objectives: To develop and improve comprehension, listening skills, problem solving and critical thinking skills; factual writing; creative writing; content writing across the curriculum; to develop and improve neighborhood and community historical research techniques and preservation methods; to develop and improve family stories and oral history collecting; to develop an appreciation of local history and its impact on children's lives and the world around them.
1. Read the book, then discuss the characters' nicknames. Ask students about their own nicknames. Prepare lists of familiar nicknames (Old Glory, Uncle Sam, the Palmetto State, etc.) and discuss or write reports on their meanings.
2. Discuss Raisin's fictional coastal community of Gumbo Grove, South Carolina. Have students draw group murals to depict scenes. Write character sketches and skits based on information found in the book, and students' opinions.
3. Develop a map showing where Gumbo Grove businesses, homes, and other landmarks are located according to descriptions in the book. Then draw maps of students' own neighborhoods and towns, using familiar landmarks, businesses, schools, and street names.
4. Study the stories Miz Effie Pfluggins tells Raisin, and discuss them. Have students prepare questions that they would like to ask relatives about their lives. Help students prepare to conduct actual interviews. Make family storybooks/scrapbooks based on the students' research. Photos can be included.Visit local cemeteries and make tombstone rubbings and record interesting descriptions. How would you decide the age of the cemetery?
5. Encourage students to study multi-ethnic history, particularly that of local African Americans. When studying slavery in South Carolina or in your state (slavery was sometimes found in the north,too, like New York state, too) try to study slavery and bondage from the viewpoints of the slaves and their feelings about slavery, rather than mostly from the viewpoints of the slaveholders. Incorporate information into daily lesson plans.
6. Read the story again about the "plat-eye" ghost. See if students can collect local stories about similar strange happenings and compare the stories. Have the students write their own ghost stories, using the same framework.
Core Activity: Where does the name of your school come from? What is the history of your school? What is the history of the neighborhood where your school is located? Many schools have distinguished neighborhood histories that extend decades back, especially those schools that once were African American centered schools. If the school was named after a local leader, what did that leader do?
Happy Reading!