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Martin, Ann M.
BELLE TEAL
New York : Scholastic, 2001.
IL 5-8, RL 5.0
ISBN 0439098238

(2 booktalks)

Booktalk #1

Ten-year-old Belle Teal eagerly enters the fifth grade in the rural Southern community of Coker Creek because she will have the beloved Miss Casey as a teacher.  Her excitement is overshadowed by the recent desegregation plan that brings three black students and great turmoil to her school.  Belle Teal befriends her new black classmate, Darryl, but in doing so puts her friend Little Boss in danger.  As she struggles with the taunting of the new rich girl, Vanessa, and with the prejudice views of many of the students and parents, Belle Teal finds strength in her loving mother and grandmother.  (New Hampshire Great Stone Face Committee)

Booktalk #2

Here is a book that will ring so true with your students they will feel like they have lived through the integration of their school. They will feel the fear that Darryl experiences and the anger Little Boss expresses. They will also see that having a loving home, strong values and good friends can prepare you for some of the difficult experiences of life and give you hope for a better tomorrow. In this book Ann Martin really shows her ability to speak in a child’s voice and tell a story that can touch everyone deeply.  (Marcia Russo, South Carolina Book Awards, 2006)

SUBJECTS:     Girls -- Fiction.
                        Segregation -- Fiction.
                        Schools -- Fiction.
                        Family life -- Fiction.

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