From School Library Journal
Grade 1𔃃— Grade 1𔃃—One fall, two African-American brothers learn that they will be bused to a predominantly white school. While Bryan complains (\"Ain"t no Negroes at Central\"), Mama reassures first-grader Brewster that they will benefit from the new school"s fine facilities, such as a well-stocked library. Mama says that with such advantages, Brewster might even be president someday. However, angry whites gather at the school in protest, creating chaos inside and out. Brewster, Bryan, and others are sent to the library for detention in the melee. There they find a friendly librarian who encourages them to dream. The book effectively captures both the promises and the challenges of school integration in the 1970s. Roth"s rich earth tones and bold patterns perfectly anchor the book in its era, while the mixed-media and collage illustrations convey the urban environment. The text also stays true to its historical period, using the word \"Negro\" instead of \"African American.\" This provides an opportunity for adults to explain how and why language evolves as society changes. An author"s note provides a factual overview of this era. Michelson also explains here that he wrote the story long before Barack Obama was elected president, and that he never expected such a historic event to become a reality in his lifetime.


From Booklist
When Brewster starts first grade, in the 1970s, Mama is pleased that he and his older brother, Bryan, will be bused to the white school across town. Maybe you’ll be president someday, she tells Brewster, but Bryan wants to stay in the neighborhood with his black friends. Outside their new school, the brothers’ bus is met by angry white adults, who demonstrate with posters, jeers, and rocks. Once inside, the boys get into more trouble and spend the day in detention with a white kid Bryan calls Freckle-face. Things begin to turn around, though. When a kind, lively librarian gives Brewster an exciting book, Bryan and Freckle-face bond. The expressive body language in the understated ink, watercolor, and collage illustrations contrasts the white parents’ hostility with the boys’ gradual coming together. In an appended author’s note, Michelson fills in background history about public-school integration and quotes a 2005 speech that then senator Obama delivered at an American Library Association conference. Grades 1-3. --Hazel Rochman