Although prone to frequent illness, old Mr. Sweet spends much of his time playing with neighborhood children, but when he finally dies, the children know that in a special way he will live forever
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ALICE WALKER is an internationally celebrated writer, poet, and activist whose books include seven novels, four collections of short stories, four children’s books, and volumes of essays and poetry. She won the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction in 1983 and the National Book Award.
Grade 2-5 Although this book rambles in the fashion of oral narrative, at its center is the narrator's feeling for Mr. Sweet, an elderly friend from her childhood. Dia betic and alcoholic Mr. Sweet is repeat edly recalled from the edge of ``death'' by the narrator and her brother. Their affectionate need for him works like a charm until his 90th birthday, when the narrator hurries back from the university but is only just recognized before Mr. Sweet is really gone. Mr. Sweet's mor tality is somehow a personal failure as well as a personal loss. This book does not successfully bridge the distance be tween the quality of the author's experi ence and the accessibility of that experi ence to a young audience. Its text, unusually long for a picture book, is di gressive, minimally structured, and sometimes difficult to read aloud. Refer ences to alcoholism, womanizing, ques tionable parentage, and poverty lend a confusing aura of realism to what is es sentially a romanticized tale. The first- person narrator herself seems not to have clarified her own contradictory feelings towards the events she retells. On one page she admits that ``these deaths upset me fearfully, and the thought of how much depended on me . . .made me very nervous,'' while two pages further on she says, `` it did not occur to us that we were doing anything special; we had not learned that death was final when it did come.'' Like the text, the many full-page illustrations are both hyper-realistic and highly roman tic. Poetic pastels, and repeated motifs of flowers, rainbows, and blue skies, balance details of peeling paint and patched clothes. Deeter is a sensitive portraitist and makes the heroine beauti ful through emphasizing her black fea tures. A note of sentimentality in the pictures echoes a similar note, for all the narrator's forthrightness, in the text. Patricia Dooley, formerly at Drexel Uni versity, Philadelphia
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Seller: Once Upon A Time Books, Siloam Springs, AR, U.S.A.
Library Binding. Condition: Acceptable. Deeter, Catherine (illustrator). This is a used book. It may contain highlighting/underlining and/or the book may show heavier signs of wear . It may also be ex-library or without dustjacket. This is a used book. It may contain highlighting/underlining and/or the book may show heavier signs of wear . It may also be ex-library or without dustjacket. Seller Inventory # mon0000949922
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Seller: SecondSale, Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.
Condition: Acceptable. Deeter, Catherine (illustrator). Item in good condition. Textbooks may not include supplemental items i.e. CDs, access codes etc. Seller Inventory # 00071481162
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Seller: SecondSale, Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.
Condition: Good. Deeter, Catherine (illustrator). Item in good condition. Textbooks may not include supplemental items i.e. CDs, access codes etc. Seller Inventory # 00051033272
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Seller: More Than Words, Waltham, MA, U.S.A.
Condition: Very Good. Deeter, Catherine (illustrator). . . All orders guaranteed and ship within 24 hours. Your purchase supports More Than Words, a nonprofi t job training program for youth, empowering youth to take charge of their lives by taking charge of a business. Seller Inventory # BOS-H-05a-04883
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Seller: ThriftBooks-Dallas, Dallas, TX, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. Deeter, Catherine (illustrator). May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 1.01. Seller Inventory # G0152890750I4N00
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Seller: ThriftBooks-Phoenix, Phoenix, AZ, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. Deeter, Catherine (illustrator). May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 1.01. Seller Inventory # G0152890750I4N00
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Seller: ThriftBooks-Atlanta, AUSTELL, GA, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. Deeter, Catherine (illustrator). May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 1.01. Seller Inventory # G0152890750I4N00
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Seller: ThriftBooks-Reno, Reno, NV, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. Deeter, Catherine (illustrator). May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 1.01. Seller Inventory # G0152890750I4N00
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Seller: Better World Books, Mishawaka, IN, U.S.A.
Condition: Good. Deeter, Catherine (illustrator). 1st ed. Used book that is in clean, average condition without any missing pages. Seller Inventory # GRP92902879
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Seller: Blue Vase Books, Interlochen, MI, U.S.A.
Condition: Good. Deeter, Catherine (illustrator). The item shows wear from consistent use, but it remains in good condition and works perfectly. All pages and cover are intact (including the dust cover, if applicable). Spine may show signs of wear. Pages may include limited notes and highlighting. May NOT include discs, access code or other supplemental materials. Seller Inventory # 31URM8000OPT_ns
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