The Dark-Thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural - Softcover

McKissack, Patricia; Pinkney, J. Brian

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0679890068 ISBN 13: 9780679890065

Publisher: Yearling, 2001

Synopsis

This Newbery Honor Book and Coretta Scott King Award Winner from beloved author Patricia McKissack offers a “stellar collection” of “ten original stories, all with a foundation in African-American history or culture” (School Library Journal).
 
In that special half-hour of twilight—the dark-thirty—there are stories to be told. Mesmerizing and breathtakingly original, these tales are inspired by African American history and range from the time of slavery to the civil rights era. With her extraordinary gift for suspense, Patricia C. McKissack has created a heart-stopping collection of lasting value, a book not quickly forgotten.
 
An ALA Notable Children’s Book
An NCSS-CBC Notable Children’s Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies
An IRA Teachers’ Choice

About this title

Review:

These 10 spine-tinglers range from straight-up ghost stories to eerie narratives. The tales in this winner of the 1993 Coretta Scott King Award depict racism, haunting and vengeance in a manner that can be read out loud around a campfire or savored privately, offering middle readers (fourth through eighth graders) thoughtful exposure to important, though frightening, historical themes. One tale, set in the segregated South of the 1940s, tells of a black man's ghost avenging his murder by a white klansman. McKissack's prose is smooth and understated, and its sense of foreboding is powerfully enhanced by Brian Pinkney's black-and-white scratch board illustrations.

From the Back Cover:

When it is neither day nor night, when shadows lurk and play tricks on the mind, storytelling takes on a spectral cast. In that special half hour of twilight -- the dark-thirty -- you'll feel the spine-tingling horror of these tales:
-- When a retired Pullman porter hears a ghostly whistle, he knows it's the last train he'll ever ride.
-- Phantom pictures appear on a windowpane -- and expose a man's guilt in a lynching.
-- An ex-slave reveals how a straw doll and an ancient chant helped him gain his freedom.

Haunting and original, these ten stories are inspired by African American history, from the time of slavery to the civil rights era. With her extraordinary gift for suspense, Patricia C. McKissack has created a heart-stopping, award-winning collection.

About this edition

• Publisher: Yearling
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0679890068
• ISBN 13: 9780679890065
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 176