Pink and Say - By: Patricia Polacco - Historical Fiction

During the Civil War, Pinkus Aylee came around at the perfect time to save Sheldon Curtis. Sheldon, a white soldier, had been shot in the leg at war. Pinkus, an African American soldier found him in the ditch.  Pinkus carried Sheldon to his house where he and his mother took care of Sheldon for days. During this time, Sheldon learned much about Pinkus’s family history as slaves. He learned how Pinkus is mistreated even by other union soldiers because of his skin color. Sheldon and Pinkus become great friends and Sheldon was encouraged by Pinkus’ bravery and persistence.

                I would introduce this book to my class during the Civil War unit in social studies. After reading the book together, I would have the students meet with a partner and list all situations when Pinkus was treated unfairly just because of his skin color. Students would share their list with the class and I would write these on the board for the class to see. The class would have a discussion on how it was wrong for Pinkus to be treated this way. Next, I would get the students to sit in small groups and discuss times that they have been treated poorly. Then the groups would come up with one solution that the class could implement to make everyone feel equal. These ideas would be written on poster paper and hung around the room.