Library:ADCLP/Toning the Sweep

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Toning the Sweep / Angela Johnson.

Summary

Emily and her mother go to Grandmama Ola's in the desert to help her pack and move back to Cleveland with them as she has been diagnosed with cancer. While packing Emily discovers why her mother carries such emotional pain (she discovered the murdered body of her father when she was 14), and that there are complexities and depths to her grandmother's life that she has never guessed at. Through the chance to videotape her grandmother's friends Emily learns about the emotional ties that bind people to the living and the dead.

Keywords

African Americans, Cancer, Deserts, Family life, Fiction, Grandmothers

Reading Levels

Ages 12 - 15 / Grades 7 - 9

Awards

  • ALA Notable Books for Children and Young Adults, 1990
  • School Library Journal Best Books for Children and Young Adults, 1992
  • Coretta Scott King Author Award, 1994

Publication History

References