MAMA’S WINDOW

After his mother’s death, Sugar lives with his Uncle Free in the fearsome, murky swamps of the Mississippi delta. During the last years of her life, Sugar’s mother had scrimped and saved in order to provide a stained glass window for a new church. When Sugar discovers that the money has been used for bricks, he is devastated, but determined to fulfill her legacy. At the church’s dedication, the stained glass window is in place, thanks to Uncle Free in the guise of an anonymous donor. Rubright has crafted a sweet tale of love, faith and perseverance. A strong sense of time and place are evident in both the lovely imagery of the narration and in the cadence and syntax of the characters’ speech. An afterward by Patricia McKissack explains that the story is loosely based on events in the life of civil rights activist Owen Whitfield. Uplifting. (Fiction. 8-12)