Ghost Of Opalina

Bacon, Peggy: The Mystery at East Hatchett or Eric the Pink, The Viking Press 1945
Reading Copy The Author

Usual marks. Library binding. Corners bumped and rubbed, endpapers have library pocket and stamps. There are bent page corners, some edgetears and a spot or two here and there making this a reading copy of this hard to find title. As in many of her books there is a cat in the story and so Ms. Bacon's charming cat illustrations are included in this book as well. A young boy goes to stay at the seashore cottage (we believe this story takes place on the Eastern Seaboard of the U.S. due to hints given here and there in the story) of a classmate of his. The hamlet is full of mostly wealthy summer people who have servants. Eric is red-headed and as some red heads do he does not tan in the sun, but he gets beet red, burns and peels. His classmate and family tease him about this and call him lobster and also Bantam when he gets mad at their teasing. During his stay there, Eric finds out that the calloused name calling and acceptance of such practices is not his burden to bare alone. The family he stays with has a Black cook whose neice is thoughtful, helpful and nice, but because she is Black she is often referred to as a pickaninny or other disparaging terms. Eric and Dilemma soon become fast friends and visit the local store owner's home. The owner's mother has a parrot, and old book of antique valentines and a special broach that all go missing after the children have visited. Dilemma is at once blamed for the thefts just because she is the only Black child around at the time. Eric helps find out who took the items and clears Dilemma's name and while doing so helps to teach acceptance of people who are different than yourself, and self-awareness to the family of the prejudicial practice and thoughts they were showing to others; thoughts and actions that they had never really thought too closely about or so it appeared in the story. The reader needs to be aware that during the time this book was written and in which time the story was set, racism and stereo-typing of Black Americans was quite acceptable and widely practiced. There are many off-handed remarks (no "n" words or other more adult type slurs as this is a juvenile book) and prejudicial tones in the book given from the point of the wealthy vacationers and keeping in the times that they lived, as well as some attempt at the Gullah-type dialect that is most associated with books such as this one that try to depict the language used by some of the Black people during these time periods. The book has a good story line that teaches to not pre-judge people due to differences in color and abilities. A hard to find title by this author of the beloved favorite of many; the Ghost of Opalina. Hard Cover Ex-Library

[SW: Mysteries, Juvenile Mysteries, Black Americana, Racism, Negros, Racial Slurs, pickaninny, Stereo-typing, Stereo-typing, bullies, prejudice, Racial prejudice, dialect, The Ghost of Opalina, Self-Esteem, Standing Up for yourself, Honesty, red heads, teasing, peer pressure, name calling, Cats, Gul-lahCat Books - Stories & Non-Fiction 95 NEW]

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