Pink and Say (1994)
Pink and Say is a 1994 juvenile fiction book written by Patricia Polacco.
Two teenage soldiers meet in a Georgia field during the Civil War. Sheldon Curtis, called Say, is a wounded white boy who tried to flee the fighting; Pinkus Aylee, called Pink, is a formerly enslaved boy now serving with the U.S. Colored Troops, and he carries Say back to his mother's cabin to heal. Patricia Polacco tells the story as family history, handed down from her own great-great-grandfather, and her painted illustrations give the friendship weight. Short enough for a young reader, it holds the fear, tenderness, and cost of the war without flinching from what slavery meant.
Quick answers
What is Pink and Say about?
Two teenage soldiers meet in a Georgia field during the Civil War. Sheldon Curtis, called Say, is a wounded white boy who tried to flee the fighting; Pinkus Aylee, called Pink, is a formerly enslaved boy now serving with the U.S. Colored Troops, and he carries Say back to his mother's cabin to heal. Patricia Polacco tells the story as family history, handed down from her own great-great-grandfather, and her painted illustrations give the friendship weight. Short enough for a young reader, it holds the fear, tenderness, and cost of the war without flinching from what slavery meant.
When was Pink and Say published?
Pink and Say was published in 1994.
Who made Pink and Say?
Pink and Say was written by Patricia Polacco.
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A few thoughts on Pink and Say
Readers moved by this small, true story can go on to the film Glory, which follows the same U.S. Colored Troops into battle, or Stephen Crane's novel The Red Badge of Courage for another young soldier's fear under fire. For more of Patricia Polacco's illustrated family histories, her picture book Thank You, Mr. Falker carries the same tender voice.
Battles for freedom against slavery and oppression
Patricia Polacco frames Pink and Say around Pinkus Aylee, a formerly enslaved boy fighting for his own freedom in the Civil War. These stories also center the struggle against bondage and oppression, in memoir, fiction and battle. They share the book's plain insistence on what slavery meant and what it cost to resist it.
War seen up close through the people who survive it
Pink and Say holds the fear and cost of war without flinching, seen through two frightened teenage soldiers. These stories look at conflict the same way, close to the ground, through the people who bleed, grieve and somehow survive it. They trade spectacle for the human price the fighting exacts.
True lives and hard journeys, set down as testimony
Polacco tells Pink and Say as true family history, handed down from her own great-great-grandfather. These are also real lives and hard journeys set down as testimony, from mountain climbs to against-the-odds struggles remembered by the people who lived them. They share the book's faith that an ordinary life is worth recording.