Pink and Say

by Patricia Polacco

This is the story of a young soldier (Say) who is shot in the stomach and saved by a black soldier his own age days later.  The black soldier Pinkus, or Pink, takes Say to his own home to recover.  Say recovers physically, he is terrified to go into battle again.  Moe, Pink's mom, assures Say that this is natural and he is not a coward.  Before he is faced with the final choice the house is attacked.  Say is wounded again, though not as bad this time, and Pink is taken to a POW camp, supposedly as he is never heard from after that.  The author's note at the end says that Say was her own great-great-grandfather.  The book is dedicated to Pink for his selfless sacrifice.

Audience
Not for little kids.  I would only read this with my 3rd graders if I was there to talk to them about it and help them understand.  Palacco writes for older children, more of the 5th grade and up variety.

What I Love About This Book
It shows two people bonding over shared pain.  Though the boys are from opposing sides of a war, we get to see that they are both good

Cautions
Again, not for young children.  This book has violence, and even though it is not graphic I think some aspects of war would need to be explained