White Socks Only is a flashback story told by a Grandma to a little girl. The grandma chronicles her journey into town on a hot day when she took eggs to see if they could fry on the sidewalk. The little girl hid the eggs on her sides, and one had broken, but she did make it to crack one and see it fry. However, it was such a hot day and she was covered in eggs, so she wanted a drink of water. She saw a white only fountain, so she took her shoes off and took a drink wearing her white socks. Of course, a white man came by and scolded the little girl. However, a woman from her church and other members of the Black community came up and supported her by drinking out of the fountain as well.
I like this book because it shows how people can band together to create change. I also like the subtle humor of the little girl taking off her shoes and using white socks. I also like the stock character sense that is created by the Big white man and the Chicken man. I think there are problems because this book makes it seem like it was SO easy to create change, when we know that people had to work a lot harder. We also might explore how the Chicken man may or may not perform Voodoo, which could be why the whites seem fearful of him.
I would use this book as a read-aloud. I might even include it in my science units because of the idea of frying an egg on the sidewalk when its hot.
This book falls into the domains of SJE exploring issues of social justice, and social movements and change.
It would fall nicely into a literature unit about stock characters. It would also fall nicely into a literature unit introducing the idea of symbolism and allegory. It would also even introduce the technique of flashback.
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