As Fast as Words Could Fly
Eric Velasquez
(Illustrator)
Description
Storyline Online Selection - SAG-AFTRA Foundation / Storyline Online
The story of Mason Steele, an African American boy in 1960s Greenville, North Carolina, who relies on his inner strength and his typing skills to break racial barriers after he begins attending a "whites-only" high school.
Now in paperback!
Young Mason Steele takes pride in turning his father's excited ramblings about the latest civil rights incidents into handwritten business letters. One day Pa comes home with a gift from his civil rights group: a typewriter. Thrilled with the present, Mason spends all his spare time teaching himself to type. Soon he knows where every letter on the keyboard is located.
When the civil rights group wins a school desegregation case, Mason learns that now he will be attending a formerly all-white high school. Despite his fears and injustice from the students and faculty, Mason perseveres. He does well in school-especially in his typing class. And when he competes in the county typing tournament, Mason decides to take a stand, using his skills to triumph over prejudice and break racial barriers.
Winner of Lee & Low's New Voices Award, As Fast As Words Could Fly is an inspiring testament to the power of hard work, determination, and belief in yourself to overcome life's challenges.
Product Details
| Publisher | Lee & Low Books |
| Publish Date | September 04, 2018 |
| Pages | 40 |
| Language | English |
| Type |  Paperback / softback |
| EAN/UPC | 9781620148594 |
| Dimensions | 10.3 X 8.3 X 0.3 inches | 0.4 pounds |
About the Author
Pamela M. Tuck won Lee & Low's New Voices Award for the manuscript for As Fast As Words Could Fly, her first picture book. She gets her love of storytelling from her grandfather, whose "jaw-dropping, eye-popping" stories enchanted her as a child. Tuck was inspired to write As Fast As Words Could Fly by her father's experiences growing up in the 1960s in a family of civil rights activists. She lives in Boyertown, Pennsylvania, with her husband and their children. You can visit her online at pamelamtuck.com.
Eric Velasquez has illustrated numerous award-winning books for children, and has authored some picture books as well. Among the awards he has received for his work are the Pura Belpré Illustrator Award, the Carter G. Woodson Award, an NAACP Image Award, and the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent. When not illustrating book projects, Velasquez teaches book illustration at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. He lives in Hartsdale, New York. You can visit him online at ericvelasquez.com.
Reviews
"A warm... title about the struggle for equality." -- Kirkus Reviews
"The striking compositions in rich browns and blues, along with Tuck's pride in her family, help distinguish this story of perseverance and courage. This well-crafted tale would be an excellent complement to overviews of the Civil Rights Movement." -- School Library Journal
"Tuck lays bare the challenges that faced Mason and black students like him, but she also tempers the story's cold realities with moments of hope, echoed by the pride and determination." -- Publishers Weekly
From the beautiful cover picture of the boy's fingers on the typewriter keys, to the ugly view of the racist bus driver who tells the black pupils to "get to the back," Velasquez's handsome oil paintings on watercolor paper bring close the details of one boy's struggle. Told from a personal viewpoint and appended with a powerful author's note, this is a story to share across generations. -- Booklist
"Based on some of the true experiences of the author's father, this fictional picture book contains illustrations that are so high quality as to resemble paintings rather than pictures... [As Fast as Words Could Fly] will undoubtedly inspire a new general of readers." -- Children's Literature
Storyline Online Selection - SAG-AFTRA Foundation / Storyline Online
Land of Enchantment Book Award Shortlist - New Mexico Library Association
Martin Luther King Jr. "Living the Dream" Book Award - Manhattan Country School
New Voices Award Winner - Lee & Low Books
Show Me Readers Award Nominee - Missouri Association of School Librarians
Teachers' Choices - International Literacy Association (ILA)
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