The Sing for Book Clubs
The Sing, set in 1956, deals with the currents swirling beneath the seeming calm in a small Southern town when one of its citizens decides to defy tradition. Bessie Williams, known as Sister Bessie to the choir she leads and Bessie to the white family she works for, thinks her choir should compete in the River Falls Annual Singing Convention. As Bessie says, "it's a little thing," but a lot of people in River Falls disagree. The story of the Sing is about Sister Bessie and her choir's efforts—along with those of Stumpy and Mae Beth Fowler, the family she works for—to overcome "the way it's always been done." However, the book is about the complexities regarding race in a time we fondly look back on as "simple."
The Sing, provides a good basis for an examination of our attitudes toward race then and now. To see how this might fit your group, download the discussion guide. If you have questions regarding the book, contact the author here.
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