Solo Girl

Author:  Andrew Davis Pinkney

Genre:  Realistic or Historical Fiction, Chapter Book

This book was about a girl named Cass that just moved into a new area with her foster mother (Ma Lettie) and her twin brothers Jackson and Bud.  She had the "gift of numbers.”  That is what Ma Lettie called it.  She knew the multiplication tables like the back of her hand.  She had a whistle that she carried around all the time that she won during a math bee at her old school.  She would go to Haskins Row to watch the Fast Feet Four do the double dutch jump with two ropes and she wished she could do the double dutch jump with one rope, thinking her feet could never be fast enough for two ropes.  Her brothers came up with a rhythm for her to whistle to so it would help her get her jumping rhythm.  Her brothers came up with the name "solo girl" because she only used one rope to jump to and it stuck with her till the end.  She then ran into the leader of the "Fast Feet Four" named Pearl and noticed that she was “slowmo” at math. “Slowmo” was Pearls word for not getting something quickly.  So Pearl and Cass made a deal.  If Pearl taught her how to double dutch jump, Cass would teach her the times tables.  It took Cass a while to learn to double dutch jump but at the end of the book Cass jumps in the double dutch jump whistling to her tune and everyone was stunned at how good the new girl was.  Pearl asked her to be part of the Fast Feet Four and she accepted and they became the Fast Feet Five.

After reading this book aloud, I would discuss with the class how this shows that everyone has something special they are good at doing.  I will have the students talk about how they can use each other’s strengths to work together the way Cass was needed to help Pearl with her times tables.  I would also use this as an example that anyone can do something if they truly set their mind to it and work hard for it.  I will ask the students to draw a picture of something that they are best at to share with the class.