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The Hopes and Dreams SeriesAfrican-Americans
Nobody A story based on history
Second Edition
Tana ReiffIllustrations by Tyler Stiene
PRO LINGUA ASSOCIATES
Knows
Pro Lingua Associates, Publishers
P.O. Box 1348 Brattleboro, Vermont 05302-1348 USA Office:8022577779 Orders:8003664775 E-mail:[email protected] SAN:216-0579 Webstore:www.ProLinguaAssociates.com
Copyright©2015byTanaReiff
TextISBN13:978-0-86647-386-6;10:0-86647-386-6AudioCDISBN13:978-0-86647-387-3;10:0-86647-387-4
ThefirsteditionofthisbookwasoriginallypublishedbyFearonEducation,adivisionofDavidS.LakePublishers,Belmont,California,Copyright©1989,laterbyPearsonEducation.This,thesecondedition,hasbeenrevisedandredesigned.
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproducedortransmittedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recording,orother,orstoredinaninformationstorageorretrievalsystemwithoutpermissioninwritingfromthepublisher.
ThecoverandillustrationsarebyTylerStiene.ThebookwassetanddesignedbyTanaReiff,consultingwithA.A.Burrows,usingtheAdobeCentury Schoolbook typefaceforthetext.Thisisadigitaladaptationofoneofthemostpopularfacesofthetwentiethcentury.Century’sdistinctiveromananditalicfontsanditsclear,darkstrokesandserifsweredesigned,asthenamesuggests,tomakeschoolbookseasytoread.Thedisplayfontusedonthecoverandtitlesisa21st-centurydigitalinventiontitledTelugu.ItisdesignedtoworkonalldigitalplatformsandwithIndicscripts.TeluguisnamedfortheTelugupeopleinsouthernIndiaandtheirwidelyspokenlanguage.Thisisasimple,strong,andinterestingsansserifdisplayfont.
ThisbookwasprintedandboundbyKCBookManufacturinginNorthKansasCity,Missouri.PrintedintheUnitedStates.Firstedition2015
The Hopes and Dreams Seriesby Tana Reiff
The Magic Paper (Mexican-Americans)For Gold and Blood (Chinese-Americans)
Nobody Knows (African-Americans)Little Italy (Italian-Americans)
More to come.
Contents
1 TheSweetShop ............ 1
2 Mr.NateCharles .......... 6
3 MovingNorth ...............10
4 Chicago .........................14
5 TroubleattheLake .... 20
6 BlackandWhite ......... 24
7 TheUnion ................... 29
8 FeelingLikeHome ..... 33
9 AVeryBadNight ....... 37
10 MattieFindsWork ...... 42
11 A Different Job .............47
12 StandingUp ................ 53
13 GoingHome ................ 60
Glossary ...................... 69
Nobody Knows 1
1 The Sweet Shop The American South, 1902
Mamacamein fromthefields. Thedaywashot. Six-year-oldMattie wasshellingpeas. Shelookedup at her mother. Mamalookedtired.
“Finishup,child!” saidMama. “Wearegoing intotown. I’llget thehorseandwagonready. Hurryup!”
Mattiefinished thebasketofpeas asfastasshecould. She loved goingintotown withMama.
1
2 Hopes and Dreams
Itwasfun to be off the farm nowandthen.
MamaliftedMattie ontothewagon. Mamatalked thewholewaytotown. “Ifyou’reagoodgirl, I’llbuyyou asweet,” shetoldlittleMattie.
Ofcourse, Mattiewasagoodgirl. Aftershopping, Mamatookher tothesweetshop.
Theshop hadtwodoors. Thefirstdoor had fresh paint. “WhiteOnly,” saidthesign. Theseconddoor wasoldandworn.
Nobody Knows 3
“ColoredOnly,” saidthesign ontheseconddoor. MattieandMama wentintheseconddoor.
Inside,Mr.Prinn wasserving somewhitepeople. MattieandMama waitedontheotherside ofthesweetshop.
Anotherwhitewoman cameintheshop. Mr.Prinn served her. MattieandMama stillwaited ontheblackside of the shop.
At last, Mr.Prinn cameover toMattieandMama.
4 Hopes and Dreams
“We’lleachhave asoftdrink,” saidMama. “Andasweetroll forthelittleone.”
Mr.Prinn tooktheirmoney. Heneversmiled orsaidaword.
“Idon’tthink thatmanlikesus,” saidMattie.
“Don’tmindhim,” saidMama. “Our money isasgood aswhitepeople’s. Beglad,child. Iremember whenIwasyourage. Iwasaslave. Afamilyofwhitepeople ownedourfamily. Ownedus!
Nobody Knows 5
Yes,theydid! Theyforcedus to stay on their land. Myparentsworked all day, every day, untilnightcame. Wecouldn’tgointotown wheneverwewanted. You’relucky,child. You’refree tocomeandgo asyouplease.”
“Yes,Mama,” saidMattie. Shetookabite ofhersweetroll and smiled.
2 Mr. Nate Charles Over the years Mattiegrew tallandstrong. Thefamilystayed on the farm that they rented. ButMamaandDaddy couldnevergetahead. Theypaidtheirrent incotton instead of money. But some years therewasn’tenoughcotton, so they fell behind on the rent.
Allthechildren workedonthefarm. Theland wasnottheirown. Itneverwouldbe. Butthewholefamily workedeveryinchofground likeitwastheirs.
6
Nobody Knows 7
WhenMattiewas18 shemetMr.NateCharles. Hewasabigman andagoodfarmer. Heworkedhard, justlikeMamaandDaddy. Hisfamily rented a farm about ten miles south.
“Marryme,” hebeggedMattie. “I’llgiveyou the best life thatIcan. Ican’tgiveyou agoldring. Butwecanhave afinelittlewedding. Bemywife,Mattie.”
Mattiesaidyes. Theyheld anicewedding inthecountrychurch. Everybodycame andbroughtfood.
8 Hopes and Dreams
“Notlikeyourgrandparents,” saidMama. “Theyweremarried, allright. But they never had any real papers. Slavescouldn’thave any real papers. You’relucky,child. You and Nate bylaw aremanandwife.”
MattieandNate begantheirlife on the farm. Theypaidtheirrent withashareofthecrops. But,likeMattie’sfamily, they had a hard time. Thecottoncrop wasinbigtrouble. Tinyblackbugs calledweevils atemostofthecotton beforeitwaspicked.
Nobody Knows 9
One day, Natewasintown. Ashewalked downthestreet, a man stopped him.
“I’mfromupnorth, said the man. “I’mlooking forstrongmen. Doyouwant tomakemoney? Thencomewithme. I’llevengiveyou atrainticket. Youcanwork inameatpackingplant. Youcanlive agoodlife inChicago. You’llnever liveagoodlifehere!”
Nobody Knows—Glossary 10
GlossaryDefinitions and examples of certain words and terms used in the story
Chapter 1 — The Sweet Shop page 1
shelling peas—Theprocessofremovingtheshell(cover)frompeas. Six-year-old Mattie was shelling peas.
lifted (to lift)—Topickupsomeoneorsome-thing. Mama lifted Mattie onto the wagon.
fresh—Veryrecentornew. The first door had fresh paint.
colored—Atthetimeandplaceofthestory,atermusedfordark-skinnedpeople,mainlyAfrican-Americans. “Colored only” said the sign on the second door.
soft drink—Anon-alcoholicdrink,oftenwithafruitbaseandlotsofsugar. “We’ll each have a soft drink,” …
sweet roll—Asugarypastry. “And a sweet roll for the little one.”
slave—Apersonwhoisownedbyanother person.Theyhavefewrights. … when I was your age, I was a slave.
11 Hopes and Dreams
owned (to own)—Tohavesomething(orsomeone)thatispersonalproperty. A family of white people owned our family.
Chapter 2 — Mr. Nate Charles page 6
cotton—AmajorcropinthesouthernUnitedStates.Cottonisusedtomakecloth. They paid their rent in cotton instead of money.
instead of—Inplaceof;asasubstituteoralternative for. They paid their rent in cotton instead of money.
fell behind (to fall behind)—Tobe unabletomakeapayment;toowemoney. … there wasn’t enough cotton, so they fell behind on the rent.
begged (to beg)—Tomakeaverystrongrequest. “Marry me,” he begged Mattie.
papers—Officiallegaldocuments. But they never had any real papers.
meatpacking plantAplacewhereanimalsarecutupintopiecesandpreparedfordistribution and sale. You can work in a meatpacking plant.
