Travel back in time as Pearl shares her family history with her friends during a Sunday playdate. Why did her ancestors quilt? Where did they get the material? How did they come up with the patterns? Pearl is determined to continue the family tradition and make a Gee's Bend quilt all by herself one day. She even knows the exact spot where the quilt will hang in her grandmother's home.Her friends have doubts. Does she even know how to make a quilt? Is she creative like her Grandmother? Can she convince them that she has what it takes to be a quilter? Pearl's grandmother has taught her well. She is so proud that her grandgirl is interested in learning the old ways of years past. It warms Grandma's soul to hear Pearl share her knowledge with others. So much so that Grandma is moved to give Sallie and Ella a piece of Gee's Bend to help them share the story with their families for years to come.

“This small snapshot of the protest movement pays homage to both the determination of ordinary folk and the power of Dr. King’s words. . . . An intergenerational story filled with heart and soul.” — Kirkus Reviews When Alex spies a mule chomping on greens in a nearby garden, he can’t help but ask about it. “Ol’ Belle?” says Miz Pettway. “She can have all the collards she wants. She’s earned it.” And so begins the tale of an ordinary mule in Gee’s Bend, Alabama, that played a singular part in the civil rights movement of the 1960s. When African-Americans in a poor community — inspired by a visit from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. — defied local authorities who were trying to stop them from registering to vote, many got around a long, imposed detour on mule-drawn wagons. As Alex looks into the eyes of gentle Belle, he begins to understand a significant time in history in a very personal way.

This collection of poems that tell the story of the quilt-making community in Gee’s Bend, Alabama, is now available as a Dragonfly paperback. For generations, the women of Gee’s Bend have made quilts to keep a family warm, as a pastime accompanied by sharing and singing, or to memorialize loved ones. Today, the same quilts hang on museum walls as modern masterpieces of color and design. Inspired by these quilts and the women who made them, award-winning author Patricia C. McKissack traveled to Alabama to learn their stories. The lyrical rite-of-passage narrative that is the result of her journey seamlessly weaves together the familial, cultural, spiritual, and historical strands of life in this community.

When Charles schedules a playdate with his friends Lucius and Robert, they have no idea they're about to travel back in time to Gee's Bend, Alabama to discover the origin of the beautiful quilts in Grandma's house. It doesn't take long for the boys to learn Grandma's quilts are more than pretty pieces of fabric stitched together to keep them warm; the history behind the family treasures is rich, and bursting with love. Charles and his Gee's Bend Quilt is a journey through art and adventure, stitched together through the eyes of young Charles, who dreams of creating a quilt of his own one day. Will his friends support Charles' dreams of making a quilt? Has he learned enough to do it? And what surprise does Grandma have for the boys that will change everything? Find out what happens in the heart-warming tale, Charles and his Gee's Bend Quilt.

When Pearl schedules a playdate with her friends Sallie and Ella, they have no idea they're about to travel back in time to Gee's Bend, Alabama to discover the origin of the beautiful quilts in Grandma's house. It doesn't take long for the girls to learn Grandma's quilts are more than pretty pieces of fabric stitched together to keep them warm; the history behind the family treasures is rich and bursting with love. Pearl and her Gee's Bend Quilt is a journey through art and adventure, stitched together through the eyes of young Pearl, who dreams of creating a quilt of her own one day. Will her friends support Pearl's dreams of making a quilt? Has she learned enough to do it? And what surprise does Grandma have for the girls that will change everything? Find out what happens in the heart-warming tale, Pearl and her Gee's Bend Quilt.

Ludelphia Bennett may be blind in one eye, but that doesn't mean she can't put in a good stitch. In fact, Ludelphia sews all the time, especially when things are going wrong. But when Mama gets deathly ill, it doesn't seem like even quilting will help. Mama needs medicine badly—medicine that can only be found in Camden, over forty miles away. That's when Ludelphia decides to do something drastic—leave Gee's Bend. Beyond the cotton fields of her small sharecropping community, Ludelphia discovers a world she never imagined, but there's also danger lurking for a young girl on her own. Set in 1932 and inspired by the rich quilting traditions of Gee's Bend, Alabama, Leaving Gee's Bend is a delightful story of a young girl facing a brave new world, presented in a new paperback edition.