"MAMA LOVES ME FROM AWAY"

Brisson, P. (2004). Mama Loves Me from Away (1st ed., p. 32). Homesdale, PA. 18431: Boyds Mills Press.

Readability lexile: None found

Target Audience: Ages 7 and up

Setting: Any city, USA

Theme: A family dealing with separation

Characters: A little girl (Sugar), her Mama, and Grandmother

Summary: Mama loves Me from Away is a picture book, geared toward children ages 7 and up. It tackles the difficult subject of a child’s separation from her incarcerated mother. Sugar and her mom share the same birthday. “You’re the best present I ever had,” Mama tells Sugar. But on this particular birthday, they are not able to celebrate in their usual way. On this birthday, Sugar takes three long bus rides with Grammy to take Mama her birthday card.

The illustrator uses realistic watercolors that focus on the child’s face, portraying a sense of deep sadness, confusion, and loss. What emerges is a story of triumph over adversity, a non-judgmental look at life rocked by unfortunate events and how people cope under difficult circumstances. Young readers will empathize with Sugar; those in the same situation will no doubt be comforted.

This book could be used by a teacher or social worker to comfort a student in such a predicament. Brisson does give details as to what led to Mama's incarceration which may lead to negative assumptions by some readers. The fact that it is a black family may lead others to negative stereotypes. I was moved emotionally as I read the book.

I would use this book in my classroom to help students cope in dealing with an incarcerated parent or family member. I would hope that students learn to empathize with those in such circumstances by having each student write a letter to a parent or family member as if they were actually going through such a tragedy. This book meets the standards of high quality literature set forth by Norton (2011)