My Mother the Cheerleader

by Robert Sharenow

Book Overview

Share this harrowing and painfully honest historical novel* at home or in the classroom. Through this extraordinary debut effort from the Sydney Taylor Award winner Robert Sharenow, readers will... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061148989
• Release Date: January 2009
• Publisher: Balzer + Bray
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 0.7" x 5.3"

Customer Reviews

Social change in the South

This book takes place in New Orleans in the 1950s. At this time, the civil rights movement was taking place. Louise, a 14 year old girl from a poor white family, is finally getting a grasp on what is going on and her perspective of the whole controversy. In Louise's school district, for the first time, a little girl of African descent by the name of Ruby Bridges was attending an all-white school. Every morning, Ruby Bridges walked up the steps into the school surrounded by bodyguards. A group of women, who opposed the integration of schools, harassed the little girl every morning. This group was called the Cheerleaders and Louise's mom was one of them. Louise's mom, Pauline, has never been kind and has never cared for Louise. She pulled Louise out of school, due to this integration policy. As a result, Louise had to work in the family-ran business, a little inn called Rooms on Desire. A constant visitor was Pauline's drunken boyfriend who would constantly abuse Pauline. This man was a member of the Ku Klux Klan. One day a man from New York came down to New Orleans to visit his brother. Louise felt that this man was the one person that would actually listen to her. This man also brought trouble into the town by having a hidden identity that many people disapprove of. With all this new action in the town, Louise finally has her own perspective and her own wholesome morals. The author's writing was so realistic and made this book very deep. The character development of everyone was strong and realistic throughout this book. Although this book was sad, it seemed really believable. It was almost like it was a true story being told through the eyes of a fourteen year old girl. There are two main ideas that lead to a plot; a person goes on a journey or a stranger comes to town. This story contained both of these ideas. Louise went on a journey mentally. She learned right from wrong by observing the New Yorker's opinion. The stranger traveled all the way to New Orleans, the city of his childhood, from New York to see his brother. He happened to stay longer than he needed to which gave him the opportunity to witness the changes in New Orleans from the time he lived there. The plot was like no other book I've ever read, and of all the characters, the most intelligent one was Louise. I recommend this book for people who are interested in history, and how things became the way they are now. The combination of the plot and the realistic touch on the writing made it one of the best books I've ever read.

Should be a MUST READ

This is a very important work of historical fiction and should be read by preteens, teens and adults. As other reviewers note, it deals with the efforts to desegregate the schools in the South in the 1960s and is written from the perspective of a 13 year old child who's mother protests against integration. The author's decision to write from this viewpoint is original and brilliant. He creates a powerful story that resonates in the reader, bringing a human dimension to issues that are often taught as the "right" and "wrong" sides in a history class. His protagonist is believable and sympathetic. The book also touches on subjects of loneliness, abandonment and adolescent growth. This really should be taught along side any history course dealing with this period of American History.

Don't judge a book by it's title

It isn't often I read a new author who really has everything together: plot, action, twists, tying up loose ends & a really satisfying ending. This book surpassed all my expectations. Louise's mom is a "cheerleader", someone who protests against racial integration of the schools in the 1960s. This really dives into the psyche of what was happening at the time in New Orleans. Really like the sense of loss combined with the sense of discovering a new connection with her mother--a bittersweet, touching novel.

Captures a time really well

What agree with "Mama Amour." This story captures a difficlut time in our nations past and presents it with thoughfullness, clarity and a strong eye for detail. Anyone interested in reading about our troubles with racial relations in the country would be well served by Rob Sharenow's ficticious account of a turbulent time. The characters are well drawn and the tension between the generations and races is presented with clarity and complexity without pandering or reducing the characters to stereotypes. Good emphasis on the visual and plot makes for an easy and enjoyable read. My only complaint is that the length is a little short for my taste - there were times when I wanted to more more about the characters and events, but the momentum of the book moved past them too quickly. New Orleans in the 60's is a fascinating place, and while the book does a great job of describing the time and place - I wanted more. Disclosure - I love travelogue type books. A great first novel and I look forward to his next effort. It has echoes of "The Watsons Go to Birmingham" and would be good choice for any social studies class.

Awful Title, Great Book

"My Mother the Cheerleader" has what may be the worst title I've seen in a long while. It made me anticipate a high-school "romp" about sports or perhaps some sort of "Freaky Friday" role reversal between a mother and her child. Instead, "Cheerleader" is a thoughtful, wonderfully evocative memoir of growing up during the early years of school integration (the term "cheerleader" was coined by John Steinbeck to describe the screaming mothers protesting integration in New Orleans). It's a deft, subtle, funny, very moving book I'd recommend to everyone. True, "My Mother the Cheerleader" is ostensibly a book written for young adults, in that it contains no graphic sex, no obscenities, and its 13 year old narrator is intended to draw us into a child's eye view of the world. But it's a book filled with very serious issues (racism, violence, alcoholism and abandonment) and rewards readers of all ages. Its portrait of New Orleans' Ninth Ward in the early 1960s is dead on, and the observations of its central character are precocious, but never unbelievable. What a wonderful, thought provoking book! Every time I thought, no, the author's gone too far, he won't be able to pull this off, Mr. Sharenow continued to amaze me. A look at recent history that will move and inform everyone. I highly recommend it!