Gettin' Through Thursday

by Melrose Cooper, Nneka Bennett (Illustrator)

A young African American boy experiences the love and support of his family as they try to make ends meet each week.

Andre dreads Thursdays. Thursday is the day before Mama gets paid at work each week - it's the day when money is tight and spirits are low for Andre and his older brother and sister.

As report card day approaches, Andre anticipates making the honor roll, and Mama said she'd throw a royal party for just such an event. But Andre can't believe his eyes when he looks at the calendar and sees that report card day falls on the worst possible day of the week - a Thursday.

Andre's predicament - and the loving solution that his family offers - will strike a chord with readers of all backgrounds. Melrose Cooper and Nneka Bennett present a warm and touching portrait of a child who experiences a celebration he'll never forget.

Genres: Picture Books, Realistic Fiction, Poverty, Family

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

The pseudonym of Virginia L. Kroll to accomodate her tremendous output as an author.

Reviews

[Sonia Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this

[Binh An · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Gettin’ Through Thursday” is a realistic fiction picture book about a boy named Andre who made the honor roll and is anticipating a celebration at home. However, Andre’s report card will be sent home on a Thursday, a day that is difficult because it is the day before Andre’s mom got paid and when provisions were at the lowest. This makes Andre uneasy because he has a feeling that his celebration will be put off, but he also remembers his mom’s promise of a celebration and is hopeful about Thursday. When Thursday arrived and Andre’s worry became a reality, his mom, sister, and brother creatively came up with a solution by throwing an imaginary party which lifted Andre’s spirits and increased Andre’s appreciation toward his family.
I think the book is engaging and students will be able to relate to Andre’s situations whether it is working hard, making honor roll, belonging to a single parent and low-income household, or coming from a loving and supportive family. Moreover, the book offers students a predicament and solution that encourages students to formulate in class discussions.
The vibrant, three-dimensional illustrations were beautiful and realistically portrayed Andre and his family while corresponding to the story. Likewise, the illustrations accurately captured Andre’s changing emotions throughout the story such as Andre’s smile when he found out about honor roll, Andre’s frown and face of upset when he realized he would not get a “true” celebration, and Andre’s look of excitement when he finally got his celebration.
Although the characters in the book were all African American and did not represent other racial or ethnic groups, the characters were genuine and were not represented in a negative light. I think this is beneficial for students to see and understand because regardless of a family's background or economic status, love and support exists in all sorts of families

[Amanda Shreve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Summary
Andre dreads Thursdays. Thursdays are the day the family struggles to get through each week until Mama gets paid on Fridays. As report card day gets closer Andre starts to worry. His mama promised him and his siblings that if any of them made the honor roll they would "stop what they were doing and celebrate". But report card day this time is landing on the dreaded T-H-U-R-S-D-A-Y. Will Andre get his party or will he have to wait until his mama gets paid?
Evaluation
I rated this book five out of five stars. The storyline was engaging and heartwarming. The illustrations complemented the text and tugged at the heartstrings. It's a book with a lesson about family and the most important things in life are free.
Teaching Point
This book could be used to teach the comprehension strategies questioning and prediction. Students could also make real-world connections with this book. It is about a single parent (mom) household and the feeling of wanting something your family cannot afford. Students can talk about their feelings about going to school and their parents.

[Kaci Beesecker]

The life of a family who struggled living paycheck to paycheck. When Thursdays came every week, they struggled to find food to eat, they would begin to run out of items they couldn’t pay for right then. But they always made it through to Friday. When Mama made the promise to her kids that if they got on the honor roll, she would drop everything and throw a royal party. However, when Andre got on the honor roll, it was a Thursday and Mama couldn’t do much for him, so he was very upset. They had a fake celebration but still had fun and completed the celebration on Friday.

There are many different things you can use this book for in the classroom. For example language arts, you could teach about similies as there are many similes that appear throughout the story. You could also use it for math, and use the scenario of working paycheck to paycheck, and make them have to learn how to live off that.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

A family who is living from pay check to pay check has to make due on Thursdays before the check comes on Friday. “... my family and I grit all we got toward gettin’ through Thursday.” But Mama is a great problem solver and often there is a substitute for something that’s missing. “Every week’s the same. The only thing different is the things we run out of.”

But Mama always said “Any of you gets on the honor roll, we’ll drop everything and throw a royal party.” So what happens when report cards come out on a Thursday and Andre makes the honor roll? A loving family can always find a way to celebrate.

[Emma York]

Gettin' Through Thursday is a story of a boy that gets his report card on Thursday and his family promises him a celebration if the report is good. When he gets good grades they have a celebratory dinner but that is it and he becomes sad and blames his parents because they promised him more. It is a nice story of a boy working hard to impress his parents and they celebrate as a family together. It also shows how impressionable kids are if they don't get what they're promised, how much it affects them.

[Brianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Realistic Fiction, Children's literature
Grades 2-5
I read this book for the first time during a read aloud to my students. The book is about a family who does not have a lot of money and how the main character struggles with this reality. As I was reading this I was holding back tears at the end of the story. Great book!

[Jodi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story about what it is like living paycheck to paycheck. Andre does well at school on his report card and is promised a family party but it is Thursday. His family comes up with a great solution. Sweet book good for third graders on up.

[Lakeya · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a realistic fiction story. Children, would love this story because they would be able to relate to the characters and setting. The events in the story expressed the idea that everyone should work hard, be grateful and have hope. I loved at the end how the family used there imagination to help out the main character. They wanted to make him feel better. At, the end the author expressed that the little boy loved his imaginary gift most of all. "It's the thought that counts" I think, this would be a great read aloud in class. It will help children be able to feel grateful for what they have and work hard for what they don't. The illustration really went well with the story. The story is an African American family and the illustrations represented that. Love this book

[Courtney Gilmore · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is realistic. I'm sure that this is a book some children can relate to.

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a good read aloud, realistic fiction book that is suitable for kindergarten students and older, regardless of their socioeconomic status. The topic is relevant for this age level, and the content contains an engaging plot with full characters children will be able to connect to. Language is completely non-offensive and suitable. Illustrations are beautiful, correlate to setting, and add to the story in a colorful and positive way. A range of multicultural characters are not represented, but no unfavorable labels or typecasts are evident. All of the characters in this story are black. In this story, Andre lives with his mother, sister, and brother. Mama works in the lunch room of a local school where she is paid every Friday. Mama works hard to make her paycheck stretch to cover her family’s needs. Although Mama is very creative, every Thursday, without fail, last week's pay has been spent, the cupboards are bare, and Andre’s family must go without. Andre and his siblings work very hard in school, and this semester, Andre has earned the highest grades in his entire class. How Andre wishes for a celebration to mark this occasion. But, report cards always come out on Thursday, and he knows there will be no money for a party. Mama and Andre’s brother and sister think of a creative way to celebrate Andre’s big achievement without spending any money. By giving Andre an imaginary cake and ice cream, they are able to show him they care, and are proud of him. Soon, they are all having fun in spite of their circumstances. Andre discovers there are many things he would like to have, but a family’s love is the most valued prize of all. This book will inspire discussion, questions, and contemplation about poverty, love, and hard work. The illustrations enhance the story in that they are able to convey character's emotions and hopefulness in a way children will understand. The author is working under a pseudonym, and information is not known about cultural background. The illustrator is a black woman, allowing "insider" status. No information is known regarding either author or illustrator's economic history. However, in the event of an absence of impoverished experience, it may not be necessary to disqualify the creators from having adequate perception or awareness of the subject in order to be able to depict an accurate representation of this topic.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another story about children dealing with impoverished conditions and the side effects of poverty, but very well told. I really liked this book. It was well written, and I loved the illustrations. The watercolors are dark and deep and sharply contrasted with splashes of light. The book was just really pretty.

[Isabel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book shows the struggle found when you have to live from one payday to the next. It is a good read aloud and provides a starting point for discussion as it hits a well known situation with the students I worked with.

[Morgan Rudeseal]

This book is about an African American family, and the hardships they face due to poverty. The mother works hard to earn all of the money for the family to live off of, but she only gets paid on Fridays. Andre is the main character in the book, and the youngest son. He received honor roll, which meant he would get a celebration. However, the report cards are sent home on Thursday, not Friday. The mother didn’t have any money to have a celebration that day, and told him that he would have to wait until tomorrow. The son became very upset because he was promised that there would be a celebration for all of his great work on that day, but now he had to wait. The mother felt bad, and so did the other two children, so they put their heads together and came up with a solution. The decided to have a pretend party with pretend cake, and pretend gifts. Everyone enjoyed the celebration, and on Friday, they all ate real cake, and he opened real presents.
I enjoyed this book due to the determination that the family had when it came to throwing a celebration for Andre in honor of all of his hard work. I also found it interesting that Melrose Cooper writes some of her books based on stories from her former students, and I wonder is this is based off of a former student as well.
This book could be used as an introduction to a lesson about the Great Depression. This would allow the teacher to do an activity on the effects of the economy and the importance of saving money when it is necessary. This could also be used as a math activity where students started out with a certain amount of money, but then they had to take away or add to their amount when the circumstances and situations change.