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Main Street: A Community Story About Redlining
A girl learns how the history of redlining has affected her neighborhood in this intergenerational picture book about racism, community action, and resilience by two New York Times bestselling authors.
Olivia can’t wait to invite her friends to the 62nd annual Main Street Block Party. But when she does, Alison says that Main Street isn’t safe. Olivia’s eyes fill with tears, and she begins to wish that she didn’t live on Main Street at all.
Then, Olivia learns what happened when her neighbor Ms. Effie was about her Ms. Effie's family was also told that Main Street wasn’t good enough. The bank wouldn’t give them a loan to buy their house based on where it fell on a color-coded Mostly Black people lived near Main Street, so the neighborhood was colored red on the map. To fight back against this practice called redlining, Ms. Effie’s family became friends with their neighbors and got organized.
With vibrant illustrations by David Wilkerson and engaging text by Britt Hawthorne and Tiffany Jewell, Main Street celebrates what might happen when neighbors come together for a common goal and everybody pitches in.
Features backmatter with an author's note about the full history of redlining and ideas for further engagement with your community!
Olivia can’t wait to invite her friends to the 62nd annual Main Street Block Party. But when she does, Alison says that Main Street isn’t safe. Olivia’s eyes fill with tears, and she begins to wish that she didn’t live on Main Street at all.
Then, Olivia learns what happened when her neighbor Ms. Effie was about her Ms. Effie's family was also told that Main Street wasn’t good enough. The bank wouldn’t give them a loan to buy their house based on where it fell on a color-coded Mostly Black people lived near Main Street, so the neighborhood was colored red on the map. To fight back against this practice called redlining, Ms. Effie’s family became friends with their neighbors and got organized.
With vibrant illustrations by David Wilkerson and engaging text by Britt Hawthorne and Tiffany Jewell, Main Street celebrates what might happen when neighbors come together for a common goal and everybody pitches in.
Features backmatter with an author's note about the full history of redlining and ideas for further engagement with your community!
Kindle Edition
Published January 27, 2026
About the author
Britt Hawthorne
4 books46 followersBritt Hawthorne (she/her) is a Black bi-racial momma, teacher, author, and anti-bias/antiracist facilitator. Britt partners with caregivers, educators, and families to raise the next generation of antiracist children. Her forthcoming book, Raising Antiracist Children: A Practical Parenting Guide, is for families ready to take action to bring change at home.
Together with her beloved partner, they raise their children to become empathic, critical thinkers, embracing justice and activism. Her days are filled with coffee, teaching, and joy. To learn more, visit britthawthorne.com
Together with her beloved partner, they raise their children to become empathic, critical thinkers, embracing justice and activism. Her days are filled with coffee, teaching, and joy. To learn more, visit britthawthorne.com
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 27, 2026
This was beautifully illustrated and a great introduction for kids to not only learn about redlining, but also how people can organize amongst themselves to lift each other up. Both topics are super important so I hope lots and lots of libraries get this book on top of individuals. Seriously, request for your library to buy it if they don't have it yet. It's embarrassing how many years it took for me to learn about redlining and it's important to understand or we can't even begin to stop systemic racism.
"Redlining is a discriminatory practice in which financial services are withheld from neighborhoods that have significant numbers of racial and ethnic minorities." Locke, Dexter H.; Hall, Billy; Grove, J. Morgan; Pickett, Steward T. A.; Ogden, Laura A.; Aoki, Carissa; Boone, Christopher G.; O'Neil-Dunne, Jarlath P. M. (March 25, 2021). "Residential housing segregation and urban tree canopy in 37 US Cities". npj Urban Sustainability. 1 (1): 15.
"Redlining is a discriminatory practice in which financial services are withheld from neighborhoods that have significant numbers of racial and ethnic minorities." Locke, Dexter H.; Hall, Billy; Grove, J. Morgan; Pickett, Steward T. A.; Ogden, Laura A.; Aoki, Carissa; Boone, Christopher G.; O'Neil-Dunne, Jarlath P. M. (March 25, 2021). "Residential housing segregation and urban tree canopy in 37 US Cities". npj Urban Sustainability. 1 (1): 15.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Richie’s Picks: MAIN STREET: A COMMUNITY STORY ABOUT REDLINING by Britt Hawthorne, Tiffany Jewell, and David Wilkerson, ill., Penguin Random House/Kokila, January 2026, 40p., ISBN: 979-8-217-00267-2
“Our house is a very, very, very fine house.”
– Graham Nash (1970)
“Redlining was the legal practice of denying or rejecting home loans based on color-coded maps. These maps were created by the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC) in the 1930s. They determined whether a neighborhood was a ‘safe’ or ‘risky’ investment for the bank. Loans were approved or denied based on these assessments. Neighborhoods where Black families, other people of color, and poor families lived were labeled as ‘high risk’ and outlined in red–hence the term redlining.”
– from the Author’s Note
“‘Olivia, your mom will be here in five minutes.’
We’re having so much fun! I’m not ready to leave this party, or my friends.
So I tell everyone about the other party: the 62nd Annual Main Street Block Party.
Our party. And I ask, ‘Will you come?’
I hope for them to say yes.
But then Alison blurts out ‘I can’t. My mom says Main Street isn’t safe!’
My stomach aches. My face is hot. My eyes fill with water.
I can’t wait to leave.
Inside the car, the houses and shops blur past as we drive home. My eyes turn to storm clouds.
Mama asks, ‘What’s up, buttercup?’
The tears and the truth fall.
‘Alison won’t come to our house because her mom said Main Street isn’t safe!’
I wait for Mama to make it right, but all she says is, ‘Oh.’”
Over the fifty years since the publication of THE POWER BROKER–Robert Caro’s 1,200+ page biography of Robert Moses–I’ve read and reread it with great personal interest. Having grown up on Long Island, where racism and redlining were rampant during the post WWII/formative years of us Boomers, Caro’s Pulitzer prize-winning masterpiece explains so well and so much, of what I personally observed as a child relating to that underlying racism: One nearby house in our then-rapidly growing neighborhood was firebombed twice, while under construction, because of the color of the family that had purchased it. Another house, a couple of blocks in the other direction, was the subject of a hateful petition drive for the same reason.
Robert Moses was a pivotal figure in government- and quasi-government actions supportive of those underlying prejudices. He was responsible for such stratagems as designing parkways with overpasses sufficiently low enough to prevent buses from the City from ever employing those parkways for transporting those people out to the beautiful State Beach parks that Moses designed on L.I.
It leads to my having a great interest in, and being extremely supportive of, this elementary school-level picture book about redlining.
In this picture book tale, Olivia’s sharp, old neighbor Ms. Effie shares the story of her parents’ struggle to obtain a bank loan to buy their house. She shows Olivia a redlined map and explains how the blue and green-colored neighborhoods on the map were places where laws and rules were “made to help our faraway neighbors who were White and wealthy.”
The clear focus on and explanation of the one historic societal issue, coupled with the book’s engaging illustrative style, makes MAIN STREET one that many relatively-young elementary students will be willing and able to digest and contemplate.
I encourage educating young people and thereby promoting a more equitable and harmonious society by purchasing this one for your kids or for your collection.
Richie Partington, MLIS
Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.pbworks.com
https://www.facebook.com/richiespicks/
richiepartington@gmail.com
“Our house is a very, very, very fine house.”
– Graham Nash (1970)
“Redlining was the legal practice of denying or rejecting home loans based on color-coded maps. These maps were created by the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC) in the 1930s. They determined whether a neighborhood was a ‘safe’ or ‘risky’ investment for the bank. Loans were approved or denied based on these assessments. Neighborhoods where Black families, other people of color, and poor families lived were labeled as ‘high risk’ and outlined in red–hence the term redlining.”
– from the Author’s Note
“‘Olivia, your mom will be here in five minutes.’
We’re having so much fun! I’m not ready to leave this party, or my friends.
So I tell everyone about the other party: the 62nd Annual Main Street Block Party.
Our party. And I ask, ‘Will you come?’
I hope for them to say yes.
But then Alison blurts out ‘I can’t. My mom says Main Street isn’t safe!’
My stomach aches. My face is hot. My eyes fill with water.
I can’t wait to leave.
Inside the car, the houses and shops blur past as we drive home. My eyes turn to storm clouds.
Mama asks, ‘What’s up, buttercup?’
The tears and the truth fall.
‘Alison won’t come to our house because her mom said Main Street isn’t safe!’
I wait for Mama to make it right, but all she says is, ‘Oh.’”
Over the fifty years since the publication of THE POWER BROKER–Robert Caro’s 1,200+ page biography of Robert Moses–I’ve read and reread it with great personal interest. Having grown up on Long Island, where racism and redlining were rampant during the post WWII/formative years of us Boomers, Caro’s Pulitzer prize-winning masterpiece explains so well and so much, of what I personally observed as a child relating to that underlying racism: One nearby house in our then-rapidly growing neighborhood was firebombed twice, while under construction, because of the color of the family that had purchased it. Another house, a couple of blocks in the other direction, was the subject of a hateful petition drive for the same reason.
Robert Moses was a pivotal figure in government- and quasi-government actions supportive of those underlying prejudices. He was responsible for such stratagems as designing parkways with overpasses sufficiently low enough to prevent buses from the City from ever employing those parkways for transporting those people out to the beautiful State Beach parks that Moses designed on L.I.
It leads to my having a great interest in, and being extremely supportive of, this elementary school-level picture book about redlining.
In this picture book tale, Olivia’s sharp, old neighbor Ms. Effie shares the story of her parents’ struggle to obtain a bank loan to buy their house. She shows Olivia a redlined map and explains how the blue and green-colored neighborhoods on the map were places where laws and rules were “made to help our faraway neighbors who were White and wealthy.”
The clear focus on and explanation of the one historic societal issue, coupled with the book’s engaging illustrative style, makes MAIN STREET one that many relatively-young elementary students will be willing and able to digest and contemplate.
I encourage educating young people and thereby promoting a more equitable and harmonious society by purchasing this one for your kids or for your collection.
Richie Partington, MLIS
Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.pbworks.com
https://www.facebook.com/richiespicks/
richiepartington@gmail.com
April 22, 2026
This book does a very good job of explaining red-lining to children (and adults)! Olivia is so excited to tell her friend Alison about a party they’re having on Main Street, where Olivia lives. But Alison says her mom told her “Main Street isn’t safe.” She can’t go to the party. This makes Olivia so sad because she lives there and she doesn’t understand how it couldn’t be safe. Luckily, a neighbor named Ms. Effie explains why people perceive a certain place to be “unsafe” versus what the reality is. Red-lining is an old tool that was used to divide up neighborhoods and determine who could get loans. A risky neighborhood was colored red or yellow on a map, while a profitable one was colored blue or green.
“Red” neighborhoods were called “bad” or “tough” and pretty soon people started to believe those words whether they were true or not. But people in these neighborhoods started co-ops so they could get their own loans, and community gardens so they could grow their own food. They outsmarted the system by working together. Red-lining has become a practice of the past, but the effects of it are still felt because red-lined neighborhoods generally have less access to healthcare and other needs. They are still labeled “scary,” “bad,” “unsafe.” Luckily, as Ms. Effie says, we can always make our world better by working together. I liked the message at the end that talked about how we can help out each other no matter where we live.
Mia’s 3rd Year of Books: Day 43
#WeNeedDiverseBooks #FirsttoCheckOut
This review is actually for the hardcover edition, but I accidentally posted it here and can’t seem to be able to move it.
“Red” neighborhoods were called “bad” or “tough” and pretty soon people started to believe those words whether they were true or not. But people in these neighborhoods started co-ops so they could get their own loans, and community gardens so they could grow their own food. They outsmarted the system by working together. Red-lining has become a practice of the past, but the effects of it are still felt because red-lined neighborhoods generally have less access to healthcare and other needs. They are still labeled “scary,” “bad,” “unsafe.” Luckily, as Ms. Effie says, we can always make our world better by working together. I liked the message at the end that talked about how we can help out each other no matter where we live.
Mia’s 3rd Year of Books: Day 43
#WeNeedDiverseBooks #FirsttoCheckOut
This review is actually for the hardcover edition, but I accidentally posted it here and can’t seem to be able to move it.
February 4, 2026
This is an accessible book for older young readers on the topic of red lining. It has some vocabulary in it but isn’t inundated with it. It would be great for educators in elementary classrooms who are trying to review this topic in a way that makes sense to younger students.
Most importantly the book centers the experience of Black, Brown, Jewish and other people who experienced redlining and is very empathetic in tone towards them demonstrating understanding of their hardships and experiences and not undermining that while also trying to show that these neighborhoods hold value that isn’t always seen and is/has often been diminished.
Note: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author/publisher in exchange for my honest review.
Most importantly the book centers the experience of Black, Brown, Jewish and other people who experienced redlining and is very empathetic in tone towards them demonstrating understanding of their hardships and experiences and not undermining that while also trying to show that these neighborhoods hold value that isn’t always seen and is/has often been diminished.
Note: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author/publisher in exchange for my honest review.
March 9, 2026
With the gentrification that is happening in our communities, this is a really important story to help readers understand the past practice of redlining to force certain communities to look and feel the way they do.
August 17, 2025
ARC from Edelweiss.
March 4, 2026
This is a good book that explains redlining and racism in words young kids can understand. Bonus points for being set in Philadelphia with a recognizable map of the city and its redlined spaces.
April 10, 2026
Wow -- while this book was written for young readers, it provides a great introduction to anyone unfamiliar with redlining and the effects on the people and communities impacted.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews