Separate Fountains

by Patti Wilson Byars

Separate Fountains by Patti Wilson Byars Early rumblings of the Civil Rights Movement shook many towns across the South in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and in Separate Fountains, author Patti Wilson Byars shows that her hometown of Jonesboro, Georgia was not excluded. Jonesboro reflected the typical sleepy, little Southern town of that era - where bigotry, along with the magnolias, was in full bloom. Georgia's red clay roads led into Jonesboro where soda fountains enticed children out of the hot sun. But, that same red clay also stained neighbors' shoes that stuck out from underneath white robes. The dichotomy of the ideal and the unjust could be found in picturesque Jonesboro-- as it could in most any other Southern town. In Separate Fountains, twelve year old Katie Jane Taylor questions the social issues of the south of the 1940s and 1950s as her beloved black housekeeper, Ardella, has to drink from a water fountain marked "COLORED" and has to ride behind the white line on the Greyhound bus to Atlanta. Katie Jane also challenges her father to stand up against the Ku Klux Klan and how they control the political and social climate of the town. One day while in the drugstore, Katie Jane and her six year old brother, Josh, eavesdrop on a conversation between Ku Klux Klan members and learn that Ardella's brother is the Klan's next victim. Separate Fountains is history not found in textbooks. It's history every American citizen needs to know -- as our nation continues to fight against racial and ethnic discrimination. Separate Fountains stresses tolerance for others -- no matter race or creed.

206 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1999

Reviews

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book about a young white child, Katie Jane Taylor living deep in the south. Her disease stricken mother can't get out of bed without assistance, so her father hires a African-American nanny named Ardella. Katie must battle to keep her family safe, a very difficult chore this far in Ku Klux Klan territory. A touching story about a town that can't overcome differences, Patti Byars does a wonderful job showing one family's struggles in a nation full of trouble.

One thing I love about this book is how well the innocence of children is portrayed. Katie must mature much faster than she normally would in a town full of terror.

However, I feel this book has a shallow conclusion, a ending that could be elaborated on. I felt this was one of the problems with the book. Overall I think the author did a very good job with this book.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in how it felt to live in a segregated world. Patti Byars does such a wonderful job of explaining the lifestyle, you could almost be living there.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book about the south and growing up under the shadow of the segregation of those years. Met author at a conference in Florida.

[April · Rating 3 out of 5]

1960s relations between blacks and the families working for them.powerful local Tallahassee author